Bangalore North: BJP leader Karandlaje being 'controversial' is plus for me: Cong's Rajeev Gowda
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje is known for indulging in communal division and polarisation which people don’t want here, alleges Congress leader M V Rajeev Gowda as he takes on her in Bangalore North constituency in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
People want to enjoy a good quality of life, grow and prosper, and don’t want this area to become communally charged and divided, says the former Professor of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore where he taught economics and policy.
Bangalore North has been a BJP stronghold for a long time, but the chairman of the AICC Research Department appeared upbeat about his electoral prospects. There is no Modi wave in Karnataka this Lok Sabha elections, the 60-year-old claimed.
It’s the five guarantee schemes of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government delivered within 10 months of coming to power are what is helping people who are in trouble, he said.
Also, the “sense of injustice to Karnataka (in terms devolution of funds by Centre) and the (dismal) record of the previous BJP government here are what will work in favour of the Congress.” A national spokesperson of the Congress and a former Rajya Sabha member, this is the first time that Gowda is contesting for Lok Sabha elections.
Gowda said he is “very very” confident of winning as people of his constituency are happy to have an educated and qualified candidate who has already done “good work” for Bengaluru and Karnataka.
“We are getting very good response from people. Our party is united, our cadre is working unitedly,” claimed Gowda, who had earlier served as Vice-Chairman of Karnataka Policy and Planning Commission.
He said a plus for him in the polls is that Karandlaje — the Udupi-Chikmagalur MP who was shifted to Bangalore North by BJP — is a “very controversial candidate.” “She faced ‘go back’ slogans in Udupi-Chikmagalur from her own people….here (Bangalore North) also enough people are not cooperating with her… So basically, people feel like this is not a candidate they want to support,” he claimed.
“They want to switch towards my side. Then there’s another side of people who say look, this lady only causes communal confusion, division and polarisation and are not happy with that. Bengaluru people want to enjoy a good quality of life and grow and prosper. They don’t want this area to become communally charged and divided,” he told PTI in an interview.
Gowda said his chances of winning are very good, noting that out of eight Assembly segments coming under the Lok Sabha constituency, three are with the Congress, one BJP MLA (S T Somashekar representing Yeshwanthpur) is not cooperating with her (Karandlaje) and he is campaigning for him. “So it’s now four Assembly segments that are in our favour.” “In Dasarahalli, the previous JD(S) MLA has come and joined the Congress. It has given us a lot of strength. In KR Puram again, a whole bunch of corporators from the BJP have joined us and that also gives us strength. So, overall, we have tremendous momentum in three-fourths of the constituency. We have to figure out how to create similar momentum in the other two smaller seats and we are working on that.. So overall, the campaign is positive and favourable,” he explained.
“Last time, there was a Modi wave but this time there is no such major crisis that causes people to go back to BJP…People are favouring us because we have already delivered. Everyone knows Prime Minister Modi just keeps making announcements and you know, we’re not sure what we’ll actually get from him later on kind of a thing,” he added.
On the BJP-JD(S) electoral alliance, Gowda claimed that the regional party is in its “last days”.
“Unfortunately for them, they’re going to be swallowed up by the BJP. They’ve made too many compromises along the way and a lot of secular supporters of the JD(S) outreach to the Congress this time so it’s not going to help them at all,” he said.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
