Archives for 2018

Congress leaders in Manipur on Tuesday demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on reports that there will some autonomy for Nagas in Manipur after a final agreement on the vexed Naga problem is signed.

R.N. Ravi, the Centre’s interlocutor, told a newspaper recently that the government was pretty close to finalising the Naga Peace accord.

One report said that there will be an autonomous Naga territorial council in Naga-majority areas of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The news sparked protests in Manipur.

Former Congress MLA N. Bijoy told the media on Tuesday that Modi should not do anything that may affect the social and political scenario in Manipur.

Laisom Ibomcha, another former legislator, said: “What was published based on the disclosure of the central interlocutor is against the well-known stand of the Congress.

“The merger agreement signed between the Centre and Manipur should be remembered while signing an agreement that will affect Manipur.”

R.K. Anand of Congress said that the proposed agreement should not be finalised on communal lines. “What had transpired is a mockery of the people of Manipur. Manipur had been granted a Part C status and a territorial council was constituted.

“Manipur could demand a Kashmir-like status under the provisions of the merger agreement.” He also demanded a categorical clarification by Modi, calling it a very serious issue.

Talks have been going on for years between the Central government and Naga outfit NSCN-IM, which wants the unification of the “land of the Nagas” by slicing off Naga-inhabited areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur to form a Greater Nagaland.

BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday May 8 held a huge rally through the city streets, campaigning for BJP’s Mangaluru South candidate Vedavyas Kamath.

The rally began at PVS and passed through Navabharat circle and ended at Car Street. He held another rally at Kavoor thereafter.

Addressing the crowd of about 2,000 people, Amit Shah attacked the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state and said, “Siddaramaiah government will be sent home on May 15. I am here to campaign in Mangaluru. So many Hindus have been murdered here but no arrests made. It is time for Siddaramaiah to be thrown out.”

Urging people to vote for Vedavyas Kamath, he said, “Press the button for lotus symbol and strengthen PM Modi’s hands to build this nation. Bring BJP to power in the state with Yeddyurappa as the chief minister. Once Yeddyurappa becomes the CM, the murderers who are in hiding now will be traced and punished.”

Amit Shah also conducted a road show from Kolya to Thokkottu to campaign for Mangaluru (Ullal) BJP candidate Santhosh Rai Boliyar. As thousands of BJP workers took part in the rally, the talk that there is BJP wave in Ullal could be heard from local circles.

The road show was held from Kolya Saubhagyasabha Bhavan to Ullal circle, Thokkottu in the presence of thousands of workers. Though the rally was scheduled earlier from Kapikad to Thokkottu-Kallapu, it was taken from Kapikad to Thokkottu to prevent hindrance for the movement of traffic. Police stopped the rally at Ullal circle to the disappointment of the party workers who wanted to proceed with it to Thokkottu town.

The alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) or JDS formed for the first time in Karnataka this year may work more to the advantage of the former in the state.

The party, the BSP, may win one seat (Kollegal) in Chamarajanagar district in south Karnataka or suffer defeat by a narrow margin in the Assembly elections to be held on May 12.

It will provide some relief to the party that has suffered badly in remote Uttar Pradesh which was the party’s launching pad. In addition to the Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections, the party has put up a poor show in the Rajya Sabha elections in UP. Its lone candidate has lost despite support from its old enemy, the Samajwadi Party.

Seeing a chance, party supremo Mayawati had travelled all the way to the state and campaigned for two days last month. Her partymen are seeking elections from 17 other seats but her best bet is Kollegal.

There are quite a few reasons behind it. First, her candidate N. Mahesh was a runner-up in this constituency in 2013. He was defeated by the Congress with a narrow margin of 10,000 votes. The party had won this seat with a bigger margin in the previous polls. As far as voting percentage is concerned, the BSP had got 25 per cent of the valid votes.

Expectedly, the BSP has fielded the same candidate this year whose chance of winning is rated high in the party circles. He is equally popular in some other sections, youth particularly.

“The BSP candidate is holding number one position at present (three days before the polling). The fight here is triangular with the Congress and the BJP joining the battle”, tells Kumaraswamy, a young voter in the constituency.

The reason given by him is the support extended by the JDS. “The JDS is a major force in this region. It had won 24 seats in this belt. The party had not bagged as many seats in any other region”, he adds.

What should worry the BSP is that the BJP had not fought elections that year unitedly. The KJP which was formed after split had secured 22 per cent votes. It has been merged with the BJP which had got 12 per cent additional votes.

The BSP which has formed an alliance with the JDS in this state is not being supported by the Samajwadi Party like Uttar Pradesh. In UP, the two had joined hands to defeat the BJP in two by-elections and had succeeded in its plan. Both the Lok Sabha seats, Gorakhpur and Phulpur, were wrested by the SP from the BJP.

The SP has fielded more than 20 candidates in the state, fighting alone. It had won one seat, Channapatna, in the previous polls but the party’s successful candidate has switched over to the BJP.

The BSP is well placed in Kollegal but not in three other constituencies, Chamarajanagar, Hanur and Gundulpet in Chamarajanagar district. The BSP had faced a rough weather in all these constituencies. In Gundulpet, for instance, it had secured only four per cent votes in 2013.

The BJP which had not opened an account in the district in 2013 is likely to do well in all the three constituencies. The party’s better result hope is based on the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and large crowd which had collected to listen to him in the district.

But it should cause more worries to the ruling Congress than the BSP or the JDS.

Hindusthan Samachar/ R. Narayan/ Shri Ram Shaw

Congress President Rahul Gandhi once again took a dig at JD(S) today by calling it “Janata Dal Sangh Parivar” and asked its leaders to make it clear where they stand in this election, which he termed as a battle of ideologies.

“One side is BJP,other side Congress party and in between is Janata Dal (Secular). The question is in this battle of ideologies, where does the Janata Dal stand?” he asked.

Addressing a rally at nearby Devanahalli, he said “In their (JDS) name there is S that stands for Secular. But in this election it looks like Janata Dal has changed its name and Janata Dal(S) means Janata Dal Sangh Parivar.”

Earlier too the Congress President, currently on the ninth phase of his poll campaign in Karnataka, where election is scheduled on May 12, had called JD(S) as Janata Dal Sangh Parivar and the ‘B team’ of BJP.

Congress withdraws petition challenging Rajya Sabha Chairman’s rejection of CJI impeachment move

Gandhi asked “Are they truly secular, or in this election are they supporting BJP, Yeddyurappa, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah? They have to make it clear.”

“Janata Dal leaders have to tell whether they are on this side or that side, because this is not any other election; this election is about Karnataka’s future. This is the election to save Basavanna’s thinking.”

Recalling 12th century social reformer Basavanna’s saying “Nudidante Nade” (practice as you preach), Gandhi said “I’m asking JD(S) the same question, what is in your heart? Speak it out.”

Recently after heaping praise on former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had attacked his party. He had claimed that Congress and JD(S) had entered into a “secret” pact for the Karnataka Assembly polls and the party was “protecting” the Congress.

(PTI)

As per the latest survey conducted by Lokniti-CSDS-ABP News ahead of Karnataka Assembly polls, Congress is likely to beat its rivals BJP and JD(S) in a closely fought race.

The pre-poll survey which was conducted between April 27 and May 3 indicates that the Congress with a 38 percent of the vote share is ahead of the BJP. But it is still short of the half way mark by a few seats. The survey predicts 33 % vote share for BJP while the JD(S) will be a distant third with 22 percent of the votes.

But according to the survey the Congress has not gained much from the Lingayat card played by recommending religion status for the dominant community. However, though according to the survey 61 percent of the Lingayats may vote for the BJP, as much as 43% of the Lingayats support the separate religion status.

It may be recalled that the previous survey conducted by a Jain University-Lokniti-CSDS indicated that no party would get majority and predicted hung assembly in the state. The selection of candidates and the vigorous campaigning appears to have given an edge with Congress much ahead of its principal rival, the BJP.

The latest survey also shows that the ruling Congress is inching ahead in all regions of the state – Hyderabad-Karnataka, coastal Karnataka, Mumbai-Karnataka and others, except the Old Mysuru region in south Karnataka where it is trailing behind the JD(S), led by former PM H D Deve Gowda.

The previous survey by the same agency had predicted that the BJP would be ahead in coastal Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka. But the new survey has succeeded in wresting power in these both regions. The survey also shows that the Congress still has suport Kurubas (of Siddaramaiah’s community), the minority, Dalit and tribal voters. Though the JD(S) is preferred by the Vokkaliga voters, the Congress too has made some inroads into this dominant caste. The survey also reveals that a majority of the farmers are backing the Congress.

The survey further indicates that the electorate has given priority to the real issues pertaining to the state. The people of Karnataka have once again chosen Siddaramaiah as most preferred chief ministerial choice, followed by BJP’s CM nominee, B S Yeddyurappa and the JD(S) nominee, H D Kumaraswamy in this survey.