Siddaramaiah said assurances will be fulfilled irrespective of financial burden on state coffers. He also blamed previous BJP govt for bad finances of Karnataka and of the country.
The 76-yr-old leader, who belongs to neither Lingayat or Vokkaliga community, is known for his political acumen, wit & humour. He took oath as 34th CM of Karnataka Saturday.
This will be Siddaramaiah's 2nd stint as chief minister. Shivakumar's camp has claimed rotational chief ministership, but there's no official confirmation. Oath taking ceremony on 20 May.
He has also been offered six key portfolios and the option of retaining post of state party chief, but is yet to accept or refuse the offer, it is learnt.
Shivakumar & Siddaramaiah, both of whom have claimed credit for Congress's win in state, are in Delhi to meet party high command. The 2 leaders have refused any proposal of power sharing.
Though Siddaramaiah says Congress's Karnataka assembly win's a 'stepping stone' to Lok Sabha victory, analysis by ThePrint shows BJP's been improving on vote share in general elections.
Small party leaders include KRPP's G Janardhana Reddy & SKP's Darshan Puttannaiah, while the Independents are ex-Congress leaders KH Puttaswamy Gowda & Latha Mallikarjun.
The party which won 135 of 224 seats in the Karnataka elections, moved beyond traditional constituencies to make gains in Kittur-Karnataka, central districts and the Old Mysuru region.
With his approach based on 3 pillars — mass outreach, visible leadership & enthusiastic cadre — D. K. Shivakumar had kept up pressure on the BJP government consistently.
Ministers who lost their seats include Deputy CM & Minister of Major-Medium Irrigation Govind Karjol, and V. Somanna, the Minister for Housing and Infrastructure Development.
The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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