CM Siddaramaiah to inaugurate new Karnataka Bhavan building in Delhi on April 2
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate on Wednesday the new Karnataka Bhavan building 'Kaveri' in the Chanakyapuri diplomatic enclave area of Delhi, officials have said.
The project, first approved in 2019, witnessed its cost escalate to approximately Rs 140 crore under successive state governments.
The new structure replaces the 50-year-old Karnataka Bhavan building that was declared unsafe by the New Delhi Municipal Council.
The inauguration ceremony will be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Pralhad Joshi, HD Kumaraswamy, Shobha Karandlaje and V Somanna, the officials said on Monday.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and state ministers HC Mahadevappa and Satish Jarkiholi will also be present.
The 'Kaveri' building features exclusive suites for the state's governor, chief minister, Karnataka High Court chief justice, and other VVIPs.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
