BENGALURU: Talking tough with police officials working in the anti-corruption agency, Lokayukta Justice BS Patil said if there is rampant corruption and people are suffering because of it, it reflects the inefficiency of the Lokayukta police

Speaking after inaugurating a two-day workshop on conducting an effective investigation into cases registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Karnataka Lokayukta Act, Justice BS Patil said people’s expectations of the Lokayukta is very high, after the power to investigate cases under the PC Act was restored. It is the duty of all staff of the anti-corruption watchdog to work to meet these expectations.

“Investigations should be done with zeal. I am not bothered about how you (police officers) worked in the
past. But here, I need you to be completely motivated and focused. There is no limitation or pressure from elected representatives. But if anyone is found to be working against the goals of this institution, they will not continue even for a minute. There is an internal mechanism in place where I get reports on the performance of the staff,” Justice BS Patil added.

He said the agency will become a laughing stock if there is any wrongdoing by its staff. “We keep doing several operations. If any case of passing of information is found, all other investigation will be kept aside and a probe taken up to find out who leaked the information first,” the Lokayukta warned.

Meanwhile, he said a 25-point directive has been issued to police on investigation and prosecution, and some officers are doing a commendable work while others were not up to the mark in districts. “There is rampant corruption and people are crying because of that in your district, your action and inefficiency are the reasons for that,” Justice Patil said, asking officers to keep visiting government offices, hospitals and agricultural centres to know what’s happening there. Further, he added the conviction rate should be 85-90 per cent in corruption cases.

MANGALURU: Kumble Sundara Rao, former MLA from Surathkal constituency and Yakshagana exponent, passed away here on Wednesday. He was 88. He was elected as an MLA for one term in 1994 for the 10th Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

Rao was an exponent of Yakshagana (Tenkatittu style) and had performed as a member of Surathkal, Dharmasthala and Ira Yakshagana Melas.

He was also the president of Karnataka State Yakshagana Academy. He is survived by his two sons and three daughters. The last rites will be held on Thursday.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai condoled Rao’s death. In a tweet, the CM said he was pained to hear about the passing away of Rao who was an MLA and exponent of Yakshagana and Thalemaddale.

BJP state president and

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said with the death of Rao, the state has lost a great Yakshagana artiste. As a BJP MLA, he implemented several pro-people works and gave advice for the strengthening of the party in the coastal region. He had also organised Yakshagana in the Vidhana Soudha, recalled Kateel.

BENGALURU:  JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy, who has embarked on the Pancharatna Yatra to better party’s chances in the 2023 Assembly polls, is trying to woo Muslims and Dalits by planning to camp in their localities and dine with them in the Old Mysuru region, where the party has a strong base.

Having CM Ibrahim as state party president will only help him attract Muslim voters. “Why cannot Ibrahim become a chief minister? Is he untouchable,” he had asked, triggering a controversy. But he later clarified, saying his intention was not to hurt the feelings of Dalits and to pacify the Dalit community, he will now stay at Dalit-dominant Dibburu area of Tumakuru on Thursday. “He will have breakfast at the house of JDS SC wing city president DN Bhyresh,” said JDS leader Nagaraj. On Wednesday, he visited the Muslim-dominated Lakkuru at Thyamagondlu in the Nelamangala constituency in Bengaluru Rural.

“Vokkaligas stand by JDS as they have a sense of belonging and hold party patriarch HD Deve Gowda in high esteem. Kumaraswamy is now on a mission to keep the Muslim and Dalit voters with the party. JDS won seven seats, including Nelamangala and Malavalli that are reserved for SCs, in 2018,” said a JDS leader.

As Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit stalwart, has been elevated as AICC president, JDS has a task at hand to ensure that its traditional Dalit voters stay with the party, he said. “Kharge cannot personally meet the Dalit community, while Kumaraswamy can interact with them which will have a better impact,” he added.

MYSURU: Even as JDS senior leader HD Kumaraswamy has embarked on the Pancharatna Yatra to mobilise support ahead of the Assembly elections, the party in Mysuru and Chamundeshwari constituency received a major jolt with senior party functionaries and prominent leaders resigning from the party’s primary membership in protest against party’s rebel MLA GT Devegowda’s leadership 

The resigned rebel leaders and workers, who are said to be not happy with the party’s decision to let Devegowda contest from the Chamundeshwari constituency, held a show of strength, Swabhimana Karyakartara Sabhe, and vowed to defeat the MLA in the coming Assembly election.

They lashed out at Devegowda for revolting against the party leadership earlier and dissociating with party workers for the last two years. Speakers at the meeting accused him of hobnobbing with both Congress and BJP, seeking Assembly tickets for him and his son Harish Gowda. “As he did not get any assurance from both parties, he shed crocodile tears in front of party supremo HD Deve Gowda and returned to the party,” they alleged.

Former Zilla panchayat president and Mysuru taluk JDS former president Beeregundi Basavanna said he had earlier worked for Devegowda’s victory, but despite that the MLA insulted him in public after becoming a minister in the previous JDS-Congress coalition government.

He said Devegowda worked against party candidates in previous elections and recalled that Kumaraswamy had assured party leaders from Mysuru that one among them will be the party candidate from Chamundeshwari. But now Devegowda has been picked for the seat and they feel letdown, he added.

AHMEDABAD:  As campaigning for the first phase of Gujarat assembly polls involving 89 seats came to an end on Tuesday for voting due on December 1, a war of words between the ruling BJP and Congress erupted over a remark of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge about PM Narendra Modi.

Addressing a public rally in Ahmedabad’s Behrampura on Monday night, Kharge said, “We see your (Modi’s) face in corporation elections as well as in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections everywhere. Do you have 100 heads like Raavan?”

Replying to Kharge’s remark, the BJP accused the Congress of insulting the Gujaratis and appealed to voters to “teach the opposition party a lesson.” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called on Gujarat voters to cast votes for the “son of the soil” Modi to avenge the insult” in a democratic way.

Of the 89 seats out of the total 182 where polls will be held on December 1, as many as 35 constituencies are spread across the southern districts of Bharuch, Narmada, Tapi, Dang, Surat, Valsad and Navsari. The polling is also due in 48 seats of Saurashtra and six seats of Kutch district.

In 2017, the BJP had managed to win 25 of these 35 seats while the Congress and Bharatiya Tribal Party won eight and two seats, respectively. Of the 14 seats reserved for the STs, the BJP won only five. 

While the tribal-dominated areas are still considered BJP’s Achilles’ heel, urban voters in south Gujarat stood firmly with the party in 2017.

In the first phase, the elections will be held on 48 seats of the Saurashtra zone, considered the centre of power in state politics.

Due to the pro-BJP tilt of Patidar voters in Saurashtra, the party’s seats have steadily increased over the last two-and-a-half decades. However, during the Patidar reservation movement, BJP suffered a loss in the 2017 polls. That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given importance to Saurashtra in his Gujarat tour to marginalise the loss in 2022.

The results show that in 2017, out of a total of 48 seats in Saurashtra, the Congress won 28 seats, while BJP won 19. BJP is worried about 2017 results, which is why it started aggressive campaigning for the last six months. A huge cooperative meeting was held in Amreli district in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in Rajkot and Morbi BJP National President JP Nadda held a road show. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held meetings in Saurashtra, including those in Junagadh and Jam Kandorana, before implementing the model code of conduct.

BENGALURU: A Special Court here has ordered for the registration of a criminal case against the Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on finding prima facie evidence that he had defamed an activist

“This court is of the considered opinion that the complainant has made out sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused for offences under Section 499 of IPC which is punishable under Section 500 of IPC and the offence under Section 501, R/w section 34 of IPC,” the XLII Additional Magistrate Court which is a Special Court of trial of cases against sitting and former legislators said in its order on November 15.

The private complaint was filed by R Anjaneya Reddy from Chikkaballapura taluk. It came up before Judge Preeth J. The complainant Reddy claimed to be a social worker who had fought for irrigation schemes.

When Sudhakar was appointed as the chairperson of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board on June 20, 2019, Reddy had challenged this in the High Court of Karnataka.

The allegation is that Sudhakar on June 27 at a public function in Maralukunte village uttered defamatory statements against Reddy. This was published in two prominent newspapers.

The complaint by Reddy said Sudhakar had ill-will against him and uttered defamatory statements against him in a public function.

He had issued legal notices to Sudhakar and the two newspapers but they have not tendered a public apology.

Ordering the registration of a criminal complaint, the court said that “on going through the complaint averments and the sworn statement of the complainant prima-facie, it goes to show that the complainant is defamed”.

MYSURU: The decision of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to invite applications from ticket aspirants has set the tone for intense lobbying in the party. The aspirants have paid Rs 5,000 as application fee, besides Rs 2 lakh for general constituencies and Rs 1 lakh for SC/ST reserved seats. This will pose a challenge to the party top brass as it could encourage rebellion and dissent within the party 

There are 69 sitting Congress MLAs in 224 assembly constituencies, 16 ministers who tasted defeat in the 2018 polls and three former MPs who are aspiring to get tickets for the assembly elections to be held in 2023.  In veteran BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa’s Shikaripura constituency, there are 15 aspirants who are hopeful of getting a Congress ticket while in Terdal, which was represented by actress and former minister Umashree, there are 15 aspirants. While the Mahadevapura Reserve constituency has 14 aspirants in Bengaluru city, there are 12 hopefuls for Shivamogga Rural constituency.

The KPCC Women’s Wing president Pushpa Amarnath has also thrown her hat into the ring in Mahadevapura and Sakaleshpur constituencies. There are 11 aspirants for Mandya seat and nine in Mulbagal constituency. These aspirants have their own loyalists inside the party and many feel that their supporters will not work actively in the elections if denied tickets. There are reports that some aspiring candidates have already started panchayat-wise tours and are organising booth-level meetings assuming that they will get the ticket.

There is need for the Congress top leaders to hold constituency-wise meetings across the board to address the possible disappointment among aspirants.

A senior party leader, who did not wished to be named, said that the party is now hit by factionalism in a few constituencies and districts and top leaders in the party cannot afford to face wrath of grassroot-level workers or leaders.

ONE ASPIRANT, ONE TICKET: DKS
KPCC president DK Shivakumar on Friday sent out a clear message that every aspirant will be be allotted only one ticket in the 2023 Assembly polls. “There will be one ticket, no matter who the aspirant is”, he told reporters. In 2018, CLP leader Siddaramaiah, the then CM, had chosen to contest from Chamun-deshwari and Badami, while his son contested from Varuna Shivak-umar’s statement is being seen in the context of Sidda-ramaiah trying to contest from two seats in 2023 as well. On raising funds through ticket aspirants, Shivakumar said it is not a new thing as there used to be fund-raising initiatives in the past too. 

BENGALURU: The Ramamurthy Nagar police were shocked to see a man coming to the police station with the body of a 48-year-old man whom he had murdered. The accused, a mechanic, brought the body in his car around 1 am on Tuesday.

The murder took place after the two had an altercation over non-payment of loans, during which the accused Rajashekar (31) killed his friend Maheshappa by hitting him with an iron rod.    

Maheshappa is alleged to have taken money from Rajashekar and his mother by telling them that he would get them huge loans from co-operative societies and other banks. Instead of keeping his word, the victim allegedly escaped and was hiding at his hometown near Nanjangud.

Maheshappa was killed on the way to the city from Himanagundi. The victim is said to have conned many people by assuring them of getting bank loans at cheaper interest rates. Maheshappa is said to have gone into hiding after cheating many people. “The accused has claimed that the victim had to give him around Rs 1.5 crore. The car in which the body was brought to the police station has been seized,” said an officer.

CHENNAI: Chennai and neighbouring districts may experience heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday. The depression is very likely to maintain its intensity and move west-northwestwards slowly, towards north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coastline during the next 48 hours, a Regional Meteorological Centre bulletin said here 

The evening bulletin says, “The depression over southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwestward with a speed of 6 kmph during the past 06 hours and lay centered at 600 km east of Karaikal and 630 km southeast of Chennai. It is very likely to maintain its intensity of depression and move slowly west­northwestwards towards north Tamilnadu, Pondicherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts during next 48 hours.”

Under its influence, light to moderate rainfall is likely to commence from Sunday evening.

On November 21, heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Ranipet districts of Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry

Heavy rain is expected in Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Ranipet and Vellore districts on November 22. 

Mahesh Palawat, Chief Meteorologist of SkyMet Weather Services Pvt Ltd, told TNIE: “The possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall is ruled out. There would be rainfall in the range of 40 mm to 50 mm in Chennai. The system is going to weaken into a well-marked or low-pressure area as it approaches the coast due to dry air pushing from the west. There would be few intense spells, but flooding rains are unlikely.”

Authorities said squally weather with wind speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph is likely to prevail over Southwest Bay of Bengal, along and off the Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry coast. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea till November 23. 

The LPA over southeast Bay of Bengal on November 18 moved west-northwestwards and concentrated into a well-marked LPA over central parts of south Bay of Bengal on November 19 morning.

BENGALURU:  The state Congress launched a frontal attack on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Higher Education Minister C N Ashwathnarayan over the alleged theft of voters’ data, fraud and impersonation, by allowing private firms to revise the voters’ list. The Congress leaders said Bommai, who is in-charge of Bengaluru city, should be held responsible for the alleged theft in 28 assembly constituencies in Bengaluru. ADVERTISEMENTAds by 

AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and and KPCC president D K Shivakumar demanded a high-level inquiry to be set up by Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. 

They alleged that members of Chilume Enterprises Pvt Ltd and DAP Hombale Pvt Ltd have gone to the people claiming that they are an election management company and that they prepare EVMs for political parties. “We had so far heard that EVMs are made by the government,” the leaders said, accusing the government of being responsible for identity theft, criminal conspiracy and misappropriation of property by using the service of an NGO. 

First, the private firm representatives pretended to be government officials, second, they procured fake identity cards, and third, they illegally collected information from voters, besides uploading it on a private app and selling it for commercial purposes. 

Min’s aide gave fake IDs to staff: Cong

This information is being sold to other firms as well, they alleged. The Congress leaders alleged that the main accused is Krishnappa Ravikumar, who is a close aide of a senior minister in the government. All these companies have been set up in Malleswaram constituency which is representated by the minister. Ravikumar allegedly issued fake ID cards to the staff of his private firm.

“It is a crime committed in the guise of government officials. It is an offence punishable under law. On November 16, 2022, the government issued an order stating that the permission granted to the institute has been cancelled. However, the reason for the cancellation has not been stated”, the Congress leaders said.

Meanwhile, CM Bommai defended his government by saying, “Election Commission has authorised Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and local organisations to undertake ‘Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation Program’ (SVEEP) and that survey work will be entrusted to NGOs.

This is not the first time as it has been done even in 2018. I will order a detailed probe into the matter and let the truth come out.” Meanwhile, a police complaint was filed at Halasuru Gate Police Station and Kadugodi Police Station under relevant sections of IPC.