Rahul Gandhi meets Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, discusses govt formation in Karnataka
New Delhi(PTI): Amid a race for the Karnataka chief minister's post, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and is reported to have held discussions over government formation in the southern state.
Gandhi drove to Kharge's residence and held a closed-door meeting with the Congress chief. Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala, who is in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka, was also present at the meeting.
Kharge has held discussions with party leaders from Karnataka and the three observers appointed by him to oversee the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday. Both Siddaramaiah and state Congress president D K Shivakumar are front runners for the chief minister's post and both are lobbying for it.
While former chief minister Siddaramaiah is in Delhi, Shivakumar cancelled his visit to the national capital on Monday evening citing health issues, fuelling speculations that all is not well in the party. Shivakumar arrived in the national capital Tuesday afternoon. After arriving at Delhi airport, he did not speak to the media and walked away with folded hands parrying a barrage of questions from reporters.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will hold discussions over government formation in Karnataka.
In just-concluded Assembly elections, the Congress scored an emphatic victory with 135 seats while the ruling BJP and the former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.
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HC Judge’s controversial “women of Surapura go to the leader on first night,” remark sparks row
Bengaluru: A controversial statement made by Karnataka High Court Judge, Justice V. Srishananda during judicial proceedings has gone viral across social media platforms. The Judge’s remarks have sparked widespread outrage from different quarters.
In the purported video doing rounds on social media, the judge allegedly stated that, "Anyone can get married. However, the practice of staying with the leader only on the first night still exists in Surapura taluk of Yadgir district, they are then second hand."
The Maharishi Valmiki Nayaka Sangha and the Union of Mass Organizations called for a bandh on January 13 to express their disapproval. A formal petition demanding action against the judge has been submitted to the President, the Chief Justice of India, and the Karnataka Governor through the Yadgir Deputy Commissioner.
This is not the first time the judge has sparked controversy with his remarks. In September 2024, Justice V. Srishananda referred to Goripalya in Bengaluru as ‘Pakistan.’ He had allegedly stated, “The police are afraid to take action against the criminals of Goripalya in Bengaluru, because it is in Pakistan.”
In addition, another video of the judge allegedly speaking in an indecent manner with a woman lawyer had also gone viral, prompting a suo-motu cognizance by the Supreme Court. The apex court had directed the Karnataka High Court Registrar to submit a report within two weeks, after which Justice Srishananda reportedly expressed regret for his remarks.
Is this man fit to b a judge ? He claims , falsely , that all women of a particular village go to the leader on getting married on” fist night” they are then “ second hand” The same judge who apologised to the SC for his obscene and anti secular comments i @TheLeaflet_in pic.twitter.com/hRQ86YA0WZ
— Indira Jaising (@IJaising) January 15, 2025
