Prior permission mandatory for using govt premises is not to target anyone: Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday defended the decision making prior permission mandatory for any private organisation, association or a group of persons to use government property or premises, and said they were only enforcing the orders of the earlier BJP regime.
He also sought to play down the allegations that the government's order issued on Saturday was targeted at restricting the RSS activities.
"We have not spoken about anyone (specifically). Certain orders were made by the BJP government in the past when Jagadish Shettar was the chief minister. To implement those orders, we have redefined it. We have not made any changes. We have continued with the orders made by the BJP government," Shivakumar told reporters here in response to a question.
While Saturday's government order does not specifically name RSS, the provisions of the order are said to be aimed at impacting the activities of the organisation, including its route marches.
The order is based on a Cabinet decision on Thursday, prompted by Panchayat Raj and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge's letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking a ban on RSS' activities in public places.
In a letter to the chief minister dated October 4, Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been conducting its 'shakhas' in government and government-aided schools, as well as on public grounds, where "slogans are shouted and negative ideas are instilled in the minds of children and youth."
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
