My mother is my party, no question of resigning: D K Shivakumar before meeting Kharge
New Delhi, May 16: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, who is one of the top contenders for the state chief minister's post, on Tuesday said the party is his mother and there was no question of his resigning from the organisation.
Shivakumar is set to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge around 5 pm on Tuesday here to discuss the government formation in the southern state after the party staged a stupendous victory by winning 135 seats out of a total of 224.
Soon after reaching Delhi, Shivakumar went straight to his brother D K Suresh's office and residence at Kaveri Apartments. He also had his lunch there.
The Karnataka Congress chief later told reporters that he has come to Delhi to meet senior party leaders and party chief Kharge.
"My mother is my party, We have built this party. No question," he said when asked to comment on reports that he may resign from the party if not given the chief minister's post.
"If any channel is reporting that I am resigning from the post, I will file a defamation case against them...Some of them are reporting that I will resign and all, all bull****. Nothing," he said.
On whether he will also meet Rahul Gandhi, the Karnataka leader said, "I have to meet all leaders. First, I have to meet my Congress president."
"My high command is there, my party is there, our MLAs are there - 135," Shivakumar said as he left the residence of his brother and Bengaluru Rural MP D K Suresh.
Suresh also said that since the party has won under his (Shivakumar's) leadership as Pradesh Congress chief, he had the right to stake his claim on the top post.
Suresh had met Kharge on Monday evening at the latter's residence, after Shivakumar cancelled his visit citing health issues. Shivakumar arrived in the national capital this morning.
Both Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah are staking claim on the top post and are set to meet the party's top leadership before a decision on the new chief minister of Karnataka is taken.
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
