CLP meeting on May 29 to take stock of political developments
Bengaluru, May 26: Amid coalition worries, the Congress, a partner in the ruling alliance in Karnataka, has convened a meeting of its legislature party on Wednesday to discuss the current political developments in the state.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the rout of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in the Lok Sabha polls and simmering discontent within the party.
CLP leader Siddaramaiah,in a letter to party legislators, including members of the legislative council, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, said the meeting would be held at a hotel here on May 29 at 6 PM to discuss the current political developments.
"All MLAs should be present at the meeting without fail and give valuable suggestions," it said, adding that Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, Pradesh Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao, among others, would be present.
In its worst ever electoral performance in Karnataka, Congress won just one out of 21 seats it contested in the Lok Sabha polls, while JD(S) too won just one out of the seven seats it had fought.
Reflecting the coalition's sorry state, several stalwarts including former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, veteran Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, K H Muniyappa among others were defeated.
The alliance's humiliating defeat in the LS polls, which saw BJP winning 25 of the 28 seats, is widely expected to have a bearing on the stability of the Kumaraswamy government.
As voices emerged in the Congress to end the alliance, blaming the JDS partnership for their disastrous performance, Kumaraswamy had offered to resign, following which the cabinet met on Friday and reposed its "faith and confidence" in his leadership, asserting that the coalition would continue.
The CLP meeting also comes in the wake of simmering discontent within the party, with party MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, who has been hobnobbing with the BJP for some time, even threatening to resign along with a few MLAs after the LS polls polls.
Adding to this was senior party legislator Roshan Baig's outburst against the leadership, holding them responsible for the poor show by the party.
The BJP, on its part, has predicted the collapse of he coalition and an increase in its tally in the assembly after the LS poll results, claiming that 20 odd Congress MLAs are unhappy with the government and may take any decision.
During the CLP, legislators are expected to put forth their opinion on the coalition and the way forward, as the party has decided to go ahead with the alliance, despite rout in the Lok Sabha polls and may even seek changes or reshuffle in the ministry, sources said.
A couple of weeks ago there was a growing clamor in the Congress for Siddaramaiah to become Chief Minister once again, resulting in a public spat between leaders of alliance partners.
The Legislators may also seek proper coordination with the government, and the Chief Minister's intervention to resolve some of their constituency and governance related issue on priority, the sources said, adding that they may also ask for a joint legislature meeting of both parties.
The leadership is also expected to explain to MLAs about the need to continue with the coalition and ask them not to make any public statements against the alliance.
There is also the possibility of discussions on some Ministers quitting from their posts to make way for others to quell the growing discontent, the sources added.
It also remains to be seen whether the disgruntled MLAs would attend the CLP meeting. If not, it will once again trigger speculation about the numbers game.
The Congress had petitioned the Speaker, seeking action against four rebel MLAs, including Jarkiholi, for not attending the CLP meeting early this year when the state was going though political turmoil amid alleged poaching attempts by the BJP.
One of them, Umesh Jadhav, subsequently quit the Congress and joined BJP and went on to become an MP from Gulbarga, defeating veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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