Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar meet Congress high command over Bengaluru stampede
New Delhi (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday met Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi here to discuss the June 4 stampede incident in Bengaluru that left 11 people dead.
Congress president Kharge had sought a detailed report on the stampede.
"CM and Deputy CM have come to meet the high command to discuss the RCB incident. The party high command has called them," state PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi told reporters here.
Jarkiholi said an investigation is underway to determine if there was negligence on the government's part.
"The truth will be known after the investigation report is finalised," he said.
The minister said he was in the national capital to meet Union ministers and discuss state projects.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met the party chief at Indira Bhawan. They are also likely to meet Union ministers on state issues.
The Congress government in the state has come under sharp criticism in the wake of the incident, with opposition BJP and JD(S) holding both CM and Deputy CM directly responsible and demanding their resignation.
The stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium led to 11 deaths and injured 56 people as crowds gathered for Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebrations.
Siddaramaiah has distanced himself from the incident, saying he was informed late and that the government did not organise the stadium event.
The tragedy has sparked a controversy, with the Opposition demanding accountability and calling for a special Assembly session to discuss the incident.
BJP leaders have strongly criticised the state government, holding the chief minister and deputy chief minister directly responsible for it.
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US spies said Iran wasn't building nuclear weapon. Trump dismisses that assessment
Washington, Jun 17 (AP): Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to Congress about Iran's nuclear programme earlier this year.
The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorised the dormant programme.
But President Donald Trump dismissed the assessment of US spy agencies during an overnight flight back to Washington as he cut short his trip to the Group of Seven (G7) summit to focus on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
“I don't care what she said,” Trump told reporters. In his view, Iran was “very close” to having a nuclear bomb.
Trump's statement aligned him with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has described a nuclear-armed Iran as an imminent threat, rather than with his own top intelligence adviser.
The Republican president was expected to meet with national security officials in the Situation Room on Tuesday as he plans next steps.
Trump's contradiction of Gabbard echoed his feuds with US spy leaders during his first term, when he viewed them as part of a “deep state” that was undermining his agenda. Most notably, he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when asked if Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election, saying Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial.”
The latest break over Iran was striking because Trump has staffed his second administration with loyalists rather than establishment figures. Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was narrowly confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate because of her scant experience with intelligence or managing sprawling organisations.
Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump, is expected to testify Tuesday in a closed session on Capitol Hill, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during a previously scheduled budget hearing. Both officials would likely face questions about their views on Iran and Trump's latest statements.
Representatives for Gabbard and the CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gabbard, in her March testimony to lawmakers, said the intelligence community was closely monitoring Iran's nuclear programme, noting that its “enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.
Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful.
An earlier intelligence report, released in November under then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, also said Iran “is not building a nuclear weapon.”
However, it said the country has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce one, if it so chooses,” such as increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium and operating more advanced centrifuges.
The report did not include any estimates for a timeline for how quickly a bomb could be built.
Trump's immigration agenda is another place where he's split with intelligence assessments. He cited the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law, to deport Venezuelan migrants, which he justified by claiming that the Tren de Aragua gang was coordinating with the Venezuelan government. However, an intelligence assessment in April found no evidence of that.
Gabbard fired the two veteran intelligence officers who led the panel that created the assessment, saying they were terminated because of their opposition to Trump.
In response to those reports, the White House released a statement from Gabbard supporting the president.
“President Trump took necessary and historic action to safeguard our nation when he deported these violent Tren de Aragua terrorists,” the statement said. “Now that America is safer without these terrorists in our cities, deep state actors have resorted to using their propaganda arm to attack the President's successful policies.”
