Archives for 2017

New Delhi: Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will be the BJP’s chief ministerial face in the Assembly polls scheduled early next year, party president Amit Shah said today.

During an interaction with PTI, Shah also indicated that Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani would be the party’s choice for the top post in the state, asserting that it would win more than 150 seats in the Assembly polls slated later this year. The Assembly has 182 seats.

He, however, said the party has not yet decided on its chief ministerial face in Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls along with Gujarat.

“It (Karnataka election) will be fought under Yeddyurappa,” Shah said.

Asked if it meant that Yeddyurappa, who is the BJP’s Karnataka unit chief, will be the chief ministerial face, he said, “He will be.”

The Karnataka unit has been facing factional fight with a group headed by former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa targeting Yeddyurappa’s leadership.

To a question on the party’s state of affairs in Karnataka, Shah said he would visit the state soon. The party had recently taken action against some leaders, suspected to be behind the internal wrangling.

Asked whether Rupani will be the party’s CM face in Gujarat, Shah said, “He is already the chief minister.”
“What does it mean that he will be the chief ministerial face…,” he said in a lighter vein.

Yeddyurappa (74), an influential Lingayat leader, had led the saffron party to its maiden victory in the southern state in 2008, but was forced to resign following charges of corruption against him.

He floated his own outfit in 2011. Though his party performed poorly in the 2013 Assembly polls, it managed to wean away a substantial chunk of the BJP votes, leading to a rout of the saffron party.

He returned to the BJP fold ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

(Agencies)

Kasaragod: ‘Beef Fests’ were held in various parts of Kerala on Saturday to protest the Centre’s decision of banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he would approach the prime minister in this matter.

Hindus, Christians and atheists cooked and swallowed beef on the road side in various cities of the state. However, Muslims did not take part in the ‘beef fest’ due to the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan.

Activists of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, opposition Congress-headed UDF and their youth wings took out marches and organised these fests across the state, where beef is widely consumed.

The central government has banned the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, a move that is expected to hit export and trade of meat and leather.

Demonstrations were held outside the secretariat in the state capital. “We will eat beef to show our protest against the central government. We want to tell this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” DYFI national president Mohammed Riyaz, who led the protest, said.

In Kollam district, a group of Congress workers cooked beef in front of the DCC office to register its opposition to the Centre’s decision.

District unit chief of Congress, Bindu Krishna told reporters that “beef delicacy will be packed and sent to head post office for delivery to Modi ji.”

Chief Minister Vijayan said he would be sending a letter to the Prime Minister this evening.

In Kochi, Tourism and Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran participated in a ‘beef fest’, where bread and beef curry was served, even as Youth Congress activists took out a protest march in the city.

In Thodupuzha in Idukki district, protesters took out a march with the head of a buffalo.

The Union environment ministry has notified the stringent ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’ under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan yesterday said the new rules are very “specific” and aim to regulate animal markets and sale of cattle.

Reacting to the Centre’s decision, senior Congress leader and former Union minister A K Antony said the notification should be “torn to bits” and “dumped in a dust-bin”.

The UDF will observe ‘black day’ on Monday against the ban, opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said at Thrissur. Front workers will wear black badges and take out protest marches, he said.

(Agencies)

Lucknow: The Saharanpur district authorities Friday refused permission to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to visit the strife-torn district.

Rahul was scheduled to visit Saturday Shabbirpur village, where Dalit houses were torched on May 5.

“Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has not been given permission to visit Saharanpur,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Saharanpur, Bablu Kumar.

Kumar replaced SSP Subhash Chandra Dubey, who was suspended on May 24 in the wake of clashes in the district.

BSP chief Mayawati had recently toured the village and lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government for “failing to maintain law and order” in the state.

Saharanpur has witnessed widespread caste-based clashes his month.

Violence first broke out in Saharanpur about 40 days ago following a procession to mark Ambedkar Jayanti. On May 5, a person was killed and 15 people were injured in clashes between two communities.

About a dozen police vehicles were set ablaze and 12 policemen were injured on May 9.

On May 23, another person was shot dead and two others were wounded, following which the government suspended the SSP and district magistrate and transferred the divisional commissioner and the deputy inspector general of police.

The Centre has sent 400 anti-riot police personnel to Saharanpur to help the state restore peace in the region.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: The Congress intends to quell dissidence in Karnataka’s districts with a view to making the party battle-ready before Assembly elections next year.

“To contain and settle the issues at local level, we plan to form co-ordination committees with a AICC member chairing it,” said the Congress General Secretary in charge of Karnataka, KC Venugopal.

“I have been able to sort out differences that has divided the party at many levels,” he added.

Venugopal warned that the party will take strict action against those who air their grievances in public. Indiscipline will not be tolerated in future. No leader should make any statement against the leadership or the party. Problems, if any, should be reported to us. We are here to find solutions,” he said.

However, he did not give a clear reply to a query as to why the party has been hesitant in taking action against leaders like A H Vishwanath and Janardhana Poojary who had been extremely critical of Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning.

(Agencies)

Lucknow: They perhaps feared that they could be acted against and wanted to ensure that Yogi Adityanath did not get ”stunk”, when he met these members of the dalit community.

In an incident reflective of the prevailing mindset of the people in the society today, authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district reportedly asked members of ‘Mushar’ (an untouchable community, whose members are traditionally rat-catchers) community to wash themselves with soaps and shampoos and use scents before meeting the chief minister.

Adityanath, who was in Kushinagar on Thursday, visited the ‘Mushar Basti’ at Mainpur Kot village in the district, about 325 kilometres from here.

The members of the community were surprised, when they found senior district officials thronging their otherwise neglected slum in the past couple of days.

”New toilets were constructed…dusty roads were made pitched and lights were installed within no time,” said a resident of the slum.

”We were also given scented soaps, shampoos and perfumes and asked to use them before going to meet the chief minister,” said an elder member of the community.

The residents said that the officials also asked them to keep their homes neat and clean.

Quite apparently the officials did not want Yogi Adityanath to get ‘stinking feeling’. District officials, when asked, feigned ignorance about the reports.

The incident was somewhat reminiscent of a similar happening at another village in the neighboring Deoria district a few days back, when Adityanath had visited the home of the BSF jawan Prem Sagar, who had been martyred in Jammu & Kashmir a few days back.

The authorities had laid pitched road, installed lights and also an air conditioner in the room where the chief minister met the family of the martyr. It was another matter that they took away the AC soon after Adityanath left the village.

(Agencies)