Congress in talks with JD(S) ahead of counting in Karnataka
New Delhi, May 14: As the exit polls after the Karnataka Assembly election predicted a hung assembly in the state, with six surveys showing BJP emerging as the single largest party and three showing Congress in the lead, the Congress party has started talks with H.D. Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal(S) to forge a post-poll alliance.
The Congress has already sent two senior leaders of the party, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot, to Karnataka and they are in talks with the JD(S) leaders, said a party source.
However, former Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) state President H.D. Kumaraswamy had left for Singapore on Sunday morning and was expected to be back late on Monday.
A Congress leader said the party will win close to 130 seats. "Our senior leaders are in talks with even those who have gone to Singapore," said a party source.
A day after a record 72.13 per cent of 5.06 crore electorate voted on a hot weekend, leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday claimed their party would be winning hands down, while the JD-S vowed to decide who will form the next government, if it does not get majority.
Polling was held in 222 segments of the 224-member Assembly, as election to Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari (RR) Nagar had been postponed to May 28 following recovery of voter cards from a flat, while it was countermanded in Jayanagar segment due to the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.
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New application filed in SC against Adani group over US indictment
New Delhi: A fresh application has been submitted to the Supreme Court of India, seeking the inclusion of key documents related to the recent US indictment of the Adani Group. Filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, the petition aims to introduce two critical pieces of evidence into an ongoing case related to the Adani Group's financial practices.
The first document is a formal US court indictment accusing Gautam Adani, his relative Sagar Adani, and other company executives of orchestrating a massive bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars in India. The indictment alleges that over $250 million in bribes were paid to Indian government officials to obtain these lucrative contracts.
The second document is a complaint from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accuses the Adani Group of securities fraud. The SEC alleges that Adani executives misled investors to raise funds for these solar projects, despite knowing that part of the capital was linked to corrupt activities.
This development follows the US Attorney's Office's recent charges against the Adani executives, who are accused of masterminding a bribery scheme to secure power supply contracts with state-run utilities in India. The contracts were expected to yield up to $2 billion in profits over two decades.
These charges come amid an ongoing investigation by India's Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) into the Adani Group, after allegations of stock manipulation and market irregularities surfaced, particularly following the release of the Hindenburg Report in early 2023. The new US legal documents could play a crucial role in strengthening the investigation into the Adani Group's business operations.
