I’m not a second grade citizen: MB Patil
Bengaluru, June 7: Former minister MB Patil said that he would not accept the minister post if he was offered during next expansion of the cabinet as he was not a second grade citizen.
Speaking to reporters at his house at Sadashivanagar in the city on Thursday, Patil said that when the coalition government came to power,he was naturally an aspirant for the ministerial berth. But if he was offered the minister post during the second expansion of the cabinet, he would not accept it. Nothing is important than his self respect, he said.
Since 1991, he had built the party in Vijayapura district. As irrigation minister, he has done good works. They have asked deputy chief minister post to north Karnataka. But nothing was given to them, he said.
Did DK Shivakumar, KJ George and Krishna Byre Gowda lose their ministerial berths? He has met several leaders since Wednesday and discussed. Today, AICC secretary Satish Jarkiholi met him and discussed the present situation and Jarkiholi is like a high command to him. They have just discussed about their personal, political and party issues. It is not possible to disclose before the media.
Whatever they do, that is for the benefit of the Congress party, he said. “Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar is my close friend. He can come and meet me. There are no differences between us. I have discussed with former chief minister Siddaramaiah”, he said.
When asked about his future decision, Patil said that he would go to his constituency and thank the people for their support. AICC secretary Satish Jarkiholi said that it is natural that some leaders were unhappy because of not considering them while forming the cabinet. Everything should be rectified in coming days and ensure suitable positions. He would bring this issue to the state and national level leaders. They have discussed these issues. Belagavi district was given one seat in the cabinet and he would not discuss about this. Remaining things would be discussed and solved, he said.
Patil unhappy
It is said that MB Patil who met Siddaramaiah at the latter’s house, became emotional and wept for keeping him away from the cabinet. When Patil said that he does not know as to why he was left in the list though he was the aspirant, Siddaramaiah pacified him and asked him not to resign from the MLA post, sources said.
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
