Bommai dismisses Congress speculation of early assembly election
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday dismissed Congress state president D K Shivakumar’s statement that there was a proposal to hold assembly elections early.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday dismissed Congress state president D K Shivakumar’s statement that there was a proposal to hold assembly elections early. With just four months left for the Karnataka assembly elections, Shivakumar today claimed that the BJP government was going in for early polls using COVID as a pretext.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai (PTI)
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"D K Shivakumar has said that the early assembly elections could be possible due to the COVID-19. He even said that the Delhi leaders too have spoken to me," Bommai told reporters in Belagavi.
"I clarify that the Delhi leaders have not spoken to me. We do not have any proposal to hold early elections even before the term gets over," the Chief Minister said.
Shivakumar had said in Hubballi that the Chief Minister had also spoken to Director General of Police Praveen Sood regarding the preparations for elections.
"Using COVID as pretext, they may hold early elections. He (Bommai) has spoken to the Director General of Police regarding the preparations. Today, he has spoken to the cabinet members. This is not an official information but an unofficial one," Shivakumar told reporters.
"Even he (Bommai) received a call from the Prime Minister’s office. We are always ready for the election whenever they wish to hold," he said. The Congress state chief charged that the Central government was trying to interrupt Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in view of the large number of people joining him.
He said the state government too had interrupted his march from Mekedatu to Bengaluru for a balancing reservoir on Cauvery river earlier this year, using COVID as pretext and booked cases against him and others.
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.
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