MYSURU: “I want to tell state Congress leaders that it does not matter to me who will become the chief minister. I want Congress to win in Karnataka. MLAs and high command will decide the chief minister. You worry about people,” asserted AICC president Mallikajun Kharge in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Knowing that the victory for Congress in Karnataka means a lot for Congress and to him as it is his home state, the 80-year-old Kharge sent out a clear message to Ahinda leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC chief 
DK Shivakumar and others, who are making repeated statements on the chief minister’s post, to win the polls first.

The polls here are key ahead of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, leading up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kharge, who took over as the president of the Grand Old Party at its most trying times when the party had lost its opposition status in the Lok Sabha, wants to win Karnataka that will give him further legitimacy.

The return of Congress to corridors of power will give further impetus to the grouping of opposition parties, including TMC, AAP and TRS, to set a national narrative, allowing Kharge to emerge as a national opposition leader.

Congress lost the bargaining power after winning just 17 out of 70 seats in Bihar and was offered 25 seats by DMK in Tamil Nadu. But an emphatic victory in Karnataka will increase Congress’ bargaining power, other than giving a further stamp of approval to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharath Jodo Yatra that passed through 530 km in the state.

It will also provide Rahul a further zeal to take on Narendra Modi in the winning spheres of BJP. But a defeat will give scope for too many knives to come out, questioning the party’s leadership that would be difficult to contain even with the intervention of Gandhis. Kharge should now pull up his socks and push leaders and cadres to make use of the anti-incumbency factor, PayCM campaign, and allegations of corruption against the government to defeat BJP and not to worry about the chief minister’s post.

Political commentator Prof Muzaffar Asadi said this victory is badly needed for Kharge and it will also boost the prospects of Congress at the national level. He said Kharge has drawn the eyeballs of Dalits and the depressed towards Congress, adding to its vote kitty.

BENGALURU:  Right-wing activist Punith Kerehalli, accused of lynching Idrees Pasha (39), driver of a cattle transport vehicle, in Sathanur police station limits near Bengaluru early Saturday morning, was arrested on Wednesday along with his four associates at Banswara in Rajasthan.

The police tracked him on Tuesday when Kerehalli posted a video on social media, accusing two former chief ministers of being in collusion with “cow” killers. 

Video led to arrest of  accused in a few hours

This video is said to have resulted in the police identifying his location, which subsequently led to the five being arrested within a few hours of posting the video. The Ramanagara police were helped by the Rajasthan and Gujarat police. The accused, who will be produced before a court in Rajasthan, will be brought to Karnataka after obtaining a transit warrant.

The other accused have been identified as Gopi, a resident of Gadagaihanadoddi of Ramanagara taluk, Pawan Kumar of Nonaburu in Thirthahalli, Pilling Ambigar, a resident of Basavanagudi, and Suresh Kumar of Raichur.

Of them, Pawan Kumar is said to be an electronic media reporter. “The accused, after the incident (on Saturday morning), had taken the Belagavi route to escape first to Gujarat, and from there to Rajasthan,” BR Ravikanthe Gowda, IGP, Central Range, told TNIE. Four teams of Ramanagara police were formed to nab them. They were arrested while trying to escape in a car, which was intercepted at Banswara.

Mandya’s Pasha, along with Irfan (37) and Syed Zaheer (40), was transporting around 15 cattle (buffaloes and cows) in a vehicle, which was allegedly waylaid by Kerehalli and his associates, who were in a car near Santemala Circle around 12.30 am on Saturday. Pasha and Irfan escaped, while Zaheer was caught and allegedly assaulted. Kerehalli is said to have demanded Rs 2 lakh and threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay. The police reached the spot and took Kerehalli, his four associates, and Zaheer to the police station. However, some hours later, Pasha’s body, with marks of torture, was found a few hundred metres from Sathanur police station. 

BENGALURU:  MV Prashanth Kumar, like his father — Channagiri BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, is not cooperating with the investigation. The investigating agency is now planning to make Prashanth, who is in judicial custody, sit with his father face-to-face to elicit information.

The corruption case shocked the entire society and the court should send out a strong message by rejecting Prashanth’s bail petition, argued the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) of Karnataka Lokayukta before Special Court Judge B Jayantha Kumar on Saturday.

He said Prashanth tried to swallow a sheet, which purportedly contained the names of people and the money they paid, but it was recovered when he was trapped. Prashanth’s conversation with the other accused, recorded in his smartwatch, has been sent to the forensic lab.

Since the investigation is at its initial stages, bail should be denied to Prashanth till the chargesheet is filed in a month, the SPP argued. Prashanth, who is a BWSSB chief accountant, was arrested on March 2 after he was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh for allegedly favouring an agency to get a tender from the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), where Virupakshappa was chairman.

Handing over the KSDL managing director’s statement to the court, the SPP said there are materials to show that the father and son interfered in awarding KSDL tenders, the SPP argued. Prashanth’s counsel argued that no work is pending before KSDL to give the bribe angle to the case and the Lokayukta police have flouted Section 41 of CrPC by not providing the checklist required to arrest the accused and he is entitled to bail. The court said it will pronounce the order on April 10. Meanwhile, the court handed over Madal Virupakshappa to judicial custody till April 11.

HUBBALLI: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said former AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to poll-bound Karnataka will not have any impact. Speaking to reporters here, the CM termed Congress’ guarantees as bogus announcements.

“His  (Rahul) Bharat Jodo Yatra did not have any impact. His recent visit to Belagavi will not influence state politics,” Bommai said. The CM said the people of Karnataka will not give any value to Rahul’s words, especially after his recent remarks in the UK regarding the state of democracy in India.

Bommai said the Congress has a track record of not implementing the promises it makes. “It is their track record. For instance, in Chhattisgarh, the party promises Rs 1,000 to each household… they did not give it in the first four years…now in the last year of the tenure, they are giving it. So these are not guarantee cards, but visiting cards,” he added.  

Further lashing out at CLP leader Siddaramaiah over allegations of corruption against his government, Bommai said complaints were lodged with the Lokayukta against the Congress leader over several cases, including the redo of Arkavathy Layout. “Siddaramaiah raising the issue of corruption is like the pot calling the kettle black,” he added.

He said discussions are underway with legal experts to conduct a judicial inquiry into 59 “corruption cases” of Siddaramaiah’s government, and a decision will be made soon.

On the ongoing controversy over Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the CM said, “Several historical facts of India and Karnataka are twisted. Once the actual facts are established after research, the truth will prevail. Moreover, everyone knows who was involved in the killing of Tipu… but some people can’t digest the truth.” 

 Chief Minister Bommai said that he will remain as the CM after the polls. This comes amid speculation that the BJP top brass may pick a new CM if it returns to power.  

JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy called Congress’ ‘guarantee card’  as a ‘duplicate card’. He took a jibe at CLP leader Siddaramaiah’s hunt for a safe seat. “My sympathies are with Siddaramaiah… it shows his lack of confidence,” he said. Kumaraswamy said he has no plans of fighting from two seats.   “Speculation is rife that ex-MP Ramya will face me in Channapatna. I am not bothered about my opponents,” he said. 

Chethan Ahimsa

Bengaluru: Kannada actor Chethan Ahimsa was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by the 32nd ACMM Court on Tuesday, for objectionable posts on the Sangh Parivar on social media.

Seshadripuram Police officers arrested the actor on Monday night, after filing FIR under IPC Sections 295A and 505B based on a complaint regarding his posts on the Sangh Parivar.

The actor was arrested and presented before the court on Tuesday morning.

Ullal: Legislator U T Khader has ensured that the parents of a teenager who donated his organs after his death in an accident six months ago received a compensation of Rs 5 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund.

Yashraj (16), a pre-university student, had fallen from a bus on September 7, 2022, while traveling from Ullal to Mangaluru. He was seriously injured in the head and admitted to a private hospital.

He was declared brain dead by September 13, after which, his parents, Thyagaraj and Mamatha Karkera, residents of Baiderepalu in Mastikatte, Ullal, donated his organs.

Khader, who met and offered his condolences to Thyagaraj and Mamatha, had assured that they would receive compensation from the chief minister’s relief fund for their noble deed. He is also learned to have submitted an application with necessary records through his secretary, for the couple to be recompensed.

The parents of Yashraj, who received Rs 5 lakh from the relief fund, expressed gratitude to Khader for his concern and help.

The legislator said, “Yashraj’s parents kept their cool in spite of such a loss and donated his organs, which helped at least six people. I spoke to the chief minister about the matter and am happy that Yashraj’s parents received the compensation.”

He added, “Organ donation is a noble deed. Awareness on the need for such donation should be increased in society.”

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai

Hubballi (KTK): Ruling out any “setback” to the ruling BJP over the raging controversy on the history of Tipu Sultan’s killing and the claimed role of Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda in it, following a prominent seer’s call to put an end to it, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said there would be victory on the day the truth came out after proper research.

A section of people in the old Mysuru belt and some ruling BJP leaders have claimed that erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan did not die fighting the British, but was killed by two alleged Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda. The claim has been contested by prominent historians.

“There is no question of any setback. When research happens and the day truth comes out, will get victory,” Bommai said in response to a question on whether the controversy would adversely impact the party.

In a veiled attack against opposition parties, especially the Congress, Bommai responding to another question said, “I’m not speaking about Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda alone. Several historical truths have been suppressed and history has been distorted across the country after independence, including Karnataka. It is known to everyone as to who played an important role in it then. If the truth is told now, they are unable to digest it.”

While, Congress and JD(S) leaders have maintained that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda did not even exist, and that they might just be fictional characters, the BJP, which is trying to make inroads into the Vokkaliga dominated ‘Old Mysuru’ region ahead of the upcoming Assembly election in the state, seems to be using the duo as their latest mascots.

BJP is using them to target Tipu Sultan, and to accuse the Congress and JD(S) of indulging in appeasement politics by celebrating the Muslim ruler.

Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji, the chief pontiff of influential the Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math, on Monday cited the lack of historical evidence to the existence of the two Gowdas and called for putting an end to the issue.

The seer of the Math, which is highly regarded by Vokkaligas, has called for gathering of information, edicts and historical records about the duo, if any, before arriving at any decision.

On Monday, he had also summoned Horticulture Minister Munirathna, a film producer-turned-politician, whose studio planned to make a movie by registering the title, ‘Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda’, and directed him not to go ahead with the project. Munirathna too has agreed to abide by the Seer’s directive.

The names of Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda came to the fore after the release of a play Tippuvina Nija Kanasugalu’ (The True Dreams of Tipu) last year by Rangayana director Addanda Cariappa, though there has been a debate on the issue in the past.

Some BJP leaders claim that there is historical evidence regarding the duo, as their names appear in plays and ballads, and that they fought Tipu to safeguard the family of Mysuru Maharajas and to protect the state.

DHARWAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Karnataka is the engine of high-tech India which needs the power of a double-engine government. Speaking after the inauguration of the campus of IIT-Dharwad and some other development works, and laying the foundation stone for others including Hubballi branch of Jayadeva Cardiovascular Science and Research Institute on Sunday, Modi said that Karnataka has given a tech-future identity to India, and it was time to take it forward. 

Everybody demands better infrastructure and today, he said, adding that in “New India”, everyone is benefitting from modern infrastructures. As the central government has been working continuously over the past nine years, the rural road network has been strengthened, highway length has increased by over 55 per cent, railway infrastructure and service have improved and number of airports have doubled, he said.

Because the country has offered a strong and cheap digital infrastructure and service, the country has emerged as the strongest digital economy in the world, he said. In the last nine years, on average 1.5 lakh broadband connections were given and also penetration reached every village, he said.

Along with economic infrastructure through PM Gatishakti, Modi said that social infrastructure also been improved by building toilets, providing LPG connections,  better and cheap healthcare facilities, offering power connection, and building affordable houses to poor and good educational institutions for youths. 
Modi said the central government has focused on opening more IITs and IIMs, and 250 more medical colleges have been added.

Shri Siddharoodha Swami Hubballi Railway Station has the longest railway platform in the world. It entered the Guinness Book of World Records, recently. The 1,507-m-long platform has been built at a cost of Rs 20 crore.

Bengaluru: Apple phones would be built in a new 300-acre factory in Karnataka creating about one lakh jobs, according to Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Apple phones to be built in a new 300-acre factory in Karnataka, tweeted Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

”Apple phones to be built in the state soon. Apart from creating about 100,000 jobs, it will create a whole lot of opportunities for Karnataka”, Bommai said.

Mangaluru: A 33-year-old woman and her four-year-old daughter were found dead at their house in Kodialbail Guthu in the city on Wednesday, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Vijaya and her daughter Sumukha(4). They were found hanging in their house.

Police said the woman hanged her daughter first before taking her own life. She had also tried to kill her second daughter, however she escaped.

The reason behind the extreme step is yet to be ascertained. A case has been registered at the Barke police station here and investigations are on.