K'taka Cong holds strategy meet; Surjewala calls Bommai "most incompetent CM"
Bengaluru, Aug 16: Terming Basavaraj Bommai the "most incompetent Chief Minister" in the entire country, Congress national General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday said his party has taken a resolve not to back down, until and unless it is able to throw out the BJP government in Karnataka, with the blessings of the people.
The AICC in-charge of Karnataka along with the party's state leadership, held a key meeting to discuss the current political situation and strategy in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly polls.
According to party sources, they are said to have discussed the strategy to be adopted during the next six months and issue-based campaigns to be held across the state, leading up to the polls.
"Senior leaders of the party today held discussions on the political situation prevailing in the state. The conclusion of the discussion is that the Bommai government has utterly failed in upholding the law and order situation in the state. The state has been pushed into lawlessness," Surjewala said.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said, all this has happened because Karnataka has the "most incompetent Chief Minister" in the entire country, and that person happens to be Bommai himself.
"Bommai leads a corrupt government, a 40 per cent commission government, and he also heads a government where the state has gone into a disarray on account of complete lawlessness. Organised goons and organised groups are killing people, they are killing BJP's own leaders and stabbing people, and some of it is inspired and sponsored by BJP to polarise and divide society," he added.
Along with Surjewala, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, state party chief D K Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council B K Hariprasad, Campaign Committee Chief M B Patil, Working Presidents and senior leaders were part of Tuesday's meeting, that was also attended by poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, who is also the member of the party's 'Task Force-2024'.
Surjewala further said, what happened in Mangaluru and what is happening in Shivamogga reflects an utter failure of the Chief Minister and the law and order situation in the state, as he alleged that some of these elements are sponsored and encouraged by the BJP and the Bommai government.
Pointing at Law Minister J C Madhuswamy's leaked telephonic conversation, he asked, "what happens to a government when its own law minister says that there is no semblance of government whatsoever? What happens to a government where one minister is abusing the other minister?"
"Should such a government even remain in power for a minute?" he said, adding that the sooner with the blessings of the people of Karnataka, it is thrown out, the better it would be.
Meanwhile, KPCC campaign committee chairperson M B Patil said he would begin the first phase of his state-wide tour from Kalaburagi on August 19.
The former Minister, who would meet lawmakers, former ministers and local leaders during the tour, is also expected to visit temples, mutts, mosques, dargahs and churches to woo all sections of the society.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
