Leadership change in Karnataka: Cong high command will decide, says CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Feb 17 (PTI): Amid speculations about leadership change in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said it is for the Congress high command to decide.
There have been talks in the state's political circles, especially in the ruling Congress party, about a chief minister change later this year, under a "rotational chief minister" or "power-sharing" formula.
"It is for the high command to decide," Siddaramaiah told reporters in response to a question on discussions about leadership change.
Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, is a strong chief ministerial aspirant and has made no secret of his ambition to become the CM.
There have been time and again attempts by a section of party leaders and workers to project Shivakumar as the next chief minister.
ALSO READ: Karnataka Minister Rajanna asks Shivakumar not to 'misuse' AICC, high command's name
There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the chief minister's post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May 2023, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.
There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a "rotational chief minister formula," according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-half years, but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.
A section of party leaders, especially ministers considered close to Siddaramaiah, have been pitching for him to complete the full term as chief minister, stating that he was indispensable to the party if it wanted to retain power in the next election. These activities are notwithstanding Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's warning last month asking his party colleagues to 'shut up' and focus on governance, amid public statements from them on the leadership change issue.
A section consisting of ministers from SC/ST communities had even held dinner meetings last month, which was seen as an attempt to revive the demand for a Dalit or an AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) to become the next chief minister, in case Siddaramaiah demits office.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
