Anyone who accepts Congress ideology is welcome to the party: Mallikarjun Kharge
Mangaluru(PTI): All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the party would welcome anyone who accepts its ideology and follows the party leadership.
Addressing reporters here, he said he could not predict what would happen in future in politics.
"I don't have prophecies and we have not taken anyone to the party by checking their blood," he said on the statement by BJP leader K S Eshwarappa that Jagadish Shettar would return to the BJP. "If they accept our ideology, they are welcome," he said.
On Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's remark that Lingayats' support would add to the BJP's tally, Kharge said it showed that the government under him had not done any work on the field. "It is clear that the BJP has not done any developmental work. He is not claiming that the BJP will come to power on the basis of their work."
Kharge said the BJP was obviously not in a winning position and were making statements out of frustration. "Political parties should work on their ideologies. If any party fights elections on the basis of caste or religion, it is not good for the country as well as for democracy," he said.
Kharge is on a two-day tour of the coastal districts of Karnataka as part of the campaign for the May 10 elections.
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Cordelia cruise case: Delhi HC gives nod to disciplinary action against Sameer Wankhede
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Friday gave its nod to the continuation of disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the 2021 Cordelia cruise drugs case.
A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan allowed the Centre's plea against an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which quashed the disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede in the matter.
"This petition is allowed," said the bench while pronouncing the verdict.
A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.
The central government challenged the CAT order passed on January 19, quashing the 'Charge Memorandum' issued to Wankhede on August 18, 2025, by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
Wankhede, a 2008 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, made headlines for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's family by threatening to implicate his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case during his tenure in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai in 2021.
Before the CAT, Wankhede filed an original application challenging the disciplinary inquiry against him by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs for allegedly seeking confidential information related to the probe from NCB's legal department after he was relieved from the agency.
It was also alleged that he sought an "assurance" from the NCB's legal officer to "steer the investigation" in the probe.
On January 12, the high court refused to interfere with an order of the CAT staying the disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede.
It had, however, asked the CAT to make "sincere efforts" to decide the main matter on January 14 or within the next 10 days.
