This is what CM Bommai has to say on Minister's "we are somehow managing govt" remark
Bengaluru, Aug 16: With a Karnataka Minister's alleged remarks that the "government is not functioning, we are somehow managing", causing an embarrassment to his administration, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday tried to do damage control by stating that the comments were made in a "different context".
He also said that he will talk to other Ministers, who are upset about the remarks made by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy, and have openly expressed their displeasure against him.
Madhuswamy's comments have drawn criticism from some Ministers, with Horticulture Minister Munirathna even advising him to quit the Ministry.
"He (Madhuswamy) had said in a different context. I will talk to him. The context was different, so there is no need to take it in a wrong sense. He had spoken specifically with respect to some cooperative related issue. Things are fine, there is no problem," Bommai told reporters here.
When told that several of his cabinet colleagues are upset and are criticising Madhuswamy, he said, "I will talk to all of them....."
A purported phone conversation between Madhuswamy and Bhaskar, a Channapatna-based social worker, had gone viral on Saturday.
"We are not running a government here, we are just managing, pulling through for the next 7-8 months," Madhuswamy can be heard telling Bhaskar in response to his complaints against a cooperative bank, with respect to some farmers' issues.
In the purported phone conversation, while responding to the social worker's complaint, the Minister can be heard even expressing "helplessness" over Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar's "inaction".
"I know these issues. I've brought this to the notice of Somashekhar. He is not taking action. What to do?" Madhuswamy can be heard saying.
Somashekar has hit out at Madhuswamy over his comments, saying, "He (Madhuswamy) feels that he is the only intelligent person, he has to remove it from his head first."
Minister Munirathna has said, Madhuswamy should resign from the Ministry immediately, before making such a statement.
"He is part of the government and is participating in every matter at the cabinet, so he also has a share in it... being in a responsible position and making such statements is not right, it is not befitting to his seniority," he said.
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Rajnath urges Netherlands counterpart to ensure Dutch firms don't provide weapons, tech to Pak
New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI): Conveying his concern over cross-border terrorism, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday urged his counterpart from the Netherlands, Ruben Berkelmans, to ensure that Dutch companies do not provide weapons, platforms or technology to Pakistan, sources said.
The two leaders held discussions here on broad range of subjects including Indo-Pacific and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
After the meeting, Singh in a post on X said they looked forward to "further deepen and elevate" the bilateral defence partnership.
During the meeting, Singh conveyed his concern over cross-border terrorism that has emanated from Pakistan over the last several decades due to which India has suffered, the sources said.
He urged Berkelmans to ensure that Dutch companies do not provide weapons, platforms or technology to Pakistan, they said.
It is learnt that Singh also conveyed that providing platforms or technology to Pakistan is potentially detrimental to peace and stability in the region.
The defence ministry here in a statement said the two ministers explored the possibilities of collaboration in shipbuilding, equipment and space sectors, optimising the complementariness in skills, technology and scale of the two countries.
"Delighted to meet the young and dynamic Defence Minister of Netherlands, Mr. Ruben Berkelmans in New Delhi. We reviewed the full range of India-Netherlands defence cooperation. We look forward to further deepen and elevate our defence partnership. The areas of our discussion included defence, cyber security, Indo-Pacific and emerging technologies like AI," Singh said in his post on X.
The two leaders discussed elevating the bilateral cooperation in areas like defence, security, information exchanges, Indo-Pacific and new and emerging technologies, the statement said.
They also discussed working together in domains like AI and related technologies, besides connecting the respective defence technology research institutes and organisations, it said.
Delighted to meet the young and dynamic Defence Minister of Netherlands, Mr. Ruben Berkelmans in New Delhi. We reviewed the full range of India-Netherlands defence cooperation.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 18, 2025
We look forward to further deepen and elevate our defence partnership. The areas of our discussion… pic.twitter.com/S4x1bXk81n
