Deve Gowda says he is yet to decide on contesting LS polls
Bengaluru, Mar 19: Maintaining suspense about contesting the Lok Sabha polls, JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda Tuesday said he is yet to decide and been thinking about his 'usefulness' in the national capital.
The 85-year-old leader citing his agesaid he lacked the strength that he had in 1996, when he became the Prime Minister, but there is "enthusiasm".
He also made it clear that the opponent of opposition parties now was the BJP and not the Congress and said he would stand along with Congress president Rahul Gandhi even if he was able to do even a bit for the country under his (Gandhi) leadership.
"From where should I be contesting or not to, I think I have that much of basic freedom to decide.let's decide on it with in a few days, there is no problem. But, I'm thinking to myself about my usefulness in Delhi, I'm watching itI will decide," Gowda said.
Pointing out that in his speech at the last session of Parliament he had indicated it was his last speech, he said, but a few friends had asked him to contest this time.
"I'm yet to decide."
If he decided to contest, he along with coalition leaders, including his son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah of Congress will decide on the constituency,he added.
Speculations are rife that Deve Gowda, who has conceded his constituency Hassan to grandson Prajwal Revanna, will contest from either Bangalore North or Tumkur constituency.
His another grandson and Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is contesting from Mandya Lok Sabha seat, another party bastion.
Three years ago itself he had said he will vacate the Hassan seat for Prajwal in view of his age, Gowda said adding there was was nothing to hide.
"Even while speaking in the Parliament. I spoke fully understanding my strengths," he said, adding he did not have the strength that he had in 1996, when he became the Prime Minister, but there is 'enthusiasm'.
"Our opponents today are not Congress, it is BJP. So if I'm able to do even a bit for this country under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, I can stand along with him Still I have not made up my mind.
"I'm still thinking, From other states also leaders are saying- you are an elderly person, having the experience of governing the country- it is a different matter, we will sit and decide...," he added.
Sections within the Congress have requested JD(S) to give Tumkur seat back to the party, amid simmering discontent within the local leadership about ceding it to the alliance partner.
However, they would not oppose if Gowda himself contests from the seat, party sources said.
Though there is pressure within the JD(S) for Gowda to contest from Bangalore North, the party fears about Congress' complete support there.
The Congress will contest 20 seats and JD(S) eight in the Lok Sabha polls in the state under a deal between the coalition partners finalised last week.
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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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