DK Shivakumar hit out at the BJP and RSS for taking out a route march in Ramanagara against the controversial Jesus Christ statue.

BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Sunday hit out at the BJP and RSS for taking out a route march in Ramanagara against the controversial Jesus Christ statue.

“Just because the BJP won 25 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress workers need not lose hope. If the Congress and JD(S) had worked out a better strategy, the BJP would not have won even 10 seats. We will correct our mistakes,” the former Congress minister said.

After the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has failed to do well in assembly polls and has been losing power in many states. People are hitting the streets protesting against its policies such as CAA and NRC, he said.

Accusing the BJP and RSS of not being able to digest Congress’ victory in the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha segment in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said that the BJP is trying hard to make inroads into the
constituency represented by his brother D K Suresh. “Let them take out route march, we don’t care,”
he said.

“We all know what the BJP did during the Lok Sabha elections, and the media reported how much money they spent in the elections. What was the Election Commission doing? Was the Income Tax Department sitting with its eyes closed? Why did they conduct raids only in Hassan, Shivamogga and Mandya districts,” he asked.

He alleged that false cases were slapped when him and other leaders, including H D Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara and Dinesh Gundu Rao.

Yediyurappa has parliamentarians in 25 of 28 constituencies and couldn’t win Hassan, Bangalore Rural and Mandya.

BENGALURU: After winning the Vokkaliga strongholds of KR Pete in Mandya, Yeshwantpur and Chikkaballapur, it is no surprise that CM BS Yediyurappa’s new-look cabinet has seven ministers from this community. Yediyurappa has inducted four Vokkaligas  — Narayana Gowda, K Gopalaiah, ST Somashekar and Dr K Sudhakar. This is in addition to R Ashok, CT Ravi and CN Ashwath Narayan, and is unprecedented because the BJP has never been seen as a party of Vokkaligas.

It was BY Vijayendra and Ashwath Narayan who delivered KR Pete in Mandya to the BJP. Ever since, Yediyurappa is going all out to retain his share of the Vokkaliga pie. His attempt to give a berth to CP Yogeshwar, who hails from this community, has been delayed, but he knows that Yogeshwar’s induction will make BJP more powerful in the Vokkaliga-dominated Channapatna-Ramanagara belt.

The undisputed community leader remains JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda, but the man who has seen victory in 37 Vokkaliga-dominated areas and stood a close second to the Congress in 30 constituencies where their votes make a decisive difference, is feeling threatened. Gowda has not hidden his bitterness, and even hit out at Ashwath Narayan being seen in KR Pete.

Yediyurappa has parliamentarians in 25 of 28 constituencies and couldn’t win Hassan, Bangalore Rural and Mandya. In Mandya, BJP supported Congress rebel Sumalatha Ambareesh. Yediyurappa’s gameplan is to increase the number of Vokkaliga voters.

At a recent cabinet meeting, the BJP took keen interest in sugar factories in Mandya, the backbone of the local economy. The budget is likely to see investment in local infrastructure, to help them receive local support.

Senior party leaders like Amit Shah and others have met Adichunchanagiri pontiffs repeatedly, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has a special connect with them through the Nath tradition. Ashwath Narayan elevation has also yielded the party richer rewards because he is credited with the KR Pete victory. “The party’s support base has increased tremendously, it is a 360-degree effort.

Minister CT Ravi gave it another perspective, “It’s not about power, but about being of greater service.’’ 

Yediyurappa said that the final list of legislators to be inducted into the Cabinet will be finalised by Wednesday evening.

KALABURAGI: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who arrived here on Wednesday to inaugurate the 85th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, told reporters at the airport that the expansion of the Cabinet will be completed on Thursday.

Yediyurappa said that the final list of legislators to be inducted into the Cabinet will be finalised by Wednesday evening.

 When asked about the legislators to be inducted into his council of ministers, Yediyurappa said, “Everything will be finalised in the evening after getting information from the party high command. Those who will be inducted will be decided by the high command. It’s certain that the Cabinet expansion is going to happen at 10.30 on Thursday. But, those who will be inducted will be known only after the top leadership of the party clarifies about the same.” 

When asked if the senior leader and MLA Umesh Katti would be inducted into his Cabinet, the chief minister refused to comment.   

Yediyurappa said that the budget, which he will present on March 3, will be a pro-farmer and pro-women budget. “Consultation has been done with all departments. There will not be any discrimination about districts. The budget will help in the overall development of the state.”

This submission was made before Justice John Michael Cunha during the hearing of a petition filed by K Lenin.

BENGALURU: The state government on Monday informed the Karnataka High Court that a representative of Swami Nithyananda had informed the CID that Nithyananda is not at his ashram in Bidadi, but is on a spiritual tour.

This submission was made before Justice John Michael Cunha during the hearing of a petition filed by K Lenin. He prayed to court to cancel the bail granted to Nithyananda, the controversial godman who is facing charges of rape.

In his plea, Lenin claimed that Nithyananda had violated conditions imposed while granting bail, and hence, bail be cancelled. On this, the court ordered notice to Nithyananda on January 31, 2020, on the petition filed by Lenin, and this was served on Nithyananda’s aide.  

Meanwhile, Nithyananda’s representative filed an affidavit before court, stating that she was forced to receive the notice by the CID, though she pleaded that she cannot serve it on Nithyananda, as she doesn’t know his whereabouts.

Expressing displeasure over the way the notice was served, Justice Cunha reserved the order on Lenin’s plea. Lenin claimed that Nithyananda had fled the country on an expired passport, but his representative claimed that he is on a religious tour in India.

While sources indicated that the new ministers could be sworn in on Monday, he plan is to induct 13 new ministers.

BENGALURU:The BS Yediyurappa-led government is all set to get 13 more ministers after the Chief Minister’s meeting on Friday with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda.

During the meeting, which lasted about 25 minutes, the BJP central leadership not only gave Yediyurappa a free hand to expand the cabinet “whenever he wants”, but is also said to have approved his suggestion to induct 10 of the 11 newly- elected legislators.

They had defected from the Congress and JDS and won on BJP tickets in the bypolls. Sources privy to the discussion said that the swearing-in ceremony for 13 ministers is likely to be held on Monday. With their induction, the Karnataka cabinet’s strength will stand at 31. Sources added that Yediyurappa has decided not to drop any incumbent ministers and to keep three berths vacant in case dissent arises.

After camping in New Delhi for two days to discuss the cabinet expansion, Yediyurappa finally met Amit Shah on Friday. A meeting between the two leaders, which was scheduled for Thursday, was postponed owing to Shah’s busy campaign schedule for the Delhi assembly elections.

“Amit Shah, JP Nadda and I met for about 25 minutes and discussed the issue. They are in agreement with most of my suggestions. They said I can expand the cabinet whenever I want,” Yeddyurappa said.

“After I return to Bengaluru, I will talk to a few (stakeholders) and discuss the issue. I will convince them and expand the cabinet. The date of swearing-in is my prerogative,” said a beaming Yediyurappa as he walked out after meeting Shah and Nadda. 

While he chose to not answer pointed questions on how many of the newly-elected MLAs will be made ministers and when the swearing-in can be expected, sources indicated that the new ministers could be sworn in on Monday. 

“The CM will now have to take a call on whether he wants 10 out of the 11 newly-elected MLAs and three old-timers or nine newly-elected MLAs and four old-timers. The plan is to induct 13 ministers,” said another source. Yediyurappa has been pushing to induct at least 10 out of the 11 formerly disqualified MLAs owing to the assurance he had given to them before they joined the BJP.

Party insiders suggest that to avoid extremely heavy representation from Belagavi in the cabinet, either Mahesh Kumathalli or Shrimanth Patil could be left out from among the 11 legislators. For the three berths meant for party old-timers, Umesh Katti, Arvind Limbavali, Murugesh Nirani, Halappa Achar along with a host of BJP leaders are in line for consideration. 

Yediyurappa is expected to hold discussions with senior party leaders, cabinet aspirants and candidates who are likely to lose out on ministerial berths on Saturday and Sunday to build confidence and ensure minimum damage and dissent.

His suggestion to drop a few incumbent ministers seems to be the only proposal that the high command has not responded to in the positive. The CM is said to have been given autonomy over how to go about the cabinet expansion along with portfolio allocation. But with that also comes the onus of facing any challenges that may come up as a fallout.

Former BJP chief and Union Home Minster Amit Shah is also expected to be a part of the discussion.

BENGALURU: Even as he has conveyed to cabinet aspirants that the D-day for expansion is January 31, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will first consult with newly-elected BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda on January 30. Torn between keeping up his promise of accommodating all 11 defectors-turned-newly-elected MLAs and the Central leadership’s proposal of inducting not more than seven-nine of the lot, Yediyurappa will hold a final round of discussions with Nadda. Former BJP chief and Union Home Minster Amit Shah is also expected to be a part of the discussion.

“Yediyurappa has decided to go with an open mind. He wants to accommodate all 11 legislators, but the high command is keen on only about seven-nine of them being inducted. They want Yediyurappa to keep up the party’s promise to all defecting MLAs, but not all of them were promised cabinet berths — only nine were assured of a berth,” pointed out a source close to Yediyurappa. BJP insiders suggest that Ramesh Jarkiholi was promised of a ministerial berth- even the Deputy Chief Minister post- if he managed to gather more MLAs to follow suit. Mahesh Kumathalli and Shrimant Patil, who followed in Jarkiholi’s steps, were not promised a berth. While defectors like Sudhakar, ST Somashekhar, Narayana Gowda, Gopalaiah, Byrathi Basavraj, BC Patil and Anand Singh were promised to be accommodated into the cabinet, Shivaram Hebbar was not. The Central leadership wants Yediyurappa to keep up the party’s side of the bargain instead of overcompensating, say sources.

“I believe in the CM, and there are chances that expansion will happen before January 31,” Dr K Sudhakar, MLA Chikkaballapur, told TNIE. He added that there was no pressure on Yediyurappa over the allocation of portfolios. In his discussion with Nadda on Thursday, Yediyurappa is also expected to finalise portfolios for newly-inducted ministers. For now, Yediyurappa has been asked to consider just seven-nine of the newly-elected MLAs and to consider prominent MLAs such as Umesh Katti, Sunil Kumar, CM Udasi, Arvind Limbavali, Halady Srinivas Shetty and Murugesh Nirani, as well as youngsters such as Preetham Gowda and Dattatreya Patil Revoor. 

Justice John Michael Cunha issued the notice while hearing a criminal petition filed by K Lenin.

BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to file objections on why godman Nithyananda Swamy’s bail petition should not be cancelled. 

Justice John Michael Cunha issued the notice while hearing a criminal petition filed by K Lenin. Lenin sought the cancellation of Nithyananda’s bail, on grounds that the latter had violated the conditions imposed while granting him bail. In his petition, Lenin stated that Nithyananda had sought exemption from appearing before the court for trial proceedings since he was on a religious tour in India, but Lenin claimed that Nithyananda had fled the country.

The minister further advised leaders to understand the gravity of any situation before talking to the media. 

CHITRADURGA: Health Minister B Sriramulu on Friday launched a broadside on former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, saying the JDS leader’s “love for Pakistan has increased, and if he wants, he can go and stay there.”

Sriramulu’s statement comes after Kumarswamy had commented, “If Pakistan was not our neighbour, the BJP wouldn’t have got votes and come to power in India.”

Addressing reporters at Bhovi Gurupeetha on the outskirts of the city, he said, “Being a former CM, he shouldn’t have made a statement like that.” On Kumaraswamy demanding a ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bajrang Dal, he said “both are nationalist institutions that are working for the betterment of the country”. 

He urged leaders not to make “vague statements” and said India believes in inclusive development, where everyone is treated equally. The minister further advised leaders to understand the gravity of any situation before talking to the media. 

Reacting to former CM Siddaramaiah’s statement that the state government was not yet being strong enough, he said the Congress leader was an “unwanted person” in his party and it was better not to take his words seriously. 

Faizan Rizwan

Three time shantinagar [M.L.A] N.A Haris and six others were injured in a low intensity blast around 8.45pm last night Harris was attending the birth anniversary of Tamil superstar and former C.M of Tamil Nadu M.G.R Birth anniversary organised by his fans and supporter in Shantinagar.
Following the blast he and others injured were taken to St.Philomena hospital police officer from both Ashok Nagar and Vivek nagar police station were rushed to the spot and they are yet to confirm whether the explosive was caused by a bomb or it was caused by a fire crackers investigation is going on

 He also held the district ministers responsible, saying they don’t visit their districts, and some departments are not working actively because there are no ministers.

MYSURU/BENGALURU: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday slammed the Centre yet again, asking whether it would dismiss those state governments which are opposed to the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. 

“In Bihar, the BJP is a ruling party since it is in a coalition with the JDU, and yet it has opposed CAA/NRC. Will you withdraw support in Bihar because of this? If CAA/NRC is not implemented in states where the BJP is in power, how can you insist on other states implementing it?” he asked. Already, 13 states have openly expressed their opposition to the Act, he added. 

“Governors of the states directing their respective governments to implement CAA is not constitutional, governors are not heads of popularly elected governments. There is no rule that state governments have to abide by their directions,’’ Siddaramaiah said.

With many flood victims in Karnataka still homeless and living on the streets, many months after the disaster, he pointed to the failure in providing tangible relief to these victims.

“Payouts to those who lost their homes and farmers who lost their crops, have not been done yet, and there is no sign of compensation for commercial establishments that suffered losses either. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah visited Karnataka, they didn’t utter a word about it. Of the Rs 35,000 crore demanded from the Centre, the state got a mere Rs 1,869 crore,” he said. 

He also held the district ministers responsible, saying they don’t visit their districts, and some departments are not working actively because there are no ministers.

Taking a dig at rebel MLAs who jumped ship to join the BJP, he predicted “an explosion in the party” after cabinet expansion. In the BJP, many are waiting for cabinet posts, and all rebels who won the elections will not be given berths, he said, quoting “inside information”.

Indicating unrest in the rebel camp, he said that former MLA Adagur H Vishwanath has already said he will make a decision after cabinet expansion.

Asked about the delay in the announcement of the KPCC chief, Siddaramaiah said there are more important issues to be addressed, like Mahadayi and flood relief, and lashed out at Amit Shah for not speaking about the Mahadayi issue.