Third Eye: Chasing fertile pastures, Sidda’s U-turn on fuel hike, and a no-show in Paris

Chasing fertile pastures

JDS MP HD Kumaraswamy is preparing for his first Parliament session as a Union minister in the NDA 3.0 regime. His assembly seat Channapatna, however, now lacks an MLA. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Karnataka Congress' strongest Vokkaliga face, is considering throwing his hat in the by-election ring. With Bengaluru rural seat, of which his assembly seat Kanakapura is a part, having delivered a resounding "no" to his brother DK Suresh in the Lok Sabha election, it will be interesting to see how the region responds to DKS walking away from it for more fertile Vokkaliga pastures.

A No-Show in Paris

Astate-owned ammunition manufacturer suffered embarrassment at an international arms show in Paris after it was ejected from the exposition for flouting norms. Yantra India Limited was part of the show but was kicked out on the last day and all posters and branding removed by the organisers. The reason apparently was flouting of norms that bars showcasing anti-personnel mines and cluster ammunition. In the past, another PSU, Munitions India Limited, had also been banned on similar grounds.

Sidda’s U-Turn on Fuel Hike

At one stroke, Siddaramaiahled Karnataka government increased petrol and diesel prices in the state by `3 per litre. The BJP is not only protesting that, but some of its members are circulating video clippings of the CM's speech and pictures of his protest against a similar hike in fuel prices during the BJP regime. In the video, Siddaramaiah can be heard explaining the illeffects of the hike and how the consequent inflation would hurt the poor the hardest. The BJP is now mouthing the same lines while Siddaramaiah is blaming the GST regime for his latest actions.