Minister Ashwath Narayan met Congress leader M B Patil seeking protection: D K Shivakumar
Bengaluru, May 10: Congress Karnataka unit president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday alleged that the state Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan met senior Congress MLA M B Patil seeking 'protection' against raising issues involving him in public platform.
However, both Patil and Ashwath Narayan rubbished the charge saying there was no truth in it.
"Ashwath Narayan met M B Patil seeking protection that the Congress party should not do anything against him. When they were asked, they said it was a private meeting, since he (Patil) runs educational institutions. Patil said he went there (to meet Narayan) for advice," Shivakumar said.
Alleging that there was rampant corruption in the state where there is a rate chart mentioned for a designated post in government service, Shivakumar dared the government to issue notice to the newspapers, which ran the story following the police sub-inspector recruitment scam.
Alleging that nothing moves without bribe in this government, the Congress leader, who is an MLA from Kanakapura constituency, said his party will release the list of scams that have taken place in the state.
To buttress his point, he alleged that the order was altered in Malleswaram constituency, which is represented by Narayan in the Karnataka Assembly, to favour a woman.
"Take for example, the Police Sub-Inspector scam. In Malleswaram constituency, the order was altered to help a woman candidate regarding in-service candidate. Only to help a woman, they (government) made double order without a notification," the Congress state chief charged.
Patil brushed aside the charge made by his party's state chief.
"I did not meet Ashwath Narayan in the recent past. There is no question of him coming to my house but it also not the case that he should not meet me. Ashwath Narayan's daughter and my son are classmates who studied in the same school," Patil, who is Congress Karnataka unit publicity committee chief told reporters.
Reacting to his own party state chief's allegation, Patil said Narayan is the Higher Education Minister and that he can meet him "regarding works related to engineering or for MBA related works."
Discarding the charge, Patil, a former minister, asked reporters to check with Narayan whether they met in the recent past.
Narayan too dismissed Shivakumar's statement as a lie.
"There is no truth in it. I did not meet Patil," Narayan said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he has no knowledge about any meeting between Patil and Narayan.
"I don't know. It's quite common to meet people, for which there is no need to give too much of importance. It is an internal matter between M B Patil, D K Shivakumar and the Congress party. Anyway, after returning to Bengaluru I will speak to Ashwath Narayan about it," Bommai told reporters in New Delhi.
For the past few days, Shivakumar had been targeting Ashwath Narayan. He had even accused that Narayan had allegedly influenced the criminal investigation department's probe into the PSI scam and helped an accused get away without any arrest.
Besides being the higher education minister, Narayan is also the district in charge minister of Ramanagara. During a public meeting last year, Narayan and Shivakumar's brother D K Suresh, who is the Bengaluru (Rural) MP, almost came to blows.
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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.
