JD(S) makes it clear it will not cede Mandya LS seat to Congress
Bengaluru, Feb 1: Amid pressure from within Congress not to cede Hassan and Mandya Lok Sabha seats to its coalition partner, the JD(S) Friday made it clear that it would not let go of the seats that are its party bastions.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said Mandya was JD(S) stronghold and he cannot go against the feelings of the people and workers, while elder brother and PWD Minister H D Revanna said JD(S) was even ready for a triangular contest in Hassan.
Both Hassan and Mandya, where the BJP's strength is negligible, are currently held by JD(S), which Congress too is eyeing this time.
"If needed, can do it (alliance) or else we are ready for a triangular (contest). We from Hassan had never asked for an alliance. We have the strength to fight," Revanna said.
Speaking to reporters here, Revanna, also the Hassan district in-charge Minister said "...the wish of our family is that Deve Gowda should contest from Hassan and win with the highest lead."
Asked about his son Prajwal Revanna contesting from Hassan, Revanna said the decision of Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy on the matter would be final.
On several instances, Deve Gowda had indicated that Prajwal contest from Hassan, the party bastion he has been contesting from.
Pointing out that seat sharing is to be decided by national leaders of both parties, Revanna said JD(S) would abide by Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy's decision on the issue.
Congress sources said that during internal discussions on Thursday,local leaders had asked the leadership not to cede Mysuru and Tumakuru seats and the party be allowed to choose one seat between Hassan and Mandya.
Seat-sharing is expected to be a litmus test for both parties, mostly in old Mysuru region constituencies, where JD(S) has emerged as a dominant force in the recent past and the Congress has its sitting MPs.
On Revannas comments that JD(S) was ready for a triangular contest, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy said such a situation may not arise.
"He might have reacted because of developments in local politics there. Such a situation may not arise," he told reporters.
Kumaraswamy also hit out at a media report that tickets of a movie, staring his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy, were being given out free of cost in Mandya, as he was being projected as party candidate for the Lok Sabha seat there, by a section in JD(S).
He is growing as an actor, he needs encouragement from everyone, I'm saying this as a father, not as Chief Minister," he said as he blamed the media of trying to push his son to politics
He pointed out that Nikhil had stated that Deve Gowda should contest from Mandya, if not from Hassan.
To a question on sections within Congress opining that late actor-turned-politician Ambareesh's wife Sumalatha be fielded from Mandya, Kumaraswamy said "She can contest, no issues. Can you stop anyone from contesting an election in this country? Everyone one has the opportunity.
Maintaining that Mandya was JD(S) stronghold and people have nurtured the party there,he said "Just because someone is contesting, can I go against the feeling of our people? We will decide on it when the time comes....I cannot go against the feeling of my party workers."
Some within the congress feel that that JD(S) will finally concede the seat for Sumalatha, as both Gowda and Ambareesh family share good bonding, party sources said.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after meeting a large group of Ambareeshs supporters who had come here to request her to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Mandya, Sumalatha said she needed time to decide about entering politics.
"I dont want to lose this bonding that Ambareesh shared with the people of Mandya. I need to think about it because this is not a small decision to take at haste. I also have to discuss with Congress leaders.
"I had no interest in politics earlier,but if I decide to enter politics, it will only be from Mandya," she said, adding that Ambareesh was associated with the Congress and the family too believed that "the party is theirs."
Ambareesh had represented Mandya, both in Assembly and Parliament from Congress. He had also served as a Minister in both the state and central government.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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