Morning Pulse: Shivakumar marches on vote rolls in Delhi as a sting row follows him from home

Since last night, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's day has two fronts. In Delhi he will walk with the INDIA bloc on the electoral rolls. In Bengaluru, Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy has turned a sting-operation claim back on him. One fight puts him on the national stage. The other asks questions about his own cabinet.

The Delhi plan is now firm. Congress has called the event "Chalo Delhi - March for Democracy". Leaders are to gather at 1.30 pm at the Connaught Place-Barakhamba Road junction and walk to the Supreme Court, Business Standard reported. Their demands are the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of rolls and a return to paper ballots.

The march has lost its original goal. Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge had sought a meeting with Chief Justice Surya Kant to hand over a memorandum. ANI and other outlets report that the CJI declined because similar matters are pending before the court, and advised a petition instead. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party respects the decision but will march anyway.

Delhi has braced for crowds. Entry and exit at six metro stations, including Rajiv Chowk, Janpath and Barakhamba Road, are shut from 6 am to 4 pm, and central police forces are deployed near Mandi House, The News Mill reported. ETV Bharat noted that the Supreme Court, at a special hearing, ordered that peaceful gatherers should not be detained. More than 100 protesters were detained on Sunday near Jantar Mantar, according to PTI.

Shivakumar set out his case in Mysuru on Sunday, where he had attended the opening of Dasara on Chamundi Hill. He told reporters that no citizen should lose the right to vote, that ministers, MPs and MLAs from the state would join him, and that curbs on entering Delhi and cuts to internet access were wrong. He cited backing from more than 150 retired IAS officers. Kharge, speaking in Bengaluru, accused the Centre of an "undeclared emergency". Last evening's watch item stays open: no outlet has yet given a headcount of Karnataka legislators travelling.

The home front heated up on Sunday evening. At the JD(S) office, Kumaraswamy alleged that Shivakumar spent hours at a five-star hotel in Vasanth Nagar with a person linked to sting operations, and later warned five cabinet colleagues they were targets, ANI and PTI reported. He asked the CM to name the person and the ministers, and to order an SIT probe. He said the row was raised to divert attention from his charges on the NICE (Bengaluru-Mysore corridor) project. Shivakumar's only reply so far: time will answer. BJP's R Ashoka asked him to file an FIR instead of making claims without proof. None of the allegations has been verified.

Kumaraswamy also questioned a notice reportedly issued by the Hassan deputy commissioner to the district police chief, saying such matters should go through the Chief Secretary. The government has not responded publicly.

On Tirumala, there is no Karnataka reply yet. The Hans India set out the deal on Monday: the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation would run rooms and restaurants at the 6.47-acre Pravasi Soudha complex, leased from TTD until 2050, and share net income with the state's Endowments Department. Besides TTD board member G Bhanu Prakash Reddy, Jana Sena's Kiran Royal has now objected, claiming about 400 local jobs are at risk.

The BJP has not announced dates for its promised agitation on SIR, drought and FIRs against its workers. No official Karnataka SIR figures have been released since last evening.