KN Rajanna expresses confidence about returning as minister in current govt tenure
Tumakuru (Karnataka), Aug 15 (PTI): K N Rajanna, who was recently sacked from the Siddaramaiah-led cabinet in Karnataka, on Friday expressed confidence about coming back as minister within the current government's tenure.
The Madhugiri MLA said he will be going to New Delhi after the Assembly session to meet the high command leaders to know the exact reasons for his sacking.
Rajanna, who was Cooperative Minister was removed from the cabinet on Monday, following directions from the Congress high command.
His recent comments on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" allegations during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls seem to have proved costly for him.
Noting that the voter lists for the polls in Karnataka were prepared under the Congress government, he had questioned his own party as to why they didn't stop the irregularities then.
"I will take the minister post when the time comes in this government's tenure. Why do you have any doubts?" Rajanna asked while responding to a question.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "I have achieved everything I desired in life so far. I will achieve this (minister post) too in this term itself."
Responding to a question, Rajanna said he is confident that the high command will get convinced.
"There may be some people in Delhi who are doing things systematically (against me). It is not that I don't know how to systematically finish off someone (politically). I too know that skill, but why waste time on it? Same time can be utilised for the good for the people," he said.
Asked whether unseen hands were behind his sacking, without naming anyone, he said, "Without unseen hands, how will the decision come all of a sudden? The chief minister himself wasn't aware that the high command was thinking on these lines. While on the way from his home to Vidhana Soudha, the CM was seen speaking to someone over the phone alone for some time. Some channels showed the videos. It was the same matter (sacking). The CM got to know only then."
"Siddaramaiah had tried to convince the high command, but when they said a decision had been made, the CM told me the situation. I said fine....," he added.
Rajanna said he is still not aware of the exact reason for his sacking.
"After the Assembly session is over, I will go to Delhi and meet the leaders there and try to find out the reason. I'm not sad about losing power...such ups and downs in politics are not new to me. Until there is public support, I will face it," he added.
Asked whether his open statements proved costly for him, Rajanna said, "In which statement have I spoken ill about someone. I might have spoken certain truth. I will go to Delhi and try to know what the reason is. Will see what they say."
Someone might have complained to high command distorting my various statements. "Such things will be there. Will try to know...," he said.
Asked about BJP leaders like B Sriramulu inviting him to their party, Rajanna said they might have spoken out of good will towards me.
"Just because they have invited me, can I go? Why should I go? Congress has given everything to me. There will be phases in politics..."
Rajanna is the second minister to be out of Siddaramaiah's Cabinet after the Congress came to power in 2023.
Last year, Bellary MLA B Nagendra had to resign following allegations against him in connection with embezzlement at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation.
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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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