Bypoll fallout: CM Siddaramaiah's political secretary Ahmed 'relieved with immediate effect'
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political secretary Naseer Ahmed has been 'relieved with immediate effect'.
According to party sources, the MLC has been accused of working against the party candidate in the Davangere South Assembly bypolls.
The party had fielded Samarth Shamanur, the grandson of 94-year-old MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa, whose death necessitated the bypoll.
Samarth is the son of Karnataka Mines and Geology Minister S S Mallikarjun.
"Naseer Ahmed is relieved from the post of political secretary to the chief minister with immediate effect," a government notification dated April 13 said.
Three days ago, Congress MLC Abdul Jabbar resigned as president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Minority Cell.
Siddaramaiah on Tuesday summoned the Housing, Minority Welfare and Waqf Minister, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, to his office residence.
"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has asked me to come to his residence in half an hour. I am going there now," Khan told reporters here.
These Muslim leaders were accused of working against Samarth Shamanur. Ever since Samarth's name was announced, there was rumbling in the ruling Congress.
A rebel Congress candidate, Sadiq Pailwan, had filed nomination papers from Davangere South but later withdrew his nomination after Siddaramaiah persuaded him.
However, the dissent in Congress continued as most of the Muslim leaders refrained from campaigning.
Davangere South has a substantial Muslim population, and Muslim leaders wanted a candidate from their community, but the Congress preferred Samarth Shamanur.
According to Khan, it was not a hidden fact that Muslim leaders had demanded a ticket for someone from the community.
The minister said that on March 20, Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had called a meeting at the Congress office, where more than 200 leaders from Davanagere had participated, including a large number of minority leaders.
"I said in an open meeting: Please give us a Muslim candidate, sir. Give Davanagere to anyone (from the Muslim community). I said this openly in the meeting. Nothing was said behind closed doors," Khan said.
The Minister said that he had even said in the meeting that if the candidate does not win, he will resign from the ministerial post.
Regarding Ahmed's removal, Khan said, "I only came to know that he (Ahmed) has resigned. I don't know the reason. I came to know that the CM had asked him to go to Davanagere, and since he didn't go, a decision has been taken. Right now, I am on my way to the CM's residence," the Minister said.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
