KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao appeals to Cong-JDS to refrain from making controversial remarks
Bengaluru, May 20: With some leaders of the Congress-JDS coalition government engaging in verbal duels, KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao appealed to both parties to refrain from making any controversial statements in public.
"It's my earnest appeal to the leaders of both Congress and JDS in Karnataka, to refrain from making any controversial statements in public," he tweeted.
On May 23, people will see the emergence of a new secular and progressive government at the Centre, he said.
"Hence, it is important that all parties who want a non-BJP government display unity and show citizens that they can work together and deliver a stable government," he added.
In a pre-poll deal, the partners fielded joint candidates in all the 28 seats, with the Congress in 21 and JDS in seven seats in Karnataka for the elections that were held in two phases on April 18 and April 23.
Commenting on exit polls, most forecasting another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP almost sweeping Karnataka in the Lok Sabha, Rao said the decimation of JDS-Congress alliance "is far from truth."
Instead the coalition partners will be performing much better, he said.
"Have seen all the #ExilPolls2019.Figures for Karnataka are showing that the @INCIndia-JDS alliance is getting decimated. This is far from the truth.
We will be performing much, much better that what's being predicted. Wait for 23rd May," he said in a tweet.
Rao also asked the leaders to focus their energies on ousting BJP from power at the centre.
"Our foremost goal at this juncture is to help oust the BJP from power at the centre.Let us focus all our energies on that," he added.
Rao said he along with K C Venugopal, Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara and D K Shivakumar met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and discussed ways to strengthen the Congress party in Karnataka and the coalition government.
"Results of May 23rd are going to give us a huge boost," he added.
Backing Rao's appeal, State JDS president A H Vishwanath, in Mysuru, said the coalition government will continue to work for the people under Kumaraswamy's leadership for the full term as agreed by Gandhi and Deve Gowda after the assembly election gave a fractured verdict.
The recent verbal sparring began after the 'Siddaramiah for CM' clamour within a section of the Congress.
Vishwanath had blamed Siddaramaiah for causing the rift between the coalition partners.
Kumaraswamy also stirred a hornet's nest by saying Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge should have been made the chief minister long ago, but was denied the opportunity for reasons best known to Congress leaders.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
