Archives for September 2018

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday slammed the BJP for “controlling the media” by filing police cases against journalists. Kejriwal levelled the allegation following a BJP worker’s complaint against several journalists for reporting that he washed a party MP’s feet and drank the dirty water.

On Monday, a video clip had gone viral, showing Jharkhand BJP worker Pawan Kumar Sah washing MP Nishikant Dubey’s feet at a function in Godda district and drinking the collected water. Sah alleged that he was being “hounded” by reporters since then.

“Every day, people from TV channels call me and threaten me with derogatory words. They are continuously trying to damage my image in social circles and this has affected my health,” Sah complained to Godda police.

Kejriwal’s reaction came on Twitter after Leader of Opposition in Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, shared a copy of Sah’s complaint.

“So far, the BJP was controlling the media by controlling advertisers and through money. But now, it seems it has decided to file police cases against the media if it dares to question the shameful acts of its MPs,” Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Kejriwal said.

Tejashwi Yadav wrote on Twitter: “Instead of apologising for his shameful conduct, Dubey (getting his dirty feet washed by a poor man who then drank that water) is bullying and trying to intimidate people in the media and social media through cases through his proxies.”

(IANS)

Following the removal of flex banners across Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court, led by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, came down heavily on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and told them to ensure that the city is free of potholes by Thursday.

“It should be zero potholes by tomorrow. It is your job. How you go about it is up to you. Bengaluru has to be put back on its glory from every angle. If you cannot do it, then we would have to take a call. The city cannot be left to anybody’s mercy”  a Division Bench of CJ Maheshwari and Justice SG Pandit observed, according to The TImes of India.

While hearing a PIL filed by Vijayan Menon of the Citizens Action Forum and others, the bench also noted that potholes were a minor part of the larger traffic problem. The PIL had sought a direction from the court to ask the Palike to submit an action plan to fix potholes, and also to introduce a system to record complaints about the condition of roads in the city. Furthermore, the petitioners sought a method to award compensation to victims of road accident due to the deplorable condition of the roads.

“Are your officers not ashamed of this action of counting potholes,” the bench asked, when it was told that the city had 1,600 potholes, reported media.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had also taken note and said that the situation was “frightening” when it was told that a total of 3,597 lives were lost across the country due to potholes.

Reacting to the HC’s observation, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said, “The work on filling potholes has been going on almost every day, except on days it rains. A standing instruction has been given to all officers to ensure the roads are pothole-free at the earliest.”

PTI

Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy dropped a bombshell on Thursday, claiming that the BJP was planning to use “military logistics” to poach Congress and JDS MLAs to topple his government in the state.

Launching a scathing attack on state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa, he said that the desperate BJP was using every trick in the book to engineer mass defections from the coalition to form its government by hook or crook.

“The BJP and Yeddyurappa have crossed all limits. They are telling some of our MLAs that they will take them to Mumbai and Pune and bring them back to Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru for a floor test by military planes. What is this?” he asked while speaking to reporters.

He further alleged that the BJP has offered Rs 5 crore in cash among other things to MLAs. “Yeddyurappa and the BJP maintain that they are not toppling the government and they will form the government only if my government goes. In reality they are doing everything,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said the BJP told his MLAs that 18 MLAs from Congress and JDS have already agreed to defect and once the number crosses 20, they will be shifted to Mumbai and Pune. He said the BJP government in Maharashtra has agreed to shelter the MLAs.

He described Yeddyurappa as the “father of percentage politics” in Karnataka and the “most corrupt” politician till date in the state.

“My family has a long history of serving Karnataka people. We have been in politics for the past 60 years. We have always tried to protect the resources of the state. Yeddyurappa has looted the same resources when he was chief minister. What moral rights does he have to call me and others corrupt,” he angrily asked.

He dared Yeddyurappa to use central agencies to “fix” him and others from JDS and Congress. Kumaraswamy warned Yeddyurappa that the state government could do anything to him if he really wants to trouble him.

“Yeddyurappa says he has central government in his hands and can do anything to us. I want to tell him that we have the state government. We can also do anything”, he said.

According to Kumaraswamy, the BJP is holding a series of meetings at various places to unseat him.

He warned the BJP of a mass uprising in Karnataka if they don’t put a full stop to “illegal and unethical” operations. “The attitude of the BJP is sickening. The people are watching them closely. If they continue like this, perhaps the people will rise against them. There will be a mass movement against them across the state. The BJP will have to pay a heavy price,” he said.

JDS MLA Suresh Gowda also warned the BJP that they could also poach MLAs from the saffron party if they don’t stop approaching the ruling party’s MLAs.

Yeddyurappa, earlier in the day, had made yet another blistering attack on Kumaraswamy calling him the most “corrupt” chief minister whose family is into only moneymaking business.

Even though the coalition leaders claim that the government is safe and they have resolved all internal issues, some fear that the BJP might launch an all-out attack anytime.

Kumaraswamy met Water Resources minister DK Shivakumar at a private hospital in the morning. Shivakumar, who was charged with money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, has been admitted to hospital for food poisoning.

ANI

The Hebbal traffic police informed the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) officials, consultants and experts who rushed to the trouble spot on Wednesday morning.

The problem is on the arm leading towards Hennur from the airport. Motorists plying on the stretch feel a thud and vibrations.

“This is the first time we have come across such an expansion joint problem at any flyover. To decide on the next course of action and ensure that there are no untoward incidents, a detailed report has been sought from all stakeholders. A meeting will be held on Saturday. Then the next course of action, including, whether traffic needs to be diverted, will be decided,” said an expert who inspected the site.

However the BDA officials assured of quick fix for this issue.

The Hebbal flyover links Bengaluru to north Bengaluru and the airport and is part of the flyover maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHIA).

BJP organised party legislature meet on Wednesday.

BS Yeddyurappa was authorized to take all major decisions on forming the new government at the state.

As per the information available it has reported said that, BSY claimed over 14 MLAs are showing interest to join the BJP party. “Few senior MLAs openly opposed the proposal of Operation Kamala, while the majority of the MLAs favoured such a move,” he added.

“BSY informed the meeting that he is fielding three candidates in the upcoming state legislative council election. This is to ensure that other party MLAs will cross vote to the BJP candidates and humiliate CM HDK,” he said.

PTI

Terming the ‘triple talaq’ ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet “undemocratic and uncalled for”, the CPI-M on Thursday said that it tantamounts to bypassing Parliament where a bill on the issue is pending.

“The ordinance brought about by the central government is uncalled for and is motivated by considerations other than the welfare of Muslim women,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said in a statement here.

“The bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha and requires full discussions, including reference to a Select Committee. The ordinance is an undemocratic step of bypassing Parliament,” it said.

The CPI-M said that ‘talaq-e-biddat’, or instant divorce, has already been declared illegal by the Supreme Court, but the Narendra Modi government brought a bill that has made a “civil wrong a criminal offence” with the prescription of a three-year jail term for the offender.

“It is an ill-conceived measure that will not help protect the affected women. There are other flaws in the bill that need to be rectified. This ordinance is designed to serve the political interests of the ruling party (BJP) and cannot be accepted. Parliament should adopt a revised legislation in this regard,” the CPI-M said.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the ordinance that makes ‘triple talaq’ a criminal offence. The ordinance will be sent to the President for approval.

It comes against the backdrop of the government’s inability to get the bill on the issue passed in the last monsoon session of Parliament.

The government said it brought the ordinance as instances of ‘triple talaq’ “continue unabated” in spite of the Supreme Court declaring it unconstitutional. The Lok Sabha has passed the bill, which is now pending in the Rajya Sabha.

(IANS)

BENGALURU, INDIA – SEPTEMBER 19: D K Shivkumar, minister of Irrigation and Medical education in Karnataka government along with his brother D K Suresh during a press conference after ED initiates probe against him, at his official residence on September 19, 2018 in Bengaluru, India. 

Rejecting the BJP’s allegation that he had paid money to the Congress’s central leadership, Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday accused the BJP of misusing central agencies to harass him and pull down the Congress-JDS government in the state.

Pleading innocence, the high-profile minister said he was not involved in hawala transactions and was ready to face “any type of torture” by central agencies. He asserted he would come out clean.

DK Shivakumar’s repudiation came after a BJP spokesman in Delhi demanded that the top Congress leadership respond to the purported “confessional statements” made to the Income Tax department by his alleged associates claiming the money trail in a hawala network led to the Congress headquarters.

BJP spokesman Sambit Patra also referred to diaries allegedly recovered from Congress leaders in the state claiming “entries of money running up to Rs 600 crore were shown against SG and RG among others”.

Patra alleged the acronyms referred to top leaders in the opposition party and demanded that Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi come out and respond.

“He is simply using RG names, SG names. Where is RG name and SG name? I want to make it very clear that no SG or RG names are there. No way we are connected. They are unnecessarily trying to damage the name of our leaders. Let them (Enforcement Directorate) call me,” he said.

Hitting out at the BJP spokesperson, DK Shivakumar sought to know why he was dragging Congress leaders into controversy.

“Unnecessarily you are bringing my party leaders (into the controversy). I have not paid any money to my party leaders, nor to the party. If anything is there, it is me and my party. They have to ask me, I have to reply to them. I need not reply to any of my BJP friends,” he said.

At a press conference in Delhi, Patra showed the purported confessional statements of Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah, an employee of the Karnataka Bhavan in the national capital, and claimed the documents were the proof of Congress’s involvement in a Hawala network.

“We have statements of DK Shivakumar’s driver, who told the I-T Department about how money in kilograms were sent to AICC. We now know why Congress party was crying during demonetisation,” Patra said.

DK Shivakumar asserted, “I am ready to face any kind of consequences or any type of torture they (central agencies) want to give me. I am confident that I will come out clean because I am a law-abiding citizen.”

Hitting back at Patra for referring to the abbreviated names in the diary, Shivakumar said, “What diaries are you talking about? Did you forget the Jain diaries, Advani diaries, or Modi Sahab’s diary?”

DK Shivakumar claimed he was being subjected to harassment by central agencies ever since he hosted Gujarat Congress MLAs during Rajya Sabha elections when the party leaders felt the BJP may poach on them in August last year.

Sonia Gandhi’s close aide Ahmed Patel was contesting the election which he narrowly managed to win.

The Karnataka minister also linked his “harassment” to the BJP’s alleged attempts to destabilise the coalition government in the state.

“These are your daydreams Mr Yeddyurappa (the state BJP chief and leader of the opposition). We have the numbers,” asserted DK Shivakumar, adding these “blackmailing tactics will not work”.

The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against DK Shivakumar and a few others for alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions.

PTI