Four including Ramesh Babu, Arathi Krishna nominated to Legislative Council: Reports
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Government has reportedly nominated four members to fill the vacant seats in the State Legislative Council.
Those nominated include former KPCC Media Cell head Ramesh Babu, Vice-President of the NRI Forum Dr. Arathi Krishna, senior journalist K. Shivakumar, and Dalit leader F.H. Jakkappanavar.
The vacancies had arisen following the expiry of terms of Congress members U.B. Venkatesh and Prakash K. Rathod in October 2024, and JDS member K.A. Tippeswamy in January 2025. Another seat became vacant after C.P. Yogeshwar resigned to contest the Channapatna by-election. These four nominees have now been named to fill the vacant positions.
Ramesh Babu, once with the JD(S), had rebelled against its leadership and later joined the Congress. He currently serves as a party spokesperson and has now been nominated to the Council.
Dr. Arathi Krishna, daughter of senior Congress leader and former Rural Development Minister Begane Ramaiah, has been nominated as well. She has long been associated with the Congress and earlier served as the first chairperson of the KPCC NRI Cell.
Professionally, she worked as a Community Development Officer at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC and as a consultant with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs’ India Development Foundation.
She also established the Krishna Foundation, an NGO focused on educational facilities and socio-economic development in remote Karnataka villages. Dr. Arathi holds a master’s degree in Political Science from Mysore University and another in International Commerce and Public Policy from George Mason University, Washington. She has also been awarded an honorary doctorate by Kuvempu University.
For the first time in the country, a Dalit journalist has been nominated to the Legislative Council. Senior journalist Dr. K. Shivakumar, originally from Bangarpet in Kolar district, is the son of Krishnappa and Eramma. He pursued his early and higher education in Kolar before completing his PhD from Mysore University. Beginning his career at Andolana daily, he later joined The New Indian Express, where he currently serves as Senior Resident Editor.
Dalit community leader F.H. Jakkappanavar, who has served as a Trade Union president and also headed the Congress Dalit wing in the state, has also been nominated.
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PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
