Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Infighting in State BJP spills over at party meetings, and more

Internal rivalry and blame game in the Karnataka unit of the BJP is spilling over. Monday saw BJP workers belonging to two factions nearly come to blows in back to back party workers’ meetings held at Vijayapura and Bagalkot, exposing differences within the State unit of the party after the Assembly poll debacle.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa was heard blaming “migrants” from Congress for the poor show of the party in the 2023 elections. The BJP is organising district-level party workers’ meetings in which Ministers and State-level party office bearers are meant to speak about the achievements of the nine-year rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The differences came to the fore in two such meetings in North Karnataka on June 27.

Vande Bharat Express from Dharwad to Bengaluru was inaugurated today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the train via a video link. This is the second Vande Bharat Express to operate in Karnataka, and the first to be running within the State. The first was the Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai Vande Bharat Express.

The Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will connect important cities in Karnataka — Dharwad, Hubballi and Davangere — with the state capital Bengaluru, the PM said.

The distribution of 10 kg of rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme will begin as soon as the State gets the required quantity of rice, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said.

Following the Food Corporation of India’s refusal to supply the State with 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice a month to implement the scheme, the CM said the State government had been making honest efforts to procure the required amount from Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments.

“We are not getting the required quantity. We have called for quotations from NCCF, NAFED and other agencies. We will take a decision in the next cabinet meeting,” he said.