'Power tussle' in Karnataka Cong to intensify after Bihar polls debacle, claims BJP
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Bengaluru (PTI): The opposition BJP in Karnataka on Friday predicted that the "power tussle" within the ruling Congress party is likely to intensify in the coming days.
According to BJP, with the Congress central leadership "weakened" by the Bihar poll debacle, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would emerge stronger. This would make the issue of a potential CM change in the state more contentious.
Speculations about a possible change in leadership in the state have been circulating within political circles, particularly as the Congress government approaches the halfway mark of its five-year term in November, a period some are calling the "November revolution."
"If anyone in Congress is happy today and in a mood to celebrate, it is Siddaramaiah. He will be happy... With the Congress central leadership becoming weak following the Bihar results, Siddaramaiah will grow stronger," R Ashoka, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, said.
"He has been with other parties in the past, so he knows how to handle things. He will now play the game with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress leadership, he added.
Speaking to reporters at the BJP office, Ashoka said that internal rifts within Congress would deepen, and issues related to power transfer would gain momentum.
"Siddaramaiah is happy. He has strengthened his position as CM and firmly fixed himself to his chair, ready to face those challenging him," he said.
There has been ongoing speculation within Congress about a potential leadership change, with some citing a "power-sharing" agreement between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar.
Ashoka pointed to a recent comment from Shivakumar, who had suggested that a win for Congress and its allies in Bihar would benefit him. "But with these results, it seems like the endgame for him," Ashoka remarked.
Other BJP leaders, including senior MLA C N Ashwath Narayan and Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan, who were present at the press conference, shared similar views, asserting that the "power tussle" within Congress would intensify in the coming days.
BJP leaders also claimed that the NDA's strong performance in Bihar would strengthen the party in Karnataka as well.
"After two-and-a-half years, Karnataka will see similar results to those in Bihar. There is maladministration and Muslim appeasement under CM Siddaramaiah. Soon, the people of Karnataka will teach a lesson to the Congress party," Ashoka said.
Ashoka further claimed that Congress had lost 99 per cent of the elections it fought under Rahul Gandhi's leadership. "He (Gandhi) has become an 'iron leg' (bad luck causing failure) for the Congress party," he added.
The NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and other parties, is on track for a landslide victory in the Bihar assembly elections, with the alliance leading in 204 of the 243 seats.
Senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, addressing media in Shivamogga, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for the NDA's win in Bihar.
He assured that similar efforts would be made to secure a BJP victory in Karnataka in the future.
"Congress's debacle proves that people have not accepted Rahul Gandhi's leadership," Yediyurappa said.
State BJP chief B Y Vijayendra added that Congress's poor performance, with the party pushed to single digits in both seats and strike rate, showed how voters had rejected the party’s politics of excuses and entitlement.
"The same fate awaits them in Karnataka," he said.
In a post on 'X', Vijayendra wrote, "This verdict also proves that the people of Bihar rejected Congress and its allies’ repeated attempts to question and delegitimise our electoral system. Their narrative has no takers on the ground."
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Woman software employee murdered by ex-husband in Hyderabad
Hyderabad (PTI): A 29-year-old woman software employee was allegedly killed by her former husband at her house here on Wednesday, police said.
The victim's husband in a complaint stated that his wife was three months pregnant. However, police said it was not confirmed so far as the post-mortem report is awaited.
The accused, in his 30s, who worked as a software employee in Canada earlier, barged into the victim's residence and after noticing her in a room locked it from inside and allegedly stabbed her multiple times on her head with a knife resulting in her instant death.
The woman's mother-in-law was in the verandah of the house at the time of the incident.
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After being informed by her family members and neighbours, police reached the spot and found that the accused had poured petrol in the room, which he brought with him in a can, and had locked himself in the washroom.
He threatened to set off fire in the room with a lighter he was carrying and after being convinced by the police officials he came out of the washroom and was taken into custody, a police official said.
The couple got married in 2022 and mutually divorced in 2024. She had a second marriage in April 2025, police said.
Based on preliminary investigation, police said the accused bore grudge against his ex-wife as she filed domestic violence case against him.
Police said after their marriage in India, the accused went to Canada, and the deceased later joined him there.
"Some differences arose between the couple and after staying with him for five days she later returned to India and subsequently filed domestic violence case against him in Maharashtra," they said.
The accused came to India from Canada in March 2025 following the death of his mother, a police official said.
A Look-out Circular was issued against him because of the case and his passport was suspended and he was unable to go back to Canada since then and was presently residing in his native place in Peddapalli district of Telangana, without any work.
The accused felt that he and his family faced mental suffering due to the case. He also felt that his mother's death was due to the mental agony caused by the estranged wife, police said.
The accused developed a grudge against her and decided to eliminate her, police said. He managed to locate her residential address through her social media account and came to Hyderabad two months ago and stayed in a hostel.
He also "recceed" the victim’s apartment recently.
As per his plan, he came to the apartment on Wednesday with a bag containing two knives, a drilling machine, a can containing five-liter petrol among other items.
CCTV footage broadcast by local TV channels showed the man carrying a bag and walking in the corridor of the apartment.
