CM Siddaramaiah to visit Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast on Dec 2
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to visit his deputy D K Shivakumar’s residence on December 2, in an effort to demonstrate unity and a truce following months of power tussle within the ruling Congress in the state, official sources said on Monday.
This comes days after Shivakumar visited the CM’s residence for a similar breakfast meeting.
Following the initial meeting held as per the directive of the Congress high command, both leaders had publicly stated that “there won’t be any confusion”.
On the leadership issue, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar maintained that they would obey the high command.
The development is seen as a move by the high command to pause the leadership tussle between the two, and signals Siddaramaiah’s continuation as the CM for time being, especially ahead of the legislature session from December 8.
“As told by the CM on Saturday, he is scheduled to visit Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast tomorrow,” official sources said.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculations about a change in chief minister in the state after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20. The speculation was fuelled by an alleged "power-sharing" agreement involving Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.
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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.
