CM Siddaramaiah rules out change of guard as minister hosts dinner for him, cabinet colleagues
Bengaluru, Jan 3: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said there is no change of guard in the offing in the state and also ruled out any cabinet reshuffle.
Rumours were rife about some major political developments in the state after Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi hosted a dinner for Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues at his residence on Thursday.
There were also speculations that the state would get a new Congress state president replacing Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is holding the post for the past five years.
"What can I do if you speculate about our gathering over dinner as a meeting?" Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
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When asked what the purpose was behind the gathering, Siddaramaiah said, "to have meals."
To the question whether the meeting was for a change of the chief minister or cabinet reshuffle, he said, "No. Those are all lies. No such change is happening."
A few ministers met Siddaramaiah at the dining table on Thursday night.
About 18 to 20 ministers and MLAs were present at the dinner, Congress sources said.
Since the event happened in the absence of Shivakumar, who was abroad, rumours started making round that the dinner was being hosted to discuss the next Congress president in Karnataka.
Shivakumar has been holding the Congress state president post since March, 2020.
The BJP MP and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Friday said there was a strong infighting in the Congress and this dinner party in the absence of Shivakumar was its reflection.
"While Shivakumar is trying to remove the chief minister, whose image has taken a beating due to the MUDA scam, the chief minister is now trying to cut down on Shivakumar's stature by removing him from the KPCC president's post," Shettar told reporters.
He said the infighting would finally lead to the fall of the government.
State Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa dismissed these speculations, saying that it was just a dinner which he had attended.
"We just had our dinner. We did not discuss any politics," he said.
Shivakumar has been holding the Congress state president post since March, 2020. Under his leadership, the party stormed to power with 134 seats in 224-member Karnataka legislative Assembly in 2023.
The Congress also increased its tally in the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka from just one out of 28 seats in 2019 to nine in 2024. Further, the party swept in the assembly bypolls by winning all the three seats recently.
The party high command often considered Shivakumar as its troubleshooter.
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Uber, Ola partner with Bengaluru Police on safety
Bengaluru (PTI): Bengaluru City Police (BCP) on Monday said that it has, in collaboration with cab aggregator platforms Uber and Ola, implemented a technology-driven integration aimed at enhancing the safety of riders and drivers.
It would also strengthen emergency response mechanisms across the city.
As part of this initiative, emergency call facilities have been incorporated within the Uber and Ola mobile applications used for booking rides, it said.
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Through this integration, riders and drivers seeking emergency assistance can directly share real-time location data, trip details, and contact information with Bangalore City Police's 112 emergency response infrastructure from within the Uber/Ola app itself, an official release said.
Noting that this seamless flow of critical information enables quicker police access during emergencies, facilitating faster response times and potentially life-saving interventions by first responders, it said the initiative is a significant step towards leveraging technology partnerships to ensure safer urban mobility and improved public safety.
