No understanding with JD(S) for Nov 3 bypolls: Karnataka Congress
Bengaluru: The Congress in Karnataka on Wednesday ruled out any understanding with its former alliance partner JD(S) for the November 3 by-election to two assembly constituencies in the state.
"We are not going to have an alliance with any political party. We will fight on our own. Congress is a national party. We have the strength and we will fight," Congress Legislature Party Leader Siddaramaiah told reporters in response to a question about any understanding with the JD(S) to defeat the BJP.
Responding to a similar question about a friendly fight with JD(S), state Congress President D K Shivakumar too said, "They (JDS) are a party and similarly we (Congress) are another party. We will fight our election and they will fight theirs."
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced the schedule for by-election to Sira assembly constituency in Tumakuru district and Rajarajeshwari Nagar (R R Nagar) in the city, for which the results will be declared on November 10.
The bypoll in Sira was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA B Sathyanarayana of JD(S) last month, while the R R Nagar seat fell vacant after disqualification of Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti-defection law in 2019.
Siddaramaiah said the Congress was prepared to fight the elections and was confident of winning both seats.
"We have finalised a strong candidate in Sira--T B Jayachandra-- who is a senior leader of the party. For Rajarajeswari Nagar, we are yet to finalise the candidate as the election was announced just yesterday. We will sit and decide on a strong candidate there," he said.
Asked whether Congress was facing difficulty in finding a candidate for R R Nagar, he said the party never has a dearth of probable candidates and in every constituency there will be at least eight to ten of them.
Munirathna, who had contested and won on a Congress ticket from R R Nagar in 2018, is now with the BJP and is likely to be the saffron party's candidate for the seat.
Noting that all elections are prestigious for all the parties, KPCC chief Shivakumar said the party has finalised the candidate for Sira constituency.
"For RR Nagar, we have spoken to the district unit and the process is on," he said.
Regarding the aspirants for RR Nagar, he said several applications have been received.
"We were not sure about the election being declared for the constituency. Now that it has been done, we will finalise the candidate," he said.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
