Siddaramaiah likely to convene meet of southern CMs against delimitation
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to convene a meeting of chief ministers of southern states to oppose the proposed delimitation exercise, News18 reported on Wednesday.
All southern states, except Andhra Pradesh, are currently ruled by opposition parties. Andhra Pradesh has an NDA government led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana are opposing the delimitation, saying it would unfairly penalise their successful demographic management and would result in a substantial loss of political representation.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had last year tried to build a coalition of southern states and a few other opposition-ruled states under the banner of a “Joint Action Committee” to oppose the delimitation process.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, participating in the Joint Action Council meeting convened by Stalin, had said the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies is hanging over our heads like the sword of Damocles. He had said that southern states were being “punished for sincerely implementing the National Population Policy of 1976”.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
