Shivakumar will become CM after ongoing winter session of Karnataka legislature: Cong MLA
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain on Friday claimed that D K Shivakumar will become the chief minister after the ongoing winter session of the state legislature here.
The MLA from Ramanagara was among the ministers and legislators, who met for dinner, along with Shivakumar, late last night.
"MLAs from various constituencies have come for the session; it is a rare opportunity for all of us to meet. During the session, we meet each other. We had dinner together. What's there in that? Can having food together be called a show of strength?" Hussain told reporters here in response to a question about the dinner meeting.
ALSO READ: BJP accuses min of providing 'wrong info' to Assembly, takes a swipe at Cong's "dinner politics"
Asked whether only those close to Shivakumar were invited for the dinner, he said, all are friends and close to each other.
To a question whether Shivakumar gave any good news during the dinner, the MLA, who is considered close to the Deputy CM said, "I'm giving the good news. He will become (CM) after the session, he will become. What's wrong with it?"
He said, "....Shivakumar will get a chance, he will become the chief minister now."
Replying to a question about statements that Shivakumar will become if it is written in his fate, Hussain said, "Everything will happen if the god has written in one's fate....We are all confident that Shivakumar has a chance for his efforts, struggle, and organising the party. We have told the same to the high command, the high command will decide."
According to Hussain 50-55 Congress legislators met for dinner late last night.
Though leaders term it a casual dinner meeting, speculation is rife as it had taken place amid a power tussle in the ruling party, over the CM post.
Stating that the Congress is a disciplined party and no one is above the high command, Hussain said, the leadership will take a final decision on the CM issue.
"Numbers are not important here. We should be committed to the decision they (high command) make. They have said that everyone should abide by the party discipline and abide by their decision. This is the party culture, too. We will abide by their decision," he said.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculations about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
However, both CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each other's residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session. The legislature session that began on December 8, will go on till the 19th.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
