Five deaths, 249 fresh cases of COVID-19 in Karnataka on Monday
Bengaluru: Karnataka on Monday neared the 150mark of total casualties due to the deadly Coronavirus. With five more deaths between Sunday 5 pm and Monday at 5 pm, the toll in the state has climbed up to 142. After the state crossed 9000 total cases mark on Sunday, 249 fresh cases on Monday have taken the tally to 9,399.
The Health and Family Welfare Department in the latest health bulletin on Monday evening confirmed 249 new cases on Monday.
Bengaluru Urban District continued to add to the count of fatalities in the state and reported three deaths on Monday due to the virus. The District has so far reported 67 COVID-19 deaths. Bellary and Chamrajnagar Districts also recorded one death each on Monday.
Among the Districts that reported fresh cases on Monday are: Bengaluru Urban 126, Kalaburagi 27, Vijaypura 15, Udupi 14, Dakshina Kannada 12, Davangere 9, Uttara Kannada and Bagalkote 6 each, Bidar and Chikkamagaluru 5 each, Dharwad and Bengaluru Rural 4 each, Ramanagar 3, Chitradurga, Kolar, Kodagu and Tumkuru 2 each, Yadgiri, Mysuru, Chikkaballapura, Gadag and Koppal reported one case each.
Of the 9,399 cases reported so far in the state the 5,730 patients have recovered from the virus and have been discharged from the hospitals including 111 on Monday. 142 have died due to the virus while the state currently has 3,523 active cases, the bulletin added.
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K'taka MLAs group photoshoot triggers speculation about leadership change, cabinet rejig
Bengaluru (PTI): A group photoshoot of Karnataka MLAs on Wednesday triggered speculation about a possible leadership change and cabinet reshuffle in the state.
The timing of the group photoshoot gave rise to speculation, as such an exercise is generally held during the end of the Assembly's five years tenure, which is 2028 in this case.
While some, including those in the ruling party and opposition, linked it to the possibility of a CM change in the days ahead, there is also speculation linking it to the much-awaited cabinet reshuffle.
There are also talks within the ruling party circles that Speaker U T Khader arranged the group photoshoot because he is likely to be inducted into the cabinet during the rejig.
Interestingly, when the Speaker announced the group photoshoot in the House on Tuesday and invited MLAs to attend the same, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, addressing the Chair, expressed surprise about its timing.
Trying to take a dig at the ruling party, the opposition BJP posted the group photo on 'X' and asked the Congress, "This is CM Siddaramaiah's outgoing photo shoot, isn't it?"
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka in the Assembly, poking fun at Speaker Khader said, "I have doubts about him (Khader). Usually, group photoshoots are done at the end of five years. I think he feels his tenure as Speaker is ending, so he wants to keep the photo ready before that."
He asked CM Siddaramaiah to tell the House as how longer Khader will be the Speaker.
Siddaramaiah responded by saying Khader will be Speaker until the high command decides.
Ashoka, laughingly, retorted, saying Khader was desiring and dreaming of becoming a minister. Khader responded by saying "No, nothing like that."
Congress MLA Vijayananda Kashappanavar, questioning what's wrong if the photo shoot is held now, told reporters, "Speaker Khader may have expectations to become a minister and he may become a minister....I too have similar expectations for myself."
Amid the ongoing power struggle within the ruling Congress fueled by speculation about a chief minister change, some Congress MLAs have been pushing for a cabinet rejig for some time, with several aspirants openly expressing their wish to be inducted.
Karnataka has a sanctioned strength of 34 ministers, including the chief minister. Two cabinet berths are currently vacant, following the resignation of B Nagendra over allegations of embezzlement at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, and the sacking of K N Rajanna on the instructions of the party high command.
The speculation about leadership change has been fuelled by the reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.
