Deputy CM Shivakumar urges discipline amid Cong MLAs' Delhi visit, seeks report
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Bengaluru (PTI):Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday urged Congress legislators to maintain party discipline amid their visits to New Delhi to lobby for a cabinet reshuffle, cautioning against making public statements that could harm the party’s image.
Addressing reporters here, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, said there was nothing wrong in MLAs meeting the party high command but stressed that the timing and manner of their demands were important.
“Yes, all of them have gone. The Chief Minister has said something, but all of them should maintain discipline. Everyone must maintain party discipline. They must respect the party. They should not sit before the media and damage the party’s name,” Shivakumar said.
He added that everyone’s future lies in the party, not in the media.
"In the media, you may say whatever you want in your own way. So I appeal to all my MLAs that meeting party high command is not wrong, but if unnecessary statements are made, we will have to act.”
Responding to a query on whether MLAs had consulted him before leaving for Delhi, Shivakumar said some had approached him and were told there was nothing wrong in aspiring for ministerial positions.
“Some of them came and spoke to me, they asked me. I told them there is nothing wrong in going and asking (for ministerial position); it is not that you should not become ministers, nor that first-timers should not become ministers. First-timers can become ministers, second-timers can also become ministers—it has happened before,” he said.
However, he emphasised that the present moment was not appropriate for such demands.
“So we said there is nothing wrong, but this is not the time.”
The Deputy Chief Minister also indicated that he is awaiting formal inputs before taking any action. “Officially, I have asked for a report with various sections. Let me get the report, then I will act on it,” he said.
The remarks come a day after several senior Congress MLAs travelled to New Delhi to seek a cabinet reshuffle and press for ministerial berths, while first-time legislators have also stepped up their demand for representation.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said there was nothing wrong in aspirant legislators visiting Delhi, adding that the decision on cabinet reshuffle rests with the party high command and may have been delayed due to elections in five states and the Budget session.
The developments assume significance amid ongoing discussions within the ruling Congress over a possible cabinet rejig as the government has crossed the halfway mark of its tenure.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
