There is no shortage of drama when it comes to the Congress in Karnataka. And while a New Year dinner meeting sparked a buzz because it was held in the absence of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who was away on vacation in Turkey, a proposed dinner meeting has now fuelled more speculation after it was cancelled. On January 2, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi hosted senior ministers from the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities for a dinner meeting attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. As Johnson TA explained in this insightful article recently, this meeting came at a time when Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah’s chief rival in the party, has been on the ascendancy. The meeting was most likely a reminder that the CM and his cohort sent to the party leadership in Delhi “that leaders who hold the key to the main support base of the party must not be shortchanged while placating Shivakumar, who is yet to emerge as a strong leader in his Vokkaliga community – a dominant caste in southern Karnataka”, Johnson wrote. Sources in the party told him that one of the issues discussed at the meeting was the possible replacement of Shivakumar as the state Congress chief. The dinner on Wednesday was set to be hosted by state Home Minister G Parameshwara, one of those who attended the January 2 dinner. However, on Tuesday evening, Parameshwara said the dinner meeting had been postponed on the instructions of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala. According to a PTI report, Shivakumar is back in the country and met AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in Delhi to discuss the developments. While Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have overtly maintained an image of unity and harmony since the party came to power in 2023, it is no secret that the Karnataka Deputy CM covets the top job. How things play out between the two leaders going forward will be keenly watched in the coming days and weeks. Modi in Andhra Pradesh Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Visakhapatnam at 4.15 pm and participate in a roadshow from 4.45 pm to 5.30 pm, accompanied by Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy CM K Pawan Kalyan. This will be Modi’s first visit to the state since assuming office in the third term. With the BJP falling short of a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha elections last year, Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, along with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), helped make up for the shortfall and return the National Democratic Alliance to power for the third straight term. After the roadshow, the PM will lay the foundation stone and virtually inaugurate projects worth thousands of crores. Among other things, he will lay the foundation of a railway zone in Visakhapatnam, the National Thermal Power Corporation’s integrated green hydrogen hub in Anakapalli district, a Rs 1,877-crore bulk drug park in Nakkapalli, and launch the Krishnapatnam Industrial Hub worth Rs 1,518 crore. The PM is also scheduled to address a public meeting at the Andhra University Engineering College grounds before proceeding to Bhubaneswar, where he will inaugurate the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention on Thursday. Parliamentary panel meeting on simultaneous polls A 39-member Joint Committee of Parliament set up to scrutinise two Bills on simultaneous elections will hold its first meeting on Wednesday. The panel led by BJP MP P P Chaudhary — the committee includes leaders such as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress, Sanjay Jha of the Janata Dal (United), the Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde, Kalyan Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress and BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Sambit Patra — will be first briefed by officials of the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on the provisions of the Bills. Recommended reading: One Nation One Election Bill Explained: Proposals, key takeaways The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill proposes to sync the terms of the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly while the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend the relevant laws for the National Capital of Delhi and Union Territories with Assemblies to enable simultaneous polls there as well.
