Union Minister Pralhad Joshi alleges 'horse trading' of Congress MLAs amid Karnataka power tussle
Hubballi (PTI): Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday claimed that "horse trading" of Congress MLAs is underway in Karnataka amid the alleged power tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar.
He also claimed Shivakumar's visit to jailed MLAs Vinay Kulkarni and KC Veerendra, also known as Puppy, in Bengaluru Central Prison was aimed at securing their support.
"There is infighting in Congress. Siddaramaiah does not want to leave the CM’s position, and Shivakumar does not want Siddaramaiah to continue as CM," Joshi told reporters here.
"Because of such a situation, both the camps are trying to purchase MLAs. You might have seen that Shivakumar has gone to jail to meet the MLAs to seek their support and pay whatever their price is," he added.
Accordgin to Joshi, the situation has reached a point where "horse trading" of Congress MLAs is going on. The administration in Karnataka "has collapsed due to the ongoing power tussle."
"The state is witnessing misadministration as there is no one to address issues arising from excess rains and poor road infrastructure," the union minister claimed.
He also criticised Bengaluru police, once on par with Delhi and Mumbai, saying "daylight robberies are now common", without elaborating much.
"Because of political instability, lack of direction, guidance, and control over bureaucracy, the administration has totally collapsed. It is in doldrums," Joshi alleged.
On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding a maize price crash due to the alleged import of 17.94 lakh metric tonnes, Joshi said the figures were false.
"The CM has spoken about the import of 17.94 lakh tonnes of maize. People are giving false information. It is most unfortunate that the chief minister is sharing figures without taking proper inputs. Last time, during the sugarcane agitation, he did the same, and when I responded, he had no answers," the union minister said.
Two years ago, he said, 9.5 lakh MT was imported due to low sugarcane production.
"This time, no import has happened. Between 50,000 tonnes and one lakh tonnes were imported because India also exports maize. There is no import happening this time. When we are exporting more and importing less, so it is all bogus things he (CM) is telling," he claimed.
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Opposition plans to move fresh notice seeking removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar
New Delhi (PTI): Undeterred by the rejection of their earlier notices, opposition parties are planning a fresh move to seek the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, sources said on Saturday.
According to highly placed sources, leaders from several opposition parties are in talks, and at least five senior MPs from different parties -- including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the DMK -- are working on drafting a new notice to initiate removal proceedings.
It has, however, not yet been decided which House the notice would be moved in, or whether it would be introduced in both Houses as was done last time, the source added.
Buoyed by the defeat of The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 in Lok Sabha on Friday, opposition leaders are aiming to secure more MPs' signatures on the notice and are looking at garnering at least 200, the source said.
"We want to make a statement. We first need to prove that the number last time was underestimated," the source added.
In its earlier notices, the opposition had accused CEC Kumar of a "failure to maintain independence and constitutional fidelity" and of acting under the "thumb of the executive".
The notices levelled sweeping charges against the CEC, alleging “proved misbehaviour” on grounds including a compromised and executive-influenced appointment, partisan functioning -- such as the alleged “graded response” doctrine targeting opposition leaders -- obstruction of electoral fraud investigations, and erosion of transparency through refusal to share data and materials.
They further accused him of enabling large-scale disenfranchisement via Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises in Bihar and elsewhere, defying or delaying compliance with Supreme Court directions, and acting in alignment with the political executive, thereby undermining the independence of the Election Commission.
However, in almost similar responses, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan rejected the notices, holding that even if the allegations were assumed to be true, they did not meet the high constitutional threshold of “misbehaviour” required for removal.
They reasoned that appointment-related issues or prior government service do not constitute misconduct; differences in public statements or administrative decisions lack evidence of wilful abuse of authority; and actions like data-sharing or electoral roll revisions fall within the commission’s constitutional mandate and are subject to judicial review.
The responses also stressed that many issues cited were either speculative, politically interpretative, or sub judice, and that removal proceedings cannot be based on disagreement or perceived political consequences but require clear, specific, and provable misconduct, which, they concluded, was absent in this case.
