BJP won’t succeed in destabilizing govt.: Siddaramaiah
‘No MLAs will resign’
Bengaluru, September 18: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah said that though the BJP leaders have been making brazen attempts to destabilize the coalition government in the state, their day dream of forming their own government would not come true.
Speaking to reporters at the Vidhana Soudha here on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah said that earlier also, the BJP had formed the government through ‘Operation Lotus’ means. Now, the shameless people have been doing the same thing. Neither the Congress-JDS coalition government nor the Congress has any differences. There was no confusion or dissatisfaction. It was just a media creation which is baseless and rumours, he said.
Parameshwar Naik, MB Patil, Bhima Naik, BC Patil and others were the aspirants of minister posts and they have placed their demands. But no one has said about leaving the party, he clarified.
Safe for five years
The Congress-JDS coalition government in the state would complete five years term. There was no doubt in it. As the MLAs have supported the government, it would not require anybody’s protection. All MLAs from the Congress were disciplined leaders and they were committed to the party stand. There were no problems in the party. When this was the situation, where was the question of solving the problem? He discussed with Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and he would not leave the party, he said.
What’s wrong in holding meeting?
"What is wrong in conducting the meetings and using private cars by the ministers? Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy is also using his private car. There is no need to read much into the meetings of the CM", Ministers and MLAs, he said.
Cabinet expansion after Council poll
Election to the three positions of the Legislative Council was announced on October 3. So, the Cabinet expansion would be taken up after the Council poll. Six places were filled and the party high command would take a decision regarding this issue, he said.
They would go to New Delhi to discuss the selection of candidates for the Council election. Election would be held for three positions to be elected from the Assembly and remaining three, positions would be filled through nomination, he said.
Minister R.V Deshpande, Former ministers R.B Thimmapur, M.B Patil, MLAs Appaji Nadagouda, B.C Patil, Bhima Naik, Former MLA Ashok Pattan, MLC Ivan D’Souza and others were present.
“One cannot term small demands about their constituencies as differences. It is false that the MLAs will desert the party just for that reason. There is nothing wrong in MLAs asking ministerial berths. There is no need to give colour to the meeting of some MLAs with Jarkiholi brothers”.
- Siddaramaiah, Former CM
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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