BY Vijayendra targets CM Siddaramaiah over Karnataka's financial situation
Udupi (Karnataka), Mar 2 (PTI): Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Sunday said his party will raise several key issues concerning the state during the legislature session starting March 3, as he targeted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the state's financial situation.
The 15-day session will begin with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's address to the joint sitting of the state legislature at Vidhana Soudha on Monday.
It will also see Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who holds the finance portfolio, presenting his record 16th budget on March 7.
The size of the 2025-26 budget is expected to touch Rs 4 lakh crore, up from Rs 3.71 lakh crore in the current fiscal.
"When the BJP was in power and B S Yediyurappa was the chief minister, every district eagerly awaited special grants, as he would announce them in his budgets. But now, the situation is different, and I feel pity for CM Siddaramaiah. He has tied his own hands because of the guarantee schemes," Vijayendra told reporters.
He claimed that the state's financial condition had deteriorated to the point where the irrigation, PWD, and other departments were struggling to pay their electricity bills.
"According to Energy Minister K J George himself, around Rs 6,000 crore in electricity bills is due from various departments," he added.
Highlighting the issues the BJP plans to raise, Vijayendra said the party would question the law and order situation, the non-allocation of development funds to MLAs across party lines, and the government's decision to shut down nine universities established during the BJP era due to a lack of funds—approximately Rs 300-400 crore.
When asked about internal differences within the Karnataka BJP, Vijayendra said it was time to put an end to such discussions. "Who the state president will be will be known very soon," he said.
"In the entire country, state presidents have been appointed for only 12 states. In the coming days, announcements will be made for the remaining states, including ours. Once the state president is announced, all other issues within the Karnataka BJP will be resolved," he asserted.
A factional rift within the BJP has become public, with a group led by Bijapur City MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi demanding Vijayendra's removal as president.
They have openly criticised Vijayendra, accusing him of engaging in "adjustment politics" with the ruling Congress. They have also targeted him and his father, Yediyurappa, for allegedly trying to keep the party under their control.
When asked about his expectations regarding the next state president, Vijayendra responded, "There will be a good president, and it will be known in a few days."
He had earlier expressed confidence in retaining the post.
Commenting on speculation about Deputy CM D K Shivakumar and the BJP after the Congress leader shared a stage with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at a Shivaratri event on Wednesday, Vijayendra dismissed the rumours.
"There is no such thing... I don't feel that way," he said.
However, he added, "One thing is true—there are several Chief Ministerial aspirants in the ruling party. You will see certain developments in the days ahead. Wait and watch."
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
