BENGALURU: Newly appointed state BJP chief BY Vijayendra has said that his priority is to win Karnataka for PM Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Vijayendra downplayed the issue of senior BJP leaders, including BJP general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh, Pralhad Joshi, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, and V Somanna skipping the event in which he took charge as state party chief on Wednesday.

“The first person to wish me was Union Minister Pralhad Joshi. BL Santosh Ji is among the tallest leaders of the party. As far as leaders V Somanna and Basanagouda Patil Yatnal are concerned, I will visit and speak to them,” Vijayendra added. “If anyone opposes me, he is opposing Modi,” the 47-year-old MLA from Shikaripura added. On BJP leader Arvind Bellad giving the event a miss, he said, “I have spoken to him and he has wished me all success. I have visited so many leaders. I visited Basavraj Bommaiji at his residence. He came to the party office and blessed me even though he underwent surgery recently. He told me that it is his duty to bless me.’’

On being compared to Abhimanyu of Mahabharata and that forces opposing him would try to pin him down and harm his political career ahead of the LS polls, Vijayendra said, “Who made me the party president? Was it Yediyurappa? It is PM Modiji, Home Minister Amit Shahji and party president JP Naddaji. My job is to deliver all 28 seats in Karnataka to Modiji. If anyone opposes me, they oppose Modiji. I am confident that even Somanna and Yatnal and all others will work unitedly for the party. I have tried to reach out to Yatnal. I am confident that seniors in the party and other leaders will talk to them. I will personally go and reach out to them. Things will take time but will settle down.”

Vijayendra said he would visit New Delhi on 23, 24, 25 this month and meet Modiji, Shah and Nadda. While there was a talk that he would hold a formal celebration meeting in Bengaluru on November 25 for his supporters, he said nothing has been decided as yet. He also expressed confidence in the BJP performing well in the LS polls.

“There is a pro-incumbency wave in favour of Modiji. What does the Congress government have to offer except for some half-baked guarantees? People have realised that they have been let down. What fresh programme has the State Government offered to the state except for blaming the Centre?”

Asked how many seats the BJP would win in Karnataka in the polls,  he said with confidence, “Wait and see.’’

When asked about social media posts alleging that senior leaders skipping Vijayendra’s installation ceremony was a sign of resentment, he said, “We will all come together. I am confident.’’ 

It is clear that Vijayendra’s first big challenge is to take everyone along and quell the “dissent” in the state unit of the party. He said he would tour Karnataka after his return from Delhi. 

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Wednesday said that the Legislature Party meeting is scheduled to take place on November 17, during which the election of its leader, who will also be the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, is likely to be announced.

Earlier in the day, Vijayendra formally took charge as the state BJP president.

“The Legislature Party meeting is scheduled for 6 PM on Friday. Central observers will be coming. According to information, two observers will be coming. We will get to know tomorrow, as to who will be coming,” Vijayendra said in response to a question.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Leader of Opposition is likely to be announced on the same day, based on the opinion of all the legislators, in the presence of Central observers.

The BJP, which is the principal opposition party in the state, has not appointed its legislature party leader yet, who will also play the role of the Leader of Opposition in the assembly.

The previous assembly session in July was held without the Leader of the Opposition.

In the elections to the 224-member assembly held in May this year, the Congress ousted the BJP from power with a landslide victory. The Congress got 135 seats, the BJP 66 and the JD(S) 19.

The BJP legislature party meeting to elect its new leader is taking place ahead of the winter session of the state legislature in Belagavi, from December 4.

The party had been facing intense criticism from the ruling Congress for its inability to make an appointment to the post, and there was disgruntlement within the party over the delay.

Stating that he has sought appointment from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vijayendra said, after getting the appointment, he will be visiting New Delhi, during which he will also meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party’s national president J P Nadda and party’s general secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh, and seek their blessings.

Responding to a question about Congress criticising his appointment by pointing at the alleged disgruntlement within the BJP, he said, “…we will reply to their criticism in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.”

The BJP last week appointed Vijayendra, the younger son of veteran leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, as its state unit president. He was until now the state vice president of the party.

The 47-year-old, who is the first time MLA from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district has replaced Nalin Kumar Kateel, a three-time Lok Sabha member from Dakshina Kannada, who had completed his three-year term as the BJP state president, and was given an extension last year in view of the impending assembly elections.

BENGALURU: The BJP high command, having appointed former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra, a Veerashaiva Lingayat, as chief of the Karnataka party unit, is likely to choose a leader from either a backward class or Vokkaliga community as leader of the opposition (LoP) in the assembly. Other criteria are ideological commitment and an RSS background. 

Central observers will be taking part in the BJP Legislature Party meeting, slated to be held on November 17, and a decision will be taken after collecting the opinions of all 66 MLAs. Since the BJP has forged an alliance with the JDS, which is headed by Vokkaliga leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, it is unlikely to select a leader from that community as opposition leader, a BJP source said. 

Appointing Sunil Kumar as LoP could be the BJP’s plan to win back the Billava vote bank, as a section of the community had backed the Congress in the May 10 assembly polls, according to political pundits. “The opposition leader is like a watchdog, and a deserving candidate should be given that post. I don’t agree with appointing an opposition leader on the basis of caste as it could benefit only temporarily,” remarked senior BJP leader C T Ravi. However, according to sources, the high command has even discussed the appointment of the LoP with B S Yediyurappa and is relying on his strategy.

BENGALURU:  Over five hundred bus shelters across the city installed with automated digital boards providing Passenger Information Systems (PIS), at BMTC bus shelters across the city. The digital boards are set up at select bus shelters and works are going on to set up a few more.

“The project to install digital boards at the bus shelters was pending for long. The project is part of the Nirbhaya Scheme, where bus shelters are set up digital boards that will provide details of BMTC bus routes, the bus registration numbers, the destination of the bus, and the estimated time of arrival in English and Kannada language.”

He said that the main prerequisite for setting up the digital boards is power supply and they were not able to do it in some of the places because of the non-availability of it.

BENGALURU: JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday tore into the state Congress government and its leaders for rampant corruption and failure on all fronts and appealed to voters in five election-bound states, including Telangana, not to be misled by their false assurances.

“I request voters in five states not to be misled by false assurances by Congress leaders,” the former CM said while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru. “In Karnataka, they not only announced five guarantees, but many of their candidates also distributed (gift) cards to people to purchase material worth Rs 5000 after the election. Be careful, one or two days before voting they will announce this (gift card) guarantee to mislead you. They did the same in Karnataka to come to power and want to expand it to the entire country,” he said.

Taking a dig at CM Siddaramaiah, Kumaraswamy said they promised to provide 200 units of free power but pushed Karnataka into darkness and now they are talking about giving five hours of uninterrupted power to farmers in Telangana, the state that gives 24 hours of power to farmers. Congress leaders are talking about filing 2 lakh government jobs in Telangana, but they have not been able to fill 2.5 lakh jobs in Karnataka, he said.   

The Congress leaders are talking about the Shakti scheme (free travel for women in state transport corporation buses), but there is a shortage of buses and staff to maintain the fleet, and many women, including CM’s home district Mysuru, have not received money under the “Gruha Laxmi” scheme, he said and added that and there is a severe staff shortage in many departments, including Agriculture department.

He also slammed the Siddaramaiah government for stopping the Rs 4000 additional amount that was given to farmers along with Rs 6,000 from the PM Kisan Samman scheme. It was started during the BJP government in the state and stopped by the Siddaramaiah government, but now they are talking about giving financial assistance to farmers in Telangana, which is the first state in the country to give Rs 10,000 
to farmers under the Raita Bandu scheme, he said.

The JDS leader accused the Congress central leadership of setting targets for all ministers to collect money for elections in other states. The former CM said there is no question of the regional party merging with BJP and they have retained their identity. “ We are part of NDA,” he said. ‘Rs 1.9 crore for imported furniture’

Kumaraswamy said a minister got Rs 1.9 crore worth of furniture imported for the CM’s official residence. He said as per his information it was not government money, but a minister got it. “It is an updated version of the Hublot watch,” he said referring to the controversy over gifting of an expensive watch to Siddaramaiah during his previous tenure as CM.

BENGALURU: The tension between RR Nagar MLA Munirathna and the DK brothers became apparent once again when Munirathna visited RR Nagar on Friday, where some miscreants had damaged the windshields of parked cars. Munirathna was riled when he was greeted with slogans of “Jai DK Suresh MP!” by those gathered.The police are to be blamed for the deteriorating law and order situation in RR Nagar. He alleged that marijuana is sold here, and police personnel are not doing their job. Pointing out that when he went to check on the attack on vehicles, the media was there but no policeman was visible. 

It may be recalled that defeated Congress candidate Kusuma Hanumantharaya, wife of former IAS officer DK Ravi, is close to the DK brothers, and Munirathna had complained during his last protest that her words were given more importance than his, in his constituency. 

Asked about the allegations, Additional Commissioner, L&O, Suresh said, “There is an ongoing drive against peddling of marijuana and drugs, and on Thursday too, there was a large seizure. As far as damage to cars is concerned, we take these cases seriously and if there are repeat offenders, book them under stringent sections of the law.’’ 

BENGALURU:  The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) on Wednesday filed an affidavit with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Chennai stating that it has not built any road through Bellandur Lake. This was in response to a complaint filed with the Tribunal by a resident, Harikrishna, accusing the authority of building a road through the lake.  

We filed an affidavit today (Wednesday) stating that BDA has never built a road through the lake. The BDA had only built a diversion canal as well as a bund in order to divert sewage downstream so that it does not enter the lake. It has been erroneously reported to the Tribunal by the owner of a local school that a road had been built by us.”

The desilting of the lake and the movement of trucks transporting silt require a pathway. “This is a temporary arrangement from our side only to facilitate completion of the desilting,” he said. RMN Infrastructure had been contracted with the job at a cost of Rs 100 crore, the official added.

Another official said BDA would take at least a year to complete the desilting work after which the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board will take up construction of the Sewage Treatment Plant so that the water is treated before it enters the lake.

Bellandur Lake is among the biggest lakes in the city covering 916 acres and 43 guntas. Data furnished by BDA officials reveals that 57.7% of the overall silt has been transported from the lake through tippers fixed with GPS. A total of 16.88 lakh cubic meters of silt have already been removed from the lake.

“We have stopped the desilting work here temporarily since July due to the rain,” the official added. BDA is carrying out desilting work at Varthur Lake too with 96% of the silt being removed.  

BENGALURU:  Several parts of the city received heavy rain on Monday night, exposing the city’s fragile infrastructure. The rain that lashed for more than an hour flooded many roads, making it difficult for vehicle users to wade through.

As it rained quite late in the night, there were no traffic jams reported. Underpasses at Anand Rao Circle, Okalipuram, Lingarajapuram and Shivananda Circle were flooded, while Commercial Street and Kamaraj Road had knee-deep water. As a precautionary measure, the traffic police barricaded the underpasses.

Water entered some houses in Kurubarahalli, while flooding was reported in Cooke Town and CK Garden area. Many residents complained of up to 1.5 feet of water inside their homes. The area is flooded as the Railways have blocked a stormwater drain, they said.

Purushottam (90), a retired undersecretary to the state government and a resident of the area, was livid that the authorities had not come to address their problems, though the ground floor of his house was flooded since late afternoon.

Railway ADRM Kusuma Hariprasad said she would look into the issue. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also Bengaluru Development Minister, visited the BBMP control room around 11.30 pm and sought details from BBMP officials on rain damage, and flooding of roads and underpasses. He spoke directly to officials to know the situation and asked them about the immediate measures taken.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a thunderstorm warning for most parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka for the next two days. It also forecast heavy rainfall across the many parts of Karnataka for the next three days, including north interior Karnataka.

The department issued an ‘Orange’ alert for Kodagu district and a ‘Yellow’ alert for Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru and Shivamogga districts.  

IMD scientist A Prasad told TNIE that most parts of Karnataka are experiencing rain due to the formation of a trough from the Southeast Arabian Sea to the Kerala coast, covering south interior Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh up to West-central Bay of Bengal.  

He added that there is a deficit of 53 per cent rainfall in the state as a whole. The present rainfall will not cover the deficit.

BENGALURU:  The police have claimed to have solved the murder case of 43-year-old Prathima KS, senior geologist, with the arrest of her former driver.

The accused, identified as Kiran, 32, of Jamboo Savari Dinne at Konanakunte in the city, was arrested at the Male Mahadeshwara Hills on Sunday.

Investigations revealed that Kiran, who was sacked from job, murdered the officer as she did not pay heed to his repeated requests to reappoint him as her car driver.

Kiran was appointed as a driver on a contract basis by the Department of Mines and Geology eight years ago. He was Prathima’s driver and was reportedly sacked two months ago for misconduct. 

The police traced his phone call and managed to arrest him there. He was planning to go to Tamil Nadu, the police said.

Kiran was produced before the Second Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Court, which remanded him in police custody till November 15. The accused has a criminal history. A case of attempt to dacoity was registered against him by Konanakunte police in 2017.

Rahul Kumar Shahapurwad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), told reporters that Kiran worked as Prathima’s driver for four years at the Bengaluru Urban office of the Mines and Geology Department near Vidhana Soudha. 

On learning that Kiran lost his job, his wife, who believed him to be a permanent government employee, reportedly left him.  Kiran’s father too works as a driver in the same department. Kiran confessed that 
he murdered Prathima as he was not reappointed as her driver, he said.

On Saturday, Kiran waited at Prathima’s house for her to return from office. When she arrived, Kiran appealed to her to reappoint him as her driver. When Prathima refused, Kiran strangled her with her veil. Later, he slit her throat with a knife from her kitchen. Before leaving home, Kiran latched the grill door, the officer said.

He visited Prathima’s house even on Friday, but could not meet her. He even tried to meet Prathima at her office. Kiran was reportedly involved in an accident while driving the office vehicle. He allegedly used to leak information about the raids planned by the department. When this matter was brought to the notice of the department, he was removed from job, the officer said.

The DCP said, “We are yet to recover the weapon used by Kiran to commit the murder. Kiran took away Rs 15,000 from Prathima’s purse and spent it.” Further investigations are on. Meanwhile, the last rites of Prathima were performed in Tirthahalli, Shivamogga district, on Monday.  

BENGALURU: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress government in Karnataka while campaigning in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the former’s speeches are a “bundle of lies”.

Modi had claimed that the Congress had damaged Karnataka and that development had come to a standstill in the state. He also raised doubts about Siddaramaiah completing his tenure.  

“The BJP lost wherever PM Modi campaigned in Karnataka. The PM targeting the Karnataka government during his campaign in MP shows the BJP’s inefficiency. The party is yet to appoint the leader of opposition in Karnataka,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here. 

Reacting to the corruption allegations made by the PM on himself and his deputy DK Shivakumar, the CM said that there are allegations of 40% commission cut on the previous BJP government. “We are investigating the matter.  There are many probe agencies under the Union Government. Without proof, one should not make allegations,” the CM said.

Modi had claimed, “Wherever the Congress government is formed by mistake, a competition to loot the state between its chief minister and his deputy is taking place, and such news is coming regularly from Karnataka.”

“I never expected a statement like this from the PM. It does not befit him,” he said. On drought relief, the CM accused the Centre of meting out step-motherly treatment to the state. “They have not released any funds. The PM said that the Congress will be unable to implement the guarantees. But we proved him wrong,” Siddaramaiah added.