Injuries to Kerala Health Minister Veena George’s neck and hands – sustained in Kannur district as student union activists, who were protesting instances of alleged medical negligence, clashed with police – have become the focus of a political row in the poll-bound southern state; Political tensions have escalated in Karnataka after Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar acknowledged that the Congress government’s five guarantee schemes have placed a financial burden on the state, while defending them as essential for boosting household stability and economic confidence.