KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao appeals to Cong-JDS to refrain from making controversial remarks
Bengaluru, May 20: With some leaders of the Congress-JDS coalition government engaging in verbal duels, KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao appealed to both parties to refrain from making any controversial statements in public.
"It's my earnest appeal to the leaders of both Congress and JDS in Karnataka, to refrain from making any controversial statements in public," he tweeted.
On May 23, people will see the emergence of a new secular and progressive government at the Centre, he said.
"Hence, it is important that all parties who want a non-BJP government display unity and show citizens that they can work together and deliver a stable government," he added.
In a pre-poll deal, the partners fielded joint candidates in all the 28 seats, with the Congress in 21 and JDS in seven seats in Karnataka for the elections that were held in two phases on April 18 and April 23.
Commenting on exit polls, most forecasting another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP almost sweeping Karnataka in the Lok Sabha, Rao said the decimation of JDS-Congress alliance "is far from truth."
Instead the coalition partners will be performing much better, he said.
"Have seen all the #ExilPolls2019.Figures for Karnataka are showing that the @INCIndia-JDS alliance is getting decimated. This is far from the truth.
We will be performing much, much better that what's being predicted. Wait for 23rd May," he said in a tweet.
Rao also asked the leaders to focus their energies on ousting BJP from power at the centre.
"Our foremost goal at this juncture is to help oust the BJP from power at the centre.Let us focus all our energies on that," he added.
Rao said he along with K C Venugopal, Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara and D K Shivakumar met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and discussed ways to strengthen the Congress party in Karnataka and the coalition government.
"Results of May 23rd are going to give us a huge boost," he added.
Backing Rao's appeal, State JDS president A H Vishwanath, in Mysuru, said the coalition government will continue to work for the people under Kumaraswamy's leadership for the full term as agreed by Gandhi and Deve Gowda after the assembly election gave a fractured verdict.
The recent verbal sparring began after the 'Siddaramiah for CM' clamour within a section of the Congress.
Vishwanath had blamed Siddaramaiah for causing the rift between the coalition partners.
Kumaraswamy also stirred a hornet's nest by saying Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge should have been made the chief minister long ago, but was denied the opportunity for reasons best known to Congress leaders.
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Trump says he called off dispatching envoys to Iran talks
Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”
