Bengaluru: A survey conducted by Lokniti-CSDS, an independent research organisation would certainly bring cheer to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as a whopping 49 per cent people chose Congress over the nearest BJP which drew only 27 percent backing, and the JD (S), 20 per cent support.

To add to this is the approval rating of the CM. As many as 34 per cent of respondents want Siddaramaiah as chief minister after the assembly elections. Surprisingly, the BJP’s CM candidate B S Yeddyurappa stands third with a mere 14 per cent while the JD (S)’ H D Kumaraswamy got 19 per cent votes for the CM post. Curiously, Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge got a traction among respondents with 10 per cent backing him.

As part of the Mood of the Nation Survey, Lokniti-CSDS conducted an additional exercise to perceive the mood of people of Karnataka which will go to the assembly polls in three-to-four months. This survey focused on four major areas: performance of the incumbent government, who the respondents would prefer as the next chief minister, the important issues to be kept in mind while voting and finally, which party they would vote for in the assembly elections.

In the category of satisfaction, Bengaluru gives a thumbs down to the government with 55 per cent respondents said they were “somewhat dissatisfied”. Overall, only 11 per cent said they were “fully satisfied” and 46 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied”. The Congress party seems to have better image in smaller towns and cities which is the opposite of the trend in Bengaluru. The level of satisfaction was clearly much higher among non-dominant backward castes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and high level of satisfaction was shown by the respondents from southern Karnataka, Mumbai and Hyderabad-Karnataka.

The survey was conducted under the overall guidance of national co-ordinator of Lokniti, Dr Sandeep Shastri pro vice-chancellor of Jain, a deemed to be university.

For the question on who would they prefer as the chief minister, no names were suggested, Dr Shastri clarified. Women tended to support Siddaramaiah more than his nearest rivals and he was more popular in smaller towns and cities. Kumaraswamy got more backing in Bengaluru city while Yeddyurappa’s support was uniform across rural and urban areas. He got greater support among Lingayats while Kumaraswamy got more among Vokkaligas. Kharge was mentioned more frequently by respondents from SC and other social groups. Among the issues, nearly a quarter said they would go by the track record of performance of the ruling party and that of the opposition.

Rural respondents gave more weightage on agriculture related issues, that is 11 per cent while those from the urban areas focused on development issues such as unemployment and price rise that is six percent.

Interestingly, in Karnataka nearly 47 per cent voters said they would vote for the Congress if Lok Sabha elections were held today and the BJP got the support of 27 per cent respondents and the Janata Dal (Secular), 20.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP which leads the government in Haryana, where anti-“Padmaavat” protesters on Wednesday attacked a bus carrying school children, alleging that the party’s use of “hatred and violence” is setting the country on fire.

The Congress President also condemned the violence against children by the mobs which have been protesting against the release of the controversial film.

“There will never be a cause big enough to justify violence against children. Violence and hatred are the weapons of the weak. The BJP’s use of hatred and violence is setting our entire country on fire,” Gandhi tweeted.

The opposition party also slammed the BJP government in Haryana over its “failure” to maintain law and order in the state.

Around 20-25 students of a leading Gurgaon school had a narrow escape when a frenzied mob attacked their bus, a day ahead of the controversial film’s scheduled release.

Congress’s communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala took to Twitter to term the attack as “unacceptable” and “reprehensible” that endangered the lives of children.

“Unacceptable, reprehensible and devastating as vandals attack school bus and Haryana Roadways bus in Gurgaon endangering the lives of innocent children and passengers.”

“Terrified children cry inconsolably and anarchy prevails. Khattar Govt fails again miserably in upholding law and order (sic),” he tweeted.

The students were on their way home when a group of around 60 protesters, believed to be members of a fringe group, attacked their bus with bamboo sticks asking the driver to stop the vehicle. The miscreants also pelted the bus with stones.

Violent protestors also torched a bus in Sohna, where they pelted a fire tender with stones and forced it back when it came to douse the fire, local officials said.

Despite prohibitory orders in Gurgaon, hundreds of Shree Rajput Karni Sena supporters protested at the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway.

Violence spread to towns and cities in many states including Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, a day ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, as fringe groups opposing it remained defiant.

(PTI)

Aurangabad: The triple talaq bill is a conspiracy against Muslims and a move to punish men from the community, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged. A committee was constituted to look into the row over the film “Padmaavat” but no such step was taken on the triple talaq issue, said the Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad as he launched a scathing attack against the Centre.

“The triple talaq bill is a conspiracy against the Muslim community. It a tactic to bring out the women of the community on roads and send the men to prison,” the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader said at a public meeting last night.

At the same time, he asked the Muslim community to socially boycott those who take the instant triple talaq route to divorce. He said Rs 2,000 crore should be allocated for Muslim women in the budget. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 was passed by the Lok Sabha in the recently concluded winter session, but could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha with the opposition demanding that it be sent to a Select Committee for a detailed scrutiny.

According to the draft law, instant triple talaq will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. Owaisi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing nothing for the nation but was always ahead to take credit for the good work done by others.

“The BJP wants a Muslim-free India and this would not happen,” he said and urged the people from his community and the Dalits to wake up and raise their voice against injustice. Owaisi alleged that the Union government was trying to forcefully implement the ideology of V D Savarkar.

“The ideology of M S Golwalkar, K B Hedgewar and Sawarkar was Hinduism and we are not going to accept it,” he added. He also sought to know why Sambhaji Bhide of the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan and Milind Ekbote of the Hindu Ekta Aghadi were not arrested in connection with the violence on January 1 during an event to commemorate the bicentenary of the Koregaon Bhima battle in Pune.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The CBI has begun a probe into a Rs 487 crore scam related to over valuation of inferior quality of coal imported from Indonesia, which was passed on to NTPC and other power generation companies in collusion with officials. The action of the agency came on the basis of a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence investigation which had shown over-invoicing in the imports between 2011-12 and 2014- 15, officials said today

The CBI FIR is against Ahmed A R Buhari, promoter of Coastal Energy Private Limited, Channi and unidentified officials of National Thermal Power Corporation, Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation, Aravali Power Company Pvt Ltd. The agency has booked them under the charges of criminal conspiracy cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the officials said.

It is alleged that they entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the Government by importing coal of Indonesian origin by fraudulently showing inferior quality coal as that of superior quality, officials said.

(PTI)