Confident that Kumaraswamy govt will continue: K.C Venugopal
Bengaluru, Jan 15: Brushing aside any threat to the H D Kumaraswamy-led Karnataka dispensation after two MLAs withdrew support, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal Tuesday said the coalition government would continue despite the BJP's "ugly and dirty" horse-trading attempts.
Venugopal alleged that the MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) ruling combine were being offered a "lot of things" by the BJP to switch sides.
"We are confident that the Kumaraswamy government will continue. Even though they are offering a lot of things to our MLAs, we are very confident," he said.
"We are in touch with all our MLAs. Our people are with us. Our government will continue," he added.
Speaking to reporters after a marathon meeting with Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar and others, Venugopal alleged that the BJP has been attempting to pull down the government since the day Kumaraswamy took over.
Lashing out at the BJP, the Congress leader said, "Ugly, dirty attempt of horse-trading being made by the BJP is creating this situation. I wonder why the ruling party of the country is doing things like this."
"The day the Kumaraswamy government was sworn in, they (BJP) started these types of things. What message are they giving? They are keeping their MLAs in a resort," Venugopal said.
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Lebanon appoints new representative for talks with Israel, rejects linkage to Iran
Beirut: Lebanon’s has moved to underline its independent position in ongoing regional developments, amid attempts to link the country to the broader conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
President Joseph Aoun, while announcing the appointment of former US ambassador Simon Karam as Lebanon’s representative in talks with Israel, made it clear that Karam would be the sole representative for Lebanon and that there would be no substitute.
The move comes in response to what the Lebanese officials see as efforts by Iran to tie Lebanon’s situation to the wider regional conflict. Iran had indicated that there would be no ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran unless it also included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Some groups, including Hezbollah and its supporters, had expressed support for linking the situations, citing concerns that the Lebanese government has limited leverage in negotiations with Israel. Lebanon is not formally a party to the conflict, and its army is considered weak.
However, others, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, have opposed this approach. They view Iran’s stance as an attempt to influence Lebanon’s internal affairs and see it as undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Officials backing the government’s position say the move is aimed at reaffirming Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring that decisions about peace and ceasefire within the country are not dictated externally.
They also see it as a safeguard, so that any breakdown in talks between the US, Israel and Iran does not automatically lead to renewed conflict in Lebanon.
