Congress Karnataka chief D K Shivakumar signals his intention to become next Karnataka CM
Tumakuru (K'taka) (PTI): A day after the Congress romped to victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the party's state unit president D K Shivakumar on Sunday hinted that he is in the chief ministerial race saying he took everyone along and never sought anything for himself.
He also brushed aside speculations about differences between him and former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Speaking to reporters at Nonavinakere here, Shivakumar said the Congress and the Legislature Party will decide the next chief minister of Karnataka.
On the question that those who toiled should also get preference instead of those who are liked by the people, Shivakumar said when Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao had resigned as the Congress Legislature Party president and head of the state unit respectively after the party's rout in 2019 by-elections, then Congress national president Sonia Gandhi had reposed faith in him and made him president.
Shivakumar also recalled that when he was in jail in a money laundering case, Gandhi had visited him to show her support.
"I had not done anything wrong for myself. Whatever I did was for the party. All my sufferings were for the party," he asserted.
The Congress state chief, who won the Assembly election on Saturday from Kanakapura, said he had toiled day and night while taking everyone along.
"Everyone was saying that there are differences between me and Siddaramaiah but let me tell you not a single iota of difference is there. I did not give anyone a chance. I just kept myself grounded and walked my path," Shivakumar added.
The Congress won the Karnataka Assembly elections with a thumping majority by winning 135 out of 224 seats whereas the ruling BJP could garner only 66 seats.
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
