'My last election', says Siddaramaiah, files nomination from Varuna
Mysuru (K'taka), Apr 19: Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday filed nomination from Varuna constituency in this district, for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, as he reiterated that this would be his last election and virtually laid out a "succession plan" of sorts.
The 75-year-old Leader of Opposition indicated his son and grandson to be his political successors. "This is my last election, after that there is Yathindra (son), Dhawan Rakesh (grand son)...", he said.
Siddaramaiah's younger son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah is the sitting Congress MLA from Varuna.
An eight time MLA, Siddaramaiah had earlier won twice from Varuna, and went on to become the Leader of Opposition after winning from here in 2008, and then became Chief Minister after 2013 Assembly polls.
The Congress legislature party leader offered prayers to his family deity Siddarameshwara at the temple in his native village of Siddaramanahundi, and also visited Sri Rama temple there, and held a massive roadshow before filing the nomination.
He also visited the famous Chamundeshwari temple on Chamundi hills in Mysuru, and addressed a public meeting ahead of filing papers.
Pointing out that he is the son of the soil, as his village Siddaramanahundi comes under Varuna segment, Siddaramaiah while addressing the public meeting said this will be his last election. After contesting this polls, he will retire from electoral politics, but not from politics.
Dhawan Rakesh is son of Siddaramaiah's late elder son Rakesh Siddaramaiah. As Siddaramaiah took Dhwan's name the crowd started cheering.
As Dhawan was waving at the crowd, Siddaramaiah said, "He should be 25 years to come to politics, still eight years to go, his education is still not complete. Only after completing education, politics. Your love and affection towards him was what you had on Rakesh, who was very popular here."
Further, urging people to ensure that he wins with a margin of over one lakh votes, he said, "I will not be able to come for campaigning here for more than two days, think you are the candidate and ensure victory."
The ruling BJP has fielded Minister V Somanna from Varuna to take on Siddaramaiah.
Stating that BJP has fielded Somanna who is a resident of Bengaluru, instead of someone born here, Siddaramaiah alleged, "BJP and JD(S) have come to an internal pact. That's the reason why JD(S) has fielded Bharathi Shankar, former MLA from T Narasipur, as its candidate, aimed at dividing Dalit votes, but I'm confident that people of Varuna will understand the conspiracy and will make me win with a big margin."
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"BJP and JD(S) aimed at defeating me may ensure money flow," said Siddaramaiah, a Chief Ministerial aspirant in the event of Congress coming to power. "Despite all their conspiracies and spending crores of money, people of Varuna will not fall prey to their allurements and will bless me," he said.
By filing nomination in Varuna, Siddaramaiah has returned to his home constituency after contesting from neighbouring Chamundeshwari, and Badami in Bagalkote district, in 2018 polls. He had faced a defeat in Chamundeshwari, but had won in Badami.
The last day for filing of nominations is April 20. Voting will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes will be on May 13.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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