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Bengaluru: The ruling Congress plunged into bedlam after one lawmaker publicly called for Siddaramaiah to be replaced by DK Shivakumar as Karnataka chief minister, a topic that awaited unravelling after the Lok Sabha polls.

This was countered by a senior minister who made a case for a new Karnataka Congress president, a post currently held by Shivakumar.

The hurly-burly began with Channagiri Congress MLA Basavaraju Shivaganga asking for Shivakumar, the deputy CM, to get a promotion.

“Siddaramaiah was CM for five years. And, he’s been the CM for the last 1.5 years. All MLAs have cooperated. Let D K Shivakumar become the CM now,” Shivaganga said.

This statement added to the Congress’ woes as the party is already facing demands for the appointment of more deputy chief ministers.

“Congress won nine Lok Sabha seats, up from just one five years ago. This was because of Shivakumar’s organisation skills. If the party wants to benefit from that going forward, Shivakumar should become CM,” Shivaganga argued.

Shivaganga even pointed out that as per convention, Shivakumar should have become the CM after Congress won the Assembly polls last year. “Conventionally, the Karnataka Congress president becomes the CM,” he said.

Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna, who has been pushing for the appointment of additional deputy CMs from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities, said the Congress high command should decide on making Shivakumar the CM.

However, Rajanna raised the ‘one man, one post’ policy to hint that Shivakumar, being deputy CM, should give up the KPCC president’s post. “I’d like to remind (the party) that Shivakumar was to continue as KPCC president till the Parliament elections,” he said.

Talk in Congress circles is that some leaders are trying to convince the party to make Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, a Lingayat, the next Karnataka Congress president.

The likes of Rajanna and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi are batting for more deputy CMs, which Shivakumar is not in favour of. In fact, the demand for more deputies, first raised last year, is seen as a plan to counterbalance Shivakumar.

Reacting to the demand for more deputies, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress high command’s decision will be final on this.

New Delhi: After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government did not allow the Australian Deputy High Commissioner to meet three West Bengal ministers during his proposed visit to the state, the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday alleged 'federal and fiscal terrorism' on the state as people had defeated the BJP in the state.

Australian Deputy High Commissioner Nicholas McCaffrey was to visit Kolkata and Sunderbans between June 18 and 21. During this visit, he wanted to meet Commerce Minister Shashi Panja, Information Technology and Electronics Minister Babul Supriyo and Agriculture Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

However, Trinamool Congress said, the Oceania Division of the MEA wrote to the High Commission saying that they do "not recommend" meetings as requested by the Australian side with the ministers.

At the same time, the Oceania Division had "no objection from political angle" in the diplomat meeting BJP MPs Sukanta Majumdar and Dilip Ghosh and Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O'Brien and Jawahar Sircar.

Trinamool Congress sources said the Deputy High Commissioner had not come to Bengal as scheduled and their MPs would not have met him when the ministers were not allowed.

The Australian side had requested for meetings to discuss opportunities for collaboration against the backdrop of India-Australia trade discussions and explore areas of economic interest in West Bengal.

Government sources said that they have allowed the Australian diplomat to meet officials at appropriate level based on the principle of reciprocity. They said the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Australia is not allowed to meet Australian ministers.

When contacted, an Australian High Commission spokesperson said, "Australia and India are close friends, with strong strategic, economic and community ties. Australian diplomats travel regularly across India to continue strengthening the political, business, cultural and sporting linkages between our two countries. We don’t comment on the specific details of programs when our officials travel."

Attempt to 'spite Bengal'

Setting stage for another round of confrontation, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose said the union government's action was 'completely autocratic' and an attempt to 'spite Bengal'. She said they would strongly raise this 'serious issue', which he described as 'fiscal terrorism', in Parliament after discussing it with I.N.D.I.A. allies.

Addressing a press conference here, Ghose and another MP Saket Gokhale claimed that the federal structure of the state is being destroyed.

"The representatives of the states who want to go abroad are being stopped and the way they are doing this in such a dirty, uncivilised manner is very shameful," Ghose said.

Gokhale described the development as "federal terrorism" while alleging that several diplomats have claimed that they were informally told by the union government that they could get clearance for investments only if they choose Gujarat. 

Amid the massive row surrounding the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, the Education Ministry has said that the test was scrapped because its integrity may have been compromised and has emphasised that it won't hesitate to take action against anyone.

Govind Jaiswal, joint secretary in the Education Ministry, told the media that the exam, for which over 11 lakh students had registered, was cancelled on the basis of inputs received from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. The exam, which was held on Tuesday, was cancelled yesterday.

"The matter has been handed over to the CBI for a thorough investigation. A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information will be shared soon," he said.

The ministry, he said, will not hesitate in taking action against those involved in wrongdoing. "At this level, when the investigation is underway, we can't disclose more details. NTA has its own mechanism and a lot of other stakeholders are involved. This all is under investigation," he said.

The exam was conducted by the National Testing Agency, which is under fire for alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges. A total of 24 lakh aspirants took the exam. Reports of irregularities have now prompted nationwide protests and triggered demands for a re-test.

The government, he said, has taken proactive steps.

The ministry official also responded to questions on why the exam was conducted in OMR (pen and paper) mode this time -- a shift from the earlier practice. "Based on NTA's experience of four years, inputs were received from different stakeholders and this decision was taken."

UGC-NET is a test to determine a candidate's eligibility for the post of assistant professor in universities and colleges, and also for the award of research fellowships. The Education Ministry yesterday ordered that the exam -- held Tuesday -- be scrapped after inputs that its integrity may have been compromised.

The cancellation of the UGC-NET examination amid the ongoing protests against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties to target the Narendra Modi government ahead of the Parliament session.

The Congress described the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as "paper leak government". Other members of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have also slammed the government over the two exams.