DK Shivakumar and a mystery sting with Meta glasses | Powertrip #169

Hello,Welcome to this week’s Powertrip, a political newsletter curated exclusively for subscribers of The News Minute and Newslaundry. This week’s edition is by Pooja Prasanna and Jahnavi.In this week’s edition, we found out a few key details about the industrialist who Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar alleges secretly recorded a meeting using Meta smart glasses.More in Karnataka, we learnt who the Congress leadership suspects is behind the alleged sting operation against Siddaramaiah and how it plans to proceed.Following the violence during the nominations for the local body polls, YSRCP sources said they do not expect any support from the police and will be posting workers at all polling stations ready to film any violations.Powertrip is a newsletter that senior political reporters of TNM put together every week. For those who can’t access the full newsletter, get a subscription and read every Tuesday..DK Shivakumar, Meta glasses and a mystery stingKarnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar believes he may have been secretly recorded during a meeting with an industrialist. Why the suspicion? The visitor was wearing Meta smart glasses.Shivakumar says the meeting began with business but soon veered into politics and election booth management. He also noticed that the visitor wore the glasses while meeting him and Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan, but apparently not during meetings with BJP and NDA leaders. So far, there is no publicly verifiable evidence that a recording actually took place.We tried to identify the mystery businessman. Here is what we can establish: he is from the telecom industry and has reportedly met more than six chief ministers across states.Shivakumar was apparently preparing to reveal more about the episode, but the Congress high command has reportedly stepped in to stop him from making a tell-all.Why the sudden hush? Sources suggest that KC Venugopal was unhappy that the story had entered the news cycle and got word to Shivakumar not to go ahead with more revelations. Siddaramaiah sting: What does Congress suspect, and why?The alleged sting targeting Siddaramaiah has opened a political hornet’s nest in Karnataka. But how does the Congress plan to respond and who does it believe is pulling the strings?For starters, Siddaramaiah and CM DK Shivakumar are reportedly on the same page on how to handle the controversy, with no rift between the two. Shivakumar is said to believe that the alleged plot goes beyond tarnishing Siddaramaiah’s image and is aimed at destabilising the Congress government itself.But who is behind it?The Congress leadership suspects Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy. According to the Congress, the JDS leadership, under pressure from the BJP high command to step up its attacks on the state government, has been hunting for ammunition against the Congress and stumbled upon the tapes.Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office believe the police have enough evidence to trace the trail. They claim investigators can establish links between the purchase of the equipment and some senior JDS leaders. If that evidence holds up, the Congress believes it could make the findings public in the coming days. YSRCP’s strategy to counter violations during local body pollsThe chaos and violence during Andhra Pradesh’s local body elections nominations created ripples across India. A series of shocking visuals showing purported TDP members attacking YSRCP candidates and tearing up their nomination papers went viral, triggering public anger towards the TDP government. The Supreme Court’s intervention led to the State Election Commission extending nominations in four places. But the court has now refused YSRCP’s plea for more mediation. It did however ask the Election Commission to ensure that CCTV footage from all polling stations is preserved.Sources from YSRCP said that they do not expect any support from the police, which is why they sought SC directions to preserve CCTV footage. They also said that YSRCP workers will be present at all polling stations ready to film any violations, a strategy which the party feels worked well during the nomination process. The party is also hoping for the presence of more TV cameras this time from national media, considering the wide public attention this time on the local body polls beyond the state’s borders.Zero HourA political story of public importanceRising pollution: India has dashboards to track problem – but not to track capability to solve it .PowermovesTop 5 political storiesTN school recognition scam: How a safety mechanism was turned into a money making scheme How a biodiversity register at CBD COP17 is reclaiming erased Kerala fisher knowledgeTelangana man alleges police assault, cops file FIRs against him CM Naidu attacks Jagan amid local body polls row, calls him a failed CM and brother How failure to destroy juvenile crime records is hurting children’s rehabilitation .Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.