INDIA bloc names ex-Supreme Court judge B. Sudarshan Reddy as Vice-Presidential candidate
Leaders of the INDIA bloc on Tuesday announced former Supreme Court judge B. Sudarshan Reddy as their candidate for the Vice-Presidential election scheduled for September 9. The announcement came after a huddle at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence, where opposition leaders deliberated on fielding a common nominee.
The move pits the Opposition against the BJP-led NDA, which on Sunday named Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan as its candidate. Radhakrishnan, a veteran of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and former president of the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit, is expected to be backed unanimously by the ruling alliance.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had earlier reached out to opposition leaders, including Kharge, in an attempt to build support for a consensus choice, though the INDIA bloc ultimately decided to field its own nominee.
The election was necessitated after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned last month citing health reasons. The last date for filing nominations is August 21. The contest is expected to be closely watched, though the NDA holds a numerical advantage in the electoral college.
In the last Vice-Presidential election, the Opposition fielded Margaret Alva, who lost to Dhankhar. The majority mark stands at 394 in the combined strength of both Houses of Parliament, which totals 786 members.
Justice Reddy, who also served as the first Lokayukta of Goa, is being projected as a consensus and non-political choice, reflecting the Opposition's strategy to nominate a respected figure from outside active politics.
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Aditya Bhagchandani serves as the Senior Editor and Writer at Business Upturn, where he leads coverage across the Business, Finance, Corporate, and Stock Market segments. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to journalistic integrity, he not only contributes insightful articles but also oversees editorial direction for the reporting team.
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The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump's redistricting push meets local GOP resistance in Indiana
Indiana Republicans are casting doubt on whether they will move forward with a plan to redraw its congressional district lines despite pressure from the White House. Several GOP state lawmakers have come out against the effort, expressing concern about the precedent that it could set for the future and possible backlash against the party. With Republican supermajorities dominating both houses of the state legislature, stopping the effort would require a significant number of Republicans to oppose it and ignore the Trump administration's call for it. But Indiana is already appearing to be a rare exception to most other GOP-led states much more enthusiastic about redistricting. 'I have tremendous respect for President Trump and love what he's doing,' said state Sen. Jim Lucas (R) who is one of a few on record against redistricting. 'But for Hoosiers, Indiana Republicans, to abandon their principles and basically take away the rules, that sets such a dangerous precedent moving forward and for our children.' 'What kind of political structure are we leaving for our children in the future if we all of a sudden, just because we can, decide to redistrict mid-cycle?' he said. Republicans appear to hold the advantage nationally in the redistricting battle. Though California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is moving forward with his own effort to rewrite his state's lines, the GOP, for multiple structural and practical reasons, has more realistic opportunities to add seats ahead of 2026. Texas Republicans seem likely to approve a new map shortly, while GOP leaders in Florida, Ohio and Missouri have shown a clear interest in trying to add seats to pad the party's majority in 2026. But Indiana has been a question mark, with several Republicans preemptively releasing statements against updating the state's map. Republicans currently occupy seven of the state's nine seats in the U.S. House. Redrawn lines would likely have the biggest impact on Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, who represents the 1st Congressional District in the northwest and has already been named a national GOP target for 2026. 'It is no surprise that some believe redistricting is the only option to cling to power when they know the American people are rejecting the damage done by the House Republican Majority,' Mrvan said in a statement amid the speculation. But the political will may not be as strong in the Hoosier State as it appears to be in others. Along with Lucas, several other Republicans in the state legislature said they don't support redistricting now, including state Reps. Danny Lopez and Craig Haggard, and state Sens. Jim Tomes and Spencer Deery. Lucas expressed concern that the move would damage the party's credibility, and he said he's received a lot of positive feedback from constituents in favor of standing on principle. 'There are some outliers… that think, 'hey, we need to take the gloves off and do what the Democrats would be doing to us,' but I want to think we're better than that,' he said. 'I have faith in our policy and our principles and our ideology.' The positions of state legislators could be influential in whether Gov. Mike Braun (R) calls a special session to address redistricting. He has said he is 'considering it seriously' but would look to the results of Texas's efforts and the feelings of Indiana state lawmakers. With Republicans controlling 70 out of 100 seats in the state House and 40 out of 50 seats in the state Senate, many more Republicans would need to be opposed to redrawing the map to have enough votes, along with all Democrats, to block any change. But more Republican opposition might come out, said Republican strategist Pete Seat, a former communications director for the state GOP. 'We take great pride in how we draw our maps, and there's a lot of thought and effort that goes into it, into maintaining communities of interest and drawing districts that are compact,' Seat said. 'There are some states that come at it, despite what they might say, from a political perspective and trying to draw lines that achieve a political end game, whereas we try to draw what makes sense and what keeps people with similar interests together.' 'What I've been hearing from the moment this conversation started is a lack of desire to go forward with re-redistricting, as I like to call it, for that reason, and for the reason that it's a lot of political capital to spend on one additional seat,' he added. Democrats said they appreciated the Republicans who have come out against redistricting and hope they can rally support to prevent any mid-decade change from occurring. State Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder (D) said the pushback has been bipartisan and represents Indiana's nature as being independent-minded. 'We are independent thinkers, and we can see this cheating behavior a mile away. So whether you are [a Republican, Democrat or independent] or go back and forth because you vote for the person, Hoosiers see this as a cheating agenda, as a cheating move,' Yoder said, adding that these Republicans recognize 'this isn't how we do things in Indiana, and we're going to do by right by the voters.' But even if the political will in Indiana is lacking, the push on the national level for the state to go forward is much stronger, with pressure appearing likely to build from the White House. Vice President Vance visited Indiana earlier this month for a private meeting with Braun and state legislative leaders as chatter built about redistricting possibilities. A source familiar with conversations between the White House and state leadership said they expect the state will ultimately go forward with redistricting with the urging from the president. They said the pressure from the administration will 'intensify' as time goes on, and they don't expect Braun, a Trump ally, to ignore it. 'There's certainly confidence that once the president really makes the case and leans into it, that you could convince and/or flip lawmakers to be supportive of the effort,' they said. The Hill has reached out to the White House and Braun's office for comment about the opposition to redistricting among the handful of Republicans. One key moment may be a meeting set to take place next Tuesday in which the White House invited all Republican state legislators to visit. The meeting was scheduled weeks prior, before Vance's visit, to discuss various issues, but Republicans said they could imagine the redistricting issue coming up. In another sign of the pressure mounting on GOP holdouts, Indiana's entire Republican delegation in the U.S. House released statements Monday declaring their support for the redistricting effort, saying it's necessary to overcome gerrymandering in Democratic-led states, while Sen. Todd Young (R) has previously raised some doubts about the idea. Meanwhile, some voters have received robocalls urging them to back redistricting to support Trump. Seat said he believes the calls are having the opposite effect, strengthening opposition to redistricting. But the source familiar with the White House's conversations said they don't see this letting up. 2024 Election Coverage 'In the conversations I've had with the White House, I don't see this slowing down at any point,' they said. If legislators and the governor say the political will isn't present to do this, 'I don't think the White House is going to consider that to be an acceptable answer,' they said.
TechCrunch
an hour ago
- TechCrunch
CPG startup Keychain snags $30M to build in India, grow in the U.S.
Keychain, a U.S. startup that helps consumer brands find manufacturing partners, has raised $30 million in fresh funding as it looks to scale its India-based development team to drive growth in North America. While headquartered in New York, Keychain operates as a distributed company with its core engineering and product development centered in India. The startup is doubling down on this model with the new funding, aiming to grow its engineering, product design, and analytics teams in Gurugram from 35 to 70 in the coming months, and to around 100 within a year. This India-based team already represents half of Keychain's 70-person global headcount, with about 20 employees in New York and the remainder in Austin, handling partnerships, go-to-market, and sales. The strategy is deliberate. Despite only serving Western markets, Keychain has built its primary development operations in in Gurugram — which is the country's second-largest tech hub after Bengaluru — to develop its consumer packaged goods (CPG) platform for clients in North America. The software platform already helps eight of the top 10 retailers, including 7-Eleven and Whole Foods, and seven of the top CPG brands, such as General Mills, connect with potentially suitable manufacturers, according to the startup. So why India? 'It's the talent, depth, availability, and the speed with which you can access talent of that depth and availability [in India],' said Oisin Hanrahan, co-founder and CEO of Keychain, in an interview. Hanrahan co-founded Keychain in 2023 with Umang Dua — his co-founder at Handy, a home services software startup later acquired by Angi — and Jordan Weitz. Dua, who is originally from New Delhi, has been a 'natural advantage' in building Keychain's core teams in Gurugram, Hanrahan said. Keychain co-founder and CEO Oisin Hanrahan Image Credits:Keychain Both Hanrahan and Dua spent time structuring Keychain's teams across India and the U.S., ultimately choosing India as the company's engineering hub. The decision was shaped by their experience at Handy and Angi, where they found it challenging to build a 'sustainable, enduring' engineering team in the U.S. 'We've thought about engineering as: how do we build a core, sustainable engineering organization that can get to scale reasonably quickly, that has endurance, that's got deep talent pools, and AI exposure that can take on real, important challenges, that's commercially minded? And we looked at where we had those teams before, when we were at Handy and Angi, and obviously, India is just an amazing location and really checks a lot of those boxes,' Hanrahan told TechCrunch. Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW Several U.S. startups, especially those developing SaaS solutions, base their engineering and product teams in cities like Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Noida. In recent months, the country has also seen a wave of multinational companies establishing offshore hubs, often referred to as global capability centers. But unlike most of these firms — which also target Indian consumers even as many say India is harder to sell into — Keychain stands apart. It more closely resembles companies like the UK's Deliveroo and Southeast Asia's Gojek and Grab — all of which tap into India's tech talent for product development and R&D without having a market presence in the country. 'India's position as a global technology hub has made it a compelling destination for product development, even for startups that have no direct business in the country,' said Neha Singh, co-founder of the Bengaluru-based private market intelligence platform Tracxn, in an interview with TechCrunch. India's time zone also allows teams to work beyond U.S. hours, enabling near-continuous development cycles, Singh added. KeychainOS as the next big thing coming from Indian talent Keychain plans to use its India team not only to improve its current platform — launched in February 2024 and used by over 20,000 brands and retailers to find manufacturing partners — but also to build new AI-powered software that helps manufacturers manage their product cycles more efficiently and with better oversight. Called KeychainOS, the software will have four modules, with the first one already available. This module helps manufacturers comply with their food safety requirements, using AI to take quantitative data and convert it into a qualitative report that can be shared with auditors. The software can also pull data using natural language when an auditor requests a specific insight, Hanrahan told TechCrunch. The other three modules of the software will focus on purchasing and procurement, inventory, and production planning, the executive noted. The OS offering will compete with traditional ERP systems like Oracle, QAD, and Plex, which require add-ons like TraceGains and Redzone to be usable for manufacturers, the startup said. In addition to its KeychainOS for manufacturers, Keychain has embedded AI into its search and discovery layer to help retailers quickly find relevant third-party manufacturers for their products. Keychain's search and Discovery layer with an AI integration Image Credits:Keychain Keychain already helps brands and retailers find third-party manufacturers in food, beverage, supplements, health, and beauty categories and is looking to expand its platform to pet and household products later this year. Currently, the startup serves businesses in the U.S. and Canada and is aiming to enter Europe later this year. While the startup offers its software free to brands and retailers, manufacturers pay to access the platform and get discovered. KeychainOS provides them with another reason to engage. Keychain already has over 30,000 manufacturers on its platform, with 'hundreds and hundreds' paying to use it. These customers pay anywhere from $10,000 to over $100,000, Hanrahan said, adding that the startup earns around $20,000 per manufacturer annually on average. Keychain's Series B round was led by Wellington Management and existing investor BoxGroup, alongside other existing investors. With this funding, the startup has raised $68 million in total. Of that, Hanrahan told TechCrunch that the startup still has over $50 million in the bank. The startup had a post-money valuation of $260 million in its last round of $15 million in November 2024. Hanrahan did not disclose the current valuation but said it was a 'good step up.'
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Five GOP governors send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C.
Members of the National Guard patrol in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C. on Monday. Five Republican-led states have sent National Guard troops there after President Donald Trump requested states do so. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Five Republican governors have deployed National Guard soldiers to Washington, D.C., following President Donald Trump's request to send troops. "I have approved the deployment of approximately 135 [National Guard] soldiers to Washington, D.C. to assist in President [Donald Trump's] mission of restoring safety and peace in our nation's capital," announced Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry Monday. "I've approved the deployment of approximately 200 [soldiers] to Washington, D.C., to support President Trump's effort to return law and order to our nation's capital," wrote Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday on X. "Crime is out of control there, and it's clear something must be done to combat it," he added. National Guard soldiers from those two states will join troops already sent from Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina as part of Trump's recent actions to increase and control law enforcement in Washington, D.C. He put forth an executive order last week titled "Restoring Law and Order in the District of Columbia," in which he declared the district's Metropolitan Police Department under federal control, and dispatched 800 of Washington, D.C.'s National Guard soldiers to patrol the streets. Around 1,000 troops in total are being contributed by the five states. "Until [four] days ago, Washington, D.C., was the most unsafe 'city' in the United States, and perhaps the World," Trump posted to his Truth Social account Monday. "Now, in just a short period of time, it is perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour!" According to the Metropolitan Police Department's crime statistics, the level of nearly every categorized offense committed there has dropped since last year, but Trump has alleged the numbers provided by the district are fraudulent.
