'I am not bothered,' says Siddaramaiah on BJP & JD(S) poll pact for LS polls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said he is not bothered about the poll pact between the BJP and JD(S) for the Lok Sabha elections saying the people will back the Congress party.
His remark's come after senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa today stated that the saffron party will have an understanding with former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, an announcement that shot up political temperature in the State.
Addressing mediapersons Siddaramaiah said, "Whether there will be an alliance or whether they will fight separately, I am not bothered".
"We will appeal to the people to vote. People are with us. They will vote for us," the chief minister said when his reaction was sought.
Earlier, Yediyurappa, who is also the BJP parliamentary board member told reporters that as part of the poll understanding, the JD(S) will contest in four Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, which has a total of 28 constituencies.
"BJP and JD(S) will have an understanding. Amit Shah (Union Home Minister) has agreed to give four Lok Sabha seats (to JD(S))," the four-time chief minister said.
The BJP swept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka by winning 25 seats, while an independent backed by it won in one seat. The Congress and JD(S) won one seat each.
JD(S) had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Congress, as both parties were then running a coalition government under the Chiefministership of Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, termed the development as not new.
"Let them do it (have an understanding)....earlier too they had done it when Ashokanna (BJP leader R Ashoka) and Kumaranna (Kumaraswamy) had come together in the previous (BJP-JDS coalition) government. Nothing wrong let them do anything for their survival. But my question is how their (JDS) ideology works? Deve Gowda at earlier situations had ruled out alliance with BJP," he said.
Raising questions on JD(S)' survival in the future, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief said, "It is left for them. They would have built a party based on an ideology... I don't know what will happen to their party, their legislators, former legislators. It is left for them." PTI KSU RS KSU
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‘Self-styled Vishwaguru stands exposed’: Cong's dig at PM over Pak role in US-Iran ceasefire
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a “severe setback” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “highly personalised diplomacy” and “the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed”.
The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi's “cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.
“The conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India’s global stature and standing,” Ramesh claimed.
PM Modi had said nothing about Israel’s "genocide" in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.
“The role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi’s highly personalised diplomacy,” he said.
The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded – unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.
That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi’s strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.
“He (Modi) or his team has also never explained why Op Sindoor was suddenly and abruptly halted on May 10th 2025 - the first announcement of which came from the US Secretary of State and for which the US President has claimed credit almost a hundred times since then,” the Congress leader said.
“There is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled,” Ramesh said.
“His cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House,” the Congress leader added.
US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy the Iranian civilisation.
Trump made the dramatic announcement on Truth Social on Tuesday evening (US time) even as Democrats called for his removal over unhinged threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation.
"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," the US President said in a social media post.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and attacks took place in Israel, Iran and across the Gulf region early Wednesday.
Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran but the deal doesn't cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday.
