Karnataka Congress MLAs told to work towards winning 20 Lok Sabha seats
Bengaluru, May 24: After wresting power from BJP in Karnataka in the Assembly polls, the state Congress has set its sight on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the party asking its MLAs to work towards winning 20 seats.
Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats, and the target of 20 seats was fixed at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held at Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday.
"We should win 20 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. We can't sit quietly thinking that we have won the Assembly election. The momentum must carry into the Lok Sabha polls," state Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said at the meeting.
The BJP had swept 2019 Lok Sabha polls by winning 25 out of 28 seats, while an independent supported by it won one seat. The Congress and JD(S) won just one seat each.
Asking MLAs not to neglect party workers and to respond to people who voted them to power, Shivakumar called on them to ensure that the Congress office is functioning in every district and constituency across the state.
ALSO READ: BJP targets Deputy CM Shivakumar for his 'saffronisation' remarks on Karnataka Police
Later, speaking to reporters, the KPCC chief said the government's top priority is to fulfil the five 'guarantees' made to citizens ahead of polls.
"MLAs have been asked to tour their constituencies to thank voters for the win in Assembly polls," he said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the CLP leader, asked MLAs to regularly attend Assembly sessions.
He also asked the MLAs to create awareness among citizens on the "discrimination" Karnataka is facing at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led government at the centre in terms of devolution of funds, and the injustice that happened to the state with respect to the finance commission.
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Rupee falls 1 paisa to 85.92 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee slipped 1 paisa to its record low of 85.92 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, the third straight session of downfall, weighed down by a stronger American currency and higher crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the relentless outflow of foreign funds amid soaring US bond yields boosted the American currency, while subdued domestic equity markets pushed the rupee down further.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at its historic low level of 85.94 and inched up to 85.92 against the greenback in initial deals, trading with a loss of 1 paisa from its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee plunged 17 paise to settle at its all-time low closing level of 85.91 against the dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent lower but stayed elevated at 108.80.
The 10-year US bond yields also remained elevated at 4.66 per cent amid expectations of delayed interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve on better growth prospects of the world's largest economy.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.10 per cent to USD 76.08 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 243.43 points, or 0.31 per cent, lower at 77,905.06 points, while the Nifty was down 72.40 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 23,616.55 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 3,362.18 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
