Bengaluru : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said he will campaign for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli.

The state Congress president also expressed confidence about the INDI Alliance coming to power in the country after the polls.

“I’m going to Raebareli for (Lok Sabha) election campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. I won’t be here (Bengaluru) for two days, I’m leaving today. I have requested that no one should come (near my residence) to celebrate my birthday (May 15) and there should not be any celebrations,” Shivakumar said.

“There is a good atmosphere everywhere and the INDIA bloc will win, and I’m confident that we will form the government,” he told reporters here.

The Raebareli seat had earlier been held by Rahul’s mother Sonia Gandhi, his grandmother Indira Gandhi and his grandfather Feroze Gandhi.

The constituency will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election. Rahul Gandhi also contested the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad segment in Kerala, which went to polls on April 26.

Shivakumar has already urged his supporters, party workers and fans not to celebrate his birthday on May 15 in view of the severe drought in the state, and also not to come to his residence or office as he will be traveling for election campaigning.

Reacting to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s reported statements regarding efforts to replicate the ‘Maharashtra model’ to topple the Congress government in Karnataka, he said, “I feel that his (Shinde) own government will be in trouble as things may reverse there.”

New Delhi: Air India Express has cancelled more than 80 flights and scores of flights have been delayed as a section of cabin crew members have reported sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, sources said on Wednesday.

The airline, which is in the process of merging AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) with itself, is to operate 360 daily flights during the summer schedule that started in the last week of March.

An Air India Express spokesperson said the airline is engaging with the cabin crew members to understand the reasons for reporting sick and also apologised for the flight disruptions.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the merger process.

The sources on Wednesday told PTI that more than 200 cabin crew are believed to have reported sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline.

The cabin crew shortage has resulted in the cancellation of at least more than 80 flights since Tuesday night and scores of flights were delayed.

Flight disruptions are happening at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Bangalore, they added.

The sources also said there was chaos at some airports due to the sudden cancellation of flights, including to overseas destinations.

“A section of our cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations.

“While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result,” the Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement.

Apologising to the customers for the “unexpected disruption”, the spokesperson said those impacted by the cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date. Late last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

The development at Air India Express comes a month after Tata Group full-service carrier Vistara witnessed pilot woes, forcing it to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily.

As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India.

On Wednesday, many passengers took to social media complaining about the sudden cancellation of flights by Air India Express.

“Guests flying with us today are requested to check if their flight is affected, before heading to the airport,” the airline spokesperson said.

Dr. Palthadi Ramakrishna Achar

Puttur: Dr. Palthadi Ramakrishna Achar, a prominent figure in folk studies and former president of Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Akademi, breathed his last on Tuesday night. The 79-year-old scholar passed away at his daughter’s residence in Peruvaje, Sulya taluk, after his health deteriorated on Tuesday evening. Despite efforts to transport him to the city hospital, he succumbed en route.

Survived by his wife, an Assistant Professor at Moodbidri Alvas College, and his children – son Harshvardhan, daughters Kira PR and Bellare Dr. Supriya P.R., along with daughter-in-law, in-laws, and relatives, Dr. Palthadi leaves behind a legacy cherished by many.

The mortal remains of Dr. Palthadi are currently kept at Puttur City Hospital, with the funeral scheduled to take place on May 8, according to family sources.

Betul: A bus transporting polling officials and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) caught fire in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, yesterday after the third phase of voting. The event occurred near Gola village, resulting in damage to EVMs from several polling stations. Fortunately, no injuries were reported among the polling staff or the bus driver.

According to Betul Collector Narendra Suryavanshi, the fire was ignited by a spark within the bus. The damaged EVMs belonged to four polling stations, specifically booth numbers 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, and 280. Among the six polling parties and an equal number of EVMs onboard, four were affected while two remained unharmed. The damage primarily affected either the control unit or the ballot unit of the EVMs.

The collector assured that he would forward a detailed report to the Election Commission for assessment. The Election Commission will subsequently determine whether re-polling is necessary in the affected booths.

This incident occurred during the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, wherein a substantial voter turnout was recorded. Notably, Betul witnessed a turnout of 72.65%, contributing to the provisional voter turnout of 66.05% across nine Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Among the candidates in the fray were prominent figures such as Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan of BJP and Digvijaya Singh of Congress. The polling encompassed nine seats, including Morena, Bhind (SC-reserved), Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Rajgarh, and Betul (ST-reserved).

Kochi/Kannur: Protests by irate passengers were witnessed at all airports in Kerala on Wednesday against the last minute cancellation of their Air India Express flights.

Passengers, mostly travelling to the Gulf nations, claimed that they were informed about the flight cancellations after they completed their security check and were waiting to board the flight.

While Air India Express has offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date, passengers are not happy with that.

Many of them claimed that they could lose their jobs if they do not reach their place of work today, while some others’ work visas are about to expire.

One woman, who was to travel from Kannur to Sharjah with twin babies and her husband, said she has to rejoin work on May 9, but Air India Express was offering her a flight from Kochi only on May 10.

“What would be the point in me travelling on May 10? If I do not reach there before May 9, my boss will say not to come and I will lose my job,” she told media.

Similar concerns were aired by many others who have to rejoin their places of work in the Gulf nations today or tomorrow and failure to do so could result in them losing their jobs.

The woman also said that she had been waiting at the airport since Tuesday night, when her flight was scheduled to leave for Sharjah, but no accommodation or other facilities were provided to them by the airline.

Another woman, who had booked tickets on Air India Express to meet her husband who is hospitalised in Muscat, said that she was told about the cancellation only when she reached the Kannur airport in the morning.

One man who had to travel urgently to Sharjah on Tuesday night from Kannur, did not wait to cancel the ticket and instead quickly bought a ticket on Indigo for Rs 37,000.

“There is a fight going on at the ticket counter. So, I quickly bought a ticket on Indigo for Rs 37,000,” he said.

Similar scenes of irate passengers, some travelling with small children, were seen at Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram airports in the state.

Air India Express has cancelled “scores of flights” due to a shortage of cabin crew members as a section of them are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, according to sources.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.

The sources on Wednesday said several cabin crew members started reporting sick since Monday evening and as there are not enough cabin crew members, “scores of flights” have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Kannur.

Later the airline, in a statement, said, “A section of our cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations.

“While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result.”

The airline, in its statement, sincerely apologised to passengers for this unexpected disruption and emphasised that this situation does not reflect the standard of service it strives to provide.

Chamarajanagar: In a tragic incident in Chamarajanagar, a collision between a private bus and a motorcycle resulted in a death near Singanallur in Hanur taluk.

The victim, identified as Sridar (44) from Singanallur village, was returning to Hanur after selling bananas in the town on Wednesday morning when the accident occurred.

The collision claimed Sridar’s life on the spot. Police arrived at the scene, initiating an investigation and registering a case regarding the unfortunate incident.

Mangaluru: A 17-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly planting a mobile phone, equipped with a camera, inside the ladies’ restroom of Kastruba Medical College in the city, police said.

The matter came to light today when the cell phone began ringing and was recovered by the security personnel, they said.

The college authorities handed over the phone to the police following which the minor was apprehended based on the details available on the phone.

A case has been booked in the North Police Station of the city under appropriate section of the Indian Penal Code.

The accused is said to have come to the college disguised as a patient.

Later, he was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board as per due procedure.