Be cautious while welcoming people into party, says Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Jun 25: Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar on Friday asked his partymen to be cautious while welcoming people from other parties, saying the new entrants should not "spoil the party" by indulging in groupism.
The statement seems aimed at Chamarajpet legislator B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, who is at the forefront of the faction in the party, projecting Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah as the Chief Ministerial face for the 2023 assembly polls, which has irked Shivakumar, who is also nursing similar ambitions.
Khan, who was earlier with JD(S) and once considered the trusted lieutenant of its leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, joined Congress with seven others from the regional party in 2018 and has since been a Siddaramaiah loyalist.
"Both from JD(S) and BJP, some workers are desiring a good change in the state.
There are people who are educated and have put in struggle, who want to join our party, accepting our ideology and respecting the leadership of Sonia Gandhi (Congress President). Send a proposal with the list of such people," Shivakumar told party workers.
"If you feel that the party will benefit from such people wanting to join the Congress, induct them...but they should not come and indulge in groupism.
Don't induct people who come from other parties, indulge in groupism and try to spoil our party.
Induct those who are ready to leave 'personality worship' behind and do only 'party worship'," he added.
The issue of CM face for the assembly polls has widened fissures within the party and also triggered a game of one- upmanship between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.
Khan's repeated statements projecting Siddaramaiah paved the way for other loyalists of the former Chief Minister to make similar open statements, despite diktats from AICC General Secretary in-charge of the State, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shivakumar against it.
Following Shivakumar's statement asking Siddaramaiah to rein in MLAs projecting him as next CM, the latter on Thursday asked legislators not to make such statements and said the high command would take a decision on the matter at an appropriate time.
Siddaramaiah himself had joined the Congress with his followers in 2006 after he was expelled from the JD(S).
Further, indicating that leaders from other parties, especially from BJP, are in touch with him, Shivakumar said, "I don't want to divulge as to how many are in touch with me.
BJP legislators and Ministers are aware that their party will not come to power once again, for any reason.
In such a situation we have to utilise the opportunity, organise our party and bring our party to power."
He said the party would replace people not actively involved in organisational work and that efforts were on to make Congress a cadre based party.
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Video Does Not Show S Jaishankar Being Asked To Leave Trump’s Inauguration
CLAIM: Video shows External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar being asked to leave Trump's inauguration ceremony.
FACT CHECK: The live streaming of the event shows a staffer requesting a photographer, who was taking pictures, to move back from the front row, and not S Jaishankar.
A video from Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony as the 47th president of the United States has surfaced with false claims that it shows External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar being asked to leave the ceremony midway.
BOOM went through the live streaming of the event and found that a staffer was requesting a photographer who was taking pictures, to move back from the front row, and not Jaishankar. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met foreign ministers from Japan and Australia at the ceremony. In the photographs shared from his X handle, Jaishankar can be seen seated in the front row.
A user on X posted the video with the below caption.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
The video was streamed live on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies' official YouTube channel on January 20, 2025.
From the 3:08:30 timestamp of the video, we found that a photographer was capturing moments from Trump's inaugural ceremony from various angles. At one point, she is seen stepping in front of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, seated in the front row, to take photographs of the event.
After noticing the woman photographer taking pictures from the front row, a staffer came towards her, called the photographer, and requested her to move back. This can be seen from timestamp 3:08:50.
The staffer was then seen leaving the front row shortly after making the request. At the timestamp 3:09:18, the photographer can be seen moving back. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar can be seen remaining seated in his position.
We then zoomed in on the video and was able to establish that it was the woman photographer and not Jaishankar, who was asked to move back. It can also be noticed that the staffer was not looking at Jaishankar, but instead looking at the photographer, as she was taking pictures from a lower angle.
That specific part of the live stream is shown below.
(This story was originally published by boomlive.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
