Fact finding team to review Congress' performance in LS polls, says Dy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said a fact-finding committee would be formed to analyse the party’s performance in the recently concluded Parliamentary elections.
The ruling Congress won nine seats while the BJP and its ally JD(S) got 19 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.
Though the Congress succeeded in increasing its tally from just one in 2019 LS election to nine this time, it was behind its target of winning 15.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with party office bearers in KPCC office, Shivakumar said, “Our performance in the Parliamentary elections has not been up to our expectations except in Kalyana Karnataka region. We expected more than 15 seats, but it hasn’t happened.”
The committee will ascertain what went wrong, analyse the party’s performance in each assembly constituency and submit a report, Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state president, said.
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The Deputy CM pointed out that the party won nine seats against the media prediction of two.
“But we are not satisfied with the result. We could have won four to five more seats."
Shivakumr said he and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will hold four meetings to review party’s performance.
The report will be submitted to a team of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) when it visits Karnataka to review the election results.
On the assembly by-polls following the resignation of three MLAs after they won the Lok Sabha elections, Shivakumar said three teams have been formed to oversee preparations for the by-elections.
“One of the teams has already submitted a report on Shiggaon constituency. The Sandur constituency report will be submitted by July 3. Minister Chaluvarayaswamy will submit a report on the Channapatna constituency,” he said.
Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was Shiggaon MLA in Haveri district, JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy was Channapatna MLA in Ramanagara district and Congress leader E Tukaram represented the Sandur assembly seat in Ballari.
Their resignations after their victory in the Lok Sabha election have necessitated the assembly bypolls.
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Trump says Islamic State group leader was killed in joint US-Nigerian mission
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump said US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Nigeria in a mission carried out Friday.
Trump announced the joint operation in a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second in command of the Islamic State group globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
The US viewed Al-Mainuki as the key figure in IS organising and finance, and believed he was plotting attacks against the United States and its interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to share sensitive information.
Born in Nigeria's Borno province in 1982, al-Mainuki took the helm of the IS branch in West Africa after the group's previous leader in the region, Mamman Nur, was killed in 2018, according to the Counter Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.
Al-Mainuki was based in the Sahel area, the monitoring group said, adding that it is believed that he fought in Libya when IS was active in the North African nation more than a decade ago. He was sanctioned by the US in 2023.
Trump in December directed US forces to launch strikes against the Islamic State group in Nigeria, though he released little detail then about the impact.
Nigeria has been battling multiple armed groups, including at least two affiliated with IS.
The Friday night operation was the latest instance in a string of covert missions abroad that Trump has announced this year, starting with the stunning overnight raid in January to capture and remove Venezuela's then-leader Nicolás Maduro and whisk him to the US, followed nearly two months later by the launch of strikes that kicked off the war with Iran.
