BJP MP Dr. Siddeshwara meets DyCM DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru; rumours of 'Operation Hasta' on
Bengaluru: Dr. GM Siddeshwara, the BJP MP from Davanagere, met Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar at his Sadashiva Nagar residence on Thursday, giving rise to curiosity in the political circle in Karnataka regarding a meeting between senior leaders of opponent parties a few months before the Lok Sabha elections.
With rumours that the 'Operation Hasta' of the Congress is gaining power in Karnataka, especially in the backdrop of former BJP legislators of Karnataka joining the Congress in the last couple of days, the meeting between Siddeshwara and Shivakumar was a topic of discussion among politicians and the media too. There were also questions raised over the possibility of another senior leader of the BJP deciding to change parties.
Siddeshwara has already declared that he wished to contest the general elections to the Lok Sabha in 2024 with the BJP ticket and hoped that the party would give him ticket from Davanagere constituency again. The party, however, has other contenders for the ticket from Davanagere, as former BJP legislator Renukacharya too has expressed hope that he will be given an opportunity to contest the elections for the BJP from the constituency.
Meanwhile, the BJP former legislator from Shirahatti Ramappa Lamani joined the Congress on Thursday, at a formal event held at the Karnataka Congress office on Queens Road, Bengaluru. Former legislator Poornima Srinivas too has declared that she would be joining the Congress on October 20.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
