Karnataka Congress to kick-start preparations for bypolls soon
Bengaluru, Jul 31: The Congress in Karnataka will kick-start preparations for the by-elections in 17 constituencies, necessitated by the disqualification of rebel legislators, by holding a meeting of senior leaders on Thursday, top party sources said Wednesday.
Stating that there can be only coordination or understanding with the JD(S), a top party functionary said party workers were "happy that in a way we are out of alliance now."
He said preparations for the bypolls would start soon and added a meeting of senior party leaders have been convened on Thursday and senior party leaders will be given responsibility of constituencies.
"We don't know when the by-election will come, what the court ruling will be (on disqualified MLAs) we are not sure, but immediately we will be deputing leaders giving them responsibility of each constituencies," he said.
As most disqualified MLAs are from the Congress, the process will have to begin to search for new candidates.
"Some places strong candidates have gone, they have won two, three, four times...individual leaders will travel in the constitutencies and assess the situation and find the candidate also," he said, adding that "it won't be easy for those who have left us too."
Seventeen rebel MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) were disqualified on Sunday by the then assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar under the anti-defection law based on the complaint by their respective parties citing anti-party activities.
Fourteen MLAs from the Congress and three from JD(S) had abstained from the trust vote on July 23, when the H D Kumaraswamy government collapsed.
Responding to a question on continuity of alliance with JD(S), the Congress leader said, he didn't see the party fighting election in alliance but can try for having an understanding.
"What kind of understanding will depend on the situation, as we did during the local body polls, or else bothparties will not get any benefit," he said.
"From workers to leaders no one is in favour of alliance, party workers are happy that we have come out," he further noted.
The appointment of new KPCC office bearers has to happen and the plan is to do it in a month's time, sources said, "but our primary focus will be on the by-elections."
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Rupee sees high volatility against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee witnessed high volatility in early trade on Wednesday, as support from easing crude oil prices was offset by uncertainty over the India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said the key driver of rupee weakness in December was continued FPI selling across both equity and debt markets, with foreign investors repeatedly selling several billion dollars’ worth of Indian assets on a daily basis in the last few months, the selling intensifying in the last two months.
ALSO READ: Rupee falls 9 paise to record low of 90.87 against US dollar in early trade
However, with Brent crude oil prices hovering near recent multi-year lows of USD 59 per barrel, the local unit was supported at lower levels.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 91.05 against the US dollar, down 12 paise from its previous close.
The domestic unit, however, witnessed a sharp recovery and appreciated 97 paise to touch an early high of 89.96 against the American currency and was trading at 90.18 against the US dollar at 09.46 hrs.
On Tuesday, the rupee tanked below 91 per dollar, hitting a low of 91.14. It finally settled at 90.93 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.17 per cent higher at 98.31.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading at USD 59.54 per barrel in futures trade, as record non-OPEC supply, weak China data and optimism over a Ukraine ceasefire were the main reasons for the current fall, traders said.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday informed Parliament that, "During the current financial year, the depreciation of the INR has been influenced by the increase in trade deficit and likely prospects arising from the ongoing developments in India's trade agreement with the US, amid relatively weak support from the capital account."
"The depreciation of currency is likely to enhance export competitiveness, which in turn impacts the economy positively. On the other hand, depreciation may raise the prices of imported goods. However, the overall impact of exchange rate depreciation on domestic prices depends on the extent of the pass-through of international commodity prices to the domestic market," he said.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 146.09 points higher at 84,825.95, while the Nifty was up 62.05 points at 25,922.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 2,381.92 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
According to Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, the rupee may see a slow and steady move towards 92 in the coming days, with no signs of any trade deal happening between India and the US, which has also been a cause for the equities to fall.
