War of words breaks out between Kumarasamy, Karnataka Cong
Bengaluru: JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday stepped up his attack on the Congress, saying it bowed before his party and made him chief minister of the coalition government in Karnataka and did "back-seat driving" as the two erstwhile allies were locked in a war of words.
After the state Congress unit took to twitter and slammed him over his criticism of the party's nation-wide "Save Democracy campaign", Kumaraswamy tweeted back saying the party's stalwarts, "unable to question him directly", have attacked him through the social media and ran away.
A day after the former chief minister criticized the nation-wide "Save Democracy" campaign against the BJP in the backdrop of the Rajasthan political crisis, the state Congress asked whether its 'morality' suited him when he shared power in the state.
In a series of tweets, it also wondered whether he had become "so innocent" that he did not know the difference between MLAs voluntarily joining a ruling party and "Operation Lotus" to pull down elected governments.
"Congress' morality was good for you (Kumaraswamy) when you allied with the party, sat on the Chief Minister's seat, and ran the administration. Is the question of morality arising when there is no power? What is the morality of your party that has become invisible and irrelevant when the state is in difficulty," Congress tweeted.
On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy had alleged "Congress is another name for horse-trading" and it was an expert in dividing political parties, purchasing MLAs and in fact, the term horse trading in politics came to be in use because of it.
For the sake of one Rajya Sabha seat, the party's government in Karnataka had purchased eight JD(S) MLAs in 2016, he charged.
On Wednesday, he tweeted: "Despite us declining, the Congress high command and state leaders bowing before JD(S) made me sit on the Chief Minister's chair. Then you (Congress) did back seat driving by putting pressure. Where was your morality then?" he asked.
Stating that he had to follow "Raja Dharma" by waiving farmers' loan, the JD(S) leader claimed, that's the reason he followed "Chanakya Neeti" in the interest of the people despite knowing Congress' game plan then.
"There was no personal gains from it."
He also alleged that leaders in Congress had halted the chances of veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge from becoming the Chief Minister after 2018 assembly polls, pointing out that JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda had suggested Kharge's name to that party's leaders.
Hitting back at Congress' jibe of JD(S) being invisible and irrelevant, Kumaraswamy asked, "in how many states Congress is relevant?.... is there any leader who can respond to this?"
Rejecting Congress' defence that JD(S) MLAs had voluntarily joined it after cross-voting in 2016 Rajya Sabha polls, he said, "there was no major difference in admitting other party MLAs in the disguise of 'voluntarily joining' and BJP's operations to bring down any government."
This is the fresh exchange of barbs between Congress and JD(S) after they parted ways following the collapse of the coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy in July last year.
Leaders of both parties have earlier too indulged in verbal spat holding each other responsible for the fall of the coalition government and helping BJP to come to power in the state.
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Karnataka gets 200 additional medical seats in third round of NEET counselling
Bengaluru: In a significant development for medical aspirants, Karnataka has received 200 additional MBBS seats for the ongoing third round of NEET counselling, as approved by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC).
The additional seats have been distributed across four private medical colleges, with each institution receiving 50 new seats. The colleges include Subbaiah Medical College in Shivamogga, BGS Global Institute of Medical Sciences in Bengaluru, Sridevi Medical College in Tumakuru, and AJ Institute of Medical Sciences in Mangaluru, as reported by Deccan Herald on Tuesday.
For the third round, 377 medical seats were already available and now 200 additional seats have been included.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has opened the portal for candidates to re-enter and revise their college preferences in light of the new seat availability. Option entry will remain open until 8:00 a.m. on October 15.
KEA Executive Director H. Prasanna urged candidates to carefully review the fee structures of the newly added colleges before making their selections. “Even candidates who have already been allotted and admitted to medical colleges in the first and second rounds can also participate in this round if they wish. Such candidates can enter their new options for these colleges from 11:00 a.m. on October 15 to 8:00 a.m. on October 16,” DH quoted Prasanna as saying.
Since these candidates have already paid the admission fees, they do not need to pay any caution deposit. However, those who have not yet been allotted a seat must pay the required caution deposit fee before participating.
Prasanna pointed out that if a candidate is allotted a seat in this round, admission to that seat will be compulsory.
Additionally, vacant or cancelled seats arising during the process will also be made available. “Therefore, even if some seats do not appear as available in the seat matrix, candidates are still advised to include those colleges while entering their options,” he added.
