No "political ties" between Congress, JD(S) for RS or 2023 Assembly poll: Siddaramaiah
Karwar, May 26: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday ruled out any "political relationship" between his party and the JD(S) either during the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls or the 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka.
His statement gains significance, as none of the three parties has an adequate number of votes to win the fourth Rajya Sabha seat from the State Assembly.
The Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly also made it clear that he would not go to national politics, and would remain active in the State.
"There will not be any relationship (alliance or understanding) with JD(S)...we (Congress) will not have any political relationship with JD(S)," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
The June 10 election to four Rajya Sabha seats is necessitated as the term of office of members -- Nirmala Sitharaman (Union Finance Minister) and K C Ramamurthy of BJP, and Jairam Ramesh and late Oscar Fernandes of Congress -- is due to expire on June 30. The last date of filing nominations is May 31.
A candidate needs 45 votes to win in this RS election, and based on the current party position in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP can win two seats and Congress one, official sources said, adding that the JD(S) can win one, provided it gets the support of either one of the national parties.
Similarly, in case the BJP or Congress wants to win the extra (fourth) seat, they will need JD(S)' support, they said.
According to party sources, Congress may once again field Jairam Ramesh from the State for the seat it can win on its own strength.
In reply to a question, the former Chief Minister said he would remain limited to Karnataka and would not go for national politics.
"I will remain in Karnataka politics and continue to voice the concerns of the State and its people," he added.
Siddaramaiah had earlier said that the 2023 Assembly election would be his last, but would continue to remain in politics.
It is no secret that Siddaramaiah, who was Chief Minister between 2013-2018, is nursing his ambition for a second term in office, if the party wins the next Assembly polls.
With State Congress president D K Shivakumar, too, having similar aspirations, it has triggered a game of one-upmanship between the two leaders.
Responding to a question on the demand from some section within the party for a "Dalit CM" on coming to power, the Congress Legislative Party leader said the Chief Ministerial candidate cannot be forced, and on party coming to power with a majority, newly elected MLAs would share their opinion, following which the high command would decide.
"A Chief Minister candidate cannot be forced. Dalits should also become CM, there is no second talk about it, others should also become. In a democratic system everyone is capable of becoming a CM, including Dalits, Muslims, Christians," he said.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
