HD Kumaraswamy making offers for RS elections, threatening MLAs to buy votes, alleges DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Feb 19: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday claimed he has information' that JD (S) leader H D Kumaraswamy was making offers to Congress MLAs to buy their votes for the February 27 Rajya Sabha elections in the state.
The Rajya Sabha election scene in Karnataka has heated up with the BJP-JD(S) combine fielding its second candidate, even though the alliance has the strength to win only one out of the four seats which go to polls.
Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar, also the Congress Karnataka unit chief, said: "We know whom H D Kumaraswamy is making phone calls to, what he is speaking and what offers he is making. Our MLAs have given us all the information. We are aware of BJP's strategy."
Asked if the Opposition parties are trying for cross voting, he said, "Have they (BJP) fielded the candidate without any reason? They fielded the candidate to make their efforts. Let us see who votes for whom on February 27 (the voting day)."
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"He (Kumaraswamy) has spoken, made offers (to Congress MLAs), they (MLAs) came and told me. He had threatened them. I am aware of it. I will not speak on it now," Shivakumar said.
JD(S) headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda joined the BJP-led NDA last year.
The ruling Congress, which has 135 MLAs in the 224 member Assembly, with the support of Darshan Puttanaiah from Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha and two Independents is expected to retain three seats out of the four RS seats.
The BJP and JD(S) with 66 and 19 members, respectively, are in a position to jointly win one seat in the elections, in which MLAs will vote.
The Congress has fielded Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain and G C Chandrasekhar. Former MLC Narayansa Bandage is the BJP candidate.
In a surprise move, JD(S) leader and former Rajya Sabha Member D Kupendra Reddy too filed a nomination last week, forcing a contest.
According to official sources, each candidate has to get 45 votes to win if there are only four candidates in the fray. In case there are more candidates, then preference votes will kick in.
Asked if Congress was working on a counter strategy to secure opposition votes for elections, Shivakumar said, "We don't need it. We have won 136 seats (in the assembly) and two Independent MLAs have identified themselves with us. I will not talk about others who are with us. We will demonstrate it and then we will talk."
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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.
