Bengaluru, May 28 : In an attempt to win the confidence of the dissident Congress MLAs, Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy met them individually and pursued them not to fell prey to the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s game plan to topple the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in the state.
Chief minister met the Congress MLA form Belagavi district Mahesh Kaujalagi, a close associate of the dissident Cognress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, and closeted with him for an hour on Tuesday.
According to official sources, Chief minister, while appealing the Congress MLA, not to take a step that may threaten the stability of the coalition government, also assured him to take care of the development of his Bailahongal Assembly constituency.
Chief minister had also met another Congress MLA, V Muniyappa, who is representing the Shidlaghatta and discussed about the political situation after the Lok Sabha poll. Among others, Chief minister had also agreed to release sufficient funds to the MLAs’ constituency which is reeling under severe bout of drought conditions.
Kumaraswamy also met Umesh Kumatalli, another dissident Congress MLA, on Monday and pursued him not to make anything to rock the coalition boat.
The Chief minister, who held the meeting with the Dissident Congress MLAs, had also met the independent MLA from Mulbagal in Kolar district, Nagesh, who is nursing ambition to get a berth in the state cabinet.
Later speaking to newsmen, Nagesh informed that he had staked claim to a berth in the state cabinet and conveyed not to take any post of Boards and Corporations.
Meanwhile, another Congress MLA, Dr Ajay Singh, had also claimed a berth in the state cabinet.
Speaking to newsmen after meeting party leaders, had said that “It seems that the dissident Congress MLAs, are getting more focus to induct into the cabinet, however I have appealed to consider the names of Party Loyalists to the coveted posts”.

Actor-turned-politician, superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that “India needs a charismatic leader” like him. “Modi is a charismatic leader who has single-handedly ensured victory. After Vajpayee, I see Modi as the other stalwart leader in India. 

On reports that Nitin Gadkari said the actor will join the BJP, he said, “I agreed with Nitin Gadkari on the inter-linking the Godavari-Krishna-Kaveri rivers to solve the water problem here.” He also said that he believes the first and foremost expectation from the NDA government for Tamil Nadu is access to clean drinking water.

“There was a pro-Modi wave in the country, barring Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, there was no Modi wave. Anyone who swims against the tide will sink. NDA has to take Tamil Nadu seriously. They have come forward with very good projects, especially the linking of rivers,” the superstar said.

He also congratulated his fellow colleague from the Tamil film industry, Kamal Haasan, and congratulated him for securing 4% vote share in his first parliamentary elections.

On Congress, the Thalaiva of filmdom said that it is difficult to handle the grand old party.

“It is very difficult to handle the Congress party. It is an age-old party. As a youngster, it is very difficult to handle the senior-most people in Congress. As per my observation, the senior leaders are not cooperative, they haven’t worked hard… However, Rahul Gandhi should not resign, he has to stand firm and lead the party. Opposition should be strong. Our ruling party is strong and I expect the same from the Opposition as well. 

Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were among the first invitees for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 30.

Agencies

Bengaluru, May 28 : Opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly B S Yeddyurappa, who is also BJP State President, today underlined that “there is no need to be anxious over Cauvery River Authority, Order to the State government to release 9 tmc ft of water from river Cauvery to Tamil Nadu”.
Reacting to the Tribunal direction, Yeddyurappa told newsmen here on Tuesday that “there is no immediate need to release water from KRS as the tribunal is very clear that the water has to be released only when there is increase in the inflow of water in the south west monsoon, expected next month.”
“If the water inflow into the KRS does not increase then there is no need to release. Hence there is no immediate threat to the State,” he added.
At present the inflow into KRS is only 137 cusecs and it is expected to increase once the South West Monsoon sets in.
Newly elected Congress MP D K Suresh, brother of Minister D K Shivakumar, said that “the Tribunal has taken one sided decision since there is no water for drinking purpose and when such is the situation how can it be possible
to release when the State is facing severe drought condition.”
Former MP and Cauvery Hitha Rakishana Vedike leader G T Madegowda, who is spearheading the agitation, strongly condemning the Tribunal direction warned the State government against releasing water to Tamil Nadu and threatened to launch Statewide agitation.
Members of Farmers Association have decided to stage agitation in Mandya against the Tribunal direction.

His statement comes a day after two Congress leaders – Ramesh Jarkiholi and Sudhakar met BJP’s SM Krishna at his residence, fuelling the speculation over the longevity of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition.

None of our K’taka MLAs will switch to BJP: Congress   |  Photo Credit: ANI

Bengaluru: Karnataka minister and Congress leader MB Patil on Monday ruled out any tension in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and said that none of his party’s MLAs will switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“None of our MLAs will switch to BJP. They (BJP) have tried it (to topple government) in the past, they will also try it in the future but this government will complete its full term,” Patil said.

His statement comes a day after two Congress leaders- Ramesh Jarkiholi and Sudhakar met BJP’s SM Krishna at his residence, fuelling the speculation over the longevity of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka.

However, Jarkiholi, who is Congress MLA from Gokak had said that it was not a political meeting and that he had come to meet Krishna to wish him for BJP’s victory in Lok Sabha elections.

In the recently-held Lok Sabha elections, the BJP bagged 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka while the Congress-JD(S) combine won two seats.

Following this humiliating defeat, some of the rebel Congress MLAs are reportedly in touch with the BJP and are also planning to poach Congress and JD(S) MLAs to topple the state government.

The BJP, which is the single largest party in the Karnataka Assembly with 105 seats, needs only eight MLAs to reach the majority mark of 113 in a 224-member Assembly.

Earlier, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy brushed aside the reported trouble in the coalition government and said that the alliance was intact and would stay for long.

Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara also asserted that they have the support of all MLAs and that there is no threat to the state government.

“We have all decided to support and continue the coalition government. All our MLAs are with us. There is no threat to the government. Siddaramaiah has also spoken to senior leaders,” he had said.

Former Karnataka chief minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah had also said that there was no threat to the coalition government in the state.

Agencies

Bengaluru, May 27(UNI) Worried over imminent threat to the one-year-old JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his Deputy Dr G Parameshwara holding parleys to hammer out strategies to save the government.
According to reliable sources, the coalition partners, who are yet to come out from the shock of the setback in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, are now busy in finding ways to save the coalition government at any cost.
Kumaraswamy, in his bid to save the government, reportedly suggested an idea of taking resignation of the many of the senior Ministers from his cabinet and induct those who were likely to be wean away from the Opposition Bharatiya
Janata Party(BJP).
The Ministers, who are likely to be asked to make way to the dissident MLAs included K J George, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda, R B Thimmapur, Jayamala, C T Khader, P T Parameshwara Naik, Tukaram, Puttaranga Setty (all from the Congress), Srinivas, S R Ramesh, D C Thammanna, (a from the JD(S) , the sources said.
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also chairman of the JD(S)-Congress Coalition government, also had a one-on-one meeting with Kumaraswamy and discussed about thwarting the BJP’s game plan to lure the disgruntled Congress and the JD(S) MLAs and save the government.
Both the leaders, had also contacted several Congress rebel MLAs, including B C Patil, B K Sangamesh, J N Ganesh, and supporters of Ramesh Jarakiholi and appealed them not to rock the boat and also offered cabinet berths to them, in a bid to stave off the threat to the stability of the coalition government.
Siddaramaiah, who is also CLP leader, has convened a meeting on May 29 and likely to issue Whip to all the Congress
MLAs to attend it. During the meeting the Congress MLAs, would be advised to shun any offers from the Opposition BJP and remain loyal to the party.
“If needed there is also possibility of shifting all the party MLAs to a safe places including at Resorts”, a Congress leader said.

The FIR was filed against Vishwavani editor-in-chief Vishweshwar Bhat on the basis of a complaint by the JD(S).

The Karnataka police have filed an FIR against the editor-in-chief of a Kannada newspaper, for an article about Nikhil Kumaraswamy that the JD(S) claims is defamatory. Vishweshwar Bhat, the editor-in-chief of Vishwavani, has been accused of publishing ‘derogatory remarks’ against the Karnataka Chief Minister’s son on the front page of the paper on Saturday. A complaint was filed by Pradeep Kumar, an official of the JD(S) legal cell, at the Srirampura police station in the city on Sunday.

“We have received a complaint claiming that a news article that appeared in Vishwavani paper on Saturday about Nikhil Kumaraswamy. We have registered the FIR based on relevant sections,” confirmed a police official at Srirampura police station.

The article in question is titled “Nikhil Kumaraswamy Raatri Rampata” (Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s night fracas) and said that Nikhil had caused a ruckus at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mysuru on Thursday night, after he lost the Lok Sabha election to Mandya. According to the piece, an angry and drunk Nikhil threw a tantrum at the hotel on Thursday, and yelled, “It is a humiliation that I have lost to a woman. Mandya’s people have not held my hand. My dream of being an MP did not come true.”

He also allegedly said, “You (Deve Gowda) got me tangled in the Mandya labryinth. In spite of having eight MLAs, we were not able to win. Didn’t HD Revanna gain the support of Congress in Hassan? Why weren’t you able to gain the support of Congress rebels Cheluvarayaswamy and Narendra Swamy?”

“In spite of friends and hotel officials trying to console him, he argued against them and caused a commotion,” the article said.

However, while Radisson Blu hotel confirmed that Nikhil Kumaraswamy had stayed with them on Thursday night, they denied any such incident as reported by the paper. “We have not received any complaints and there was no such incident as reported in the papers,” a manager at the hotel told TNM. Though it is tough to know whether the hotel’s denial is true or a forced one, it is surprising that the JD(S) has filed a case under various sections against a source-based story.

Article in Vishwavani paper on 25 May

In their complaint, the JD(S) contended that the article not only defamed Nikhil Kumaraswamy and his grandfather HD Deve Gowda, but was also “fictitious” and that no such incident took place. Police registered an FIR under IPC sections 499, 500, 501 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 468 (forgery). “We are yet to intimate Vishweshwar about the FIR,” added a police official at Srirampura police station.

While other publications have also subsequently reported about the incident, the JD(S) has chosen to file a complaint against Vishwavani alone.

Nikhil Kumarawamy has a history of behaving badly in public. In 2006 – when HD Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister of Karnataka – he trashed Empire hotel in Bengaluru’s Church Street, when the restaurant refused to serve him and his friends at 3.30am. The then-19-year-old and his friends were drunk, and chucked beer bottles and attacked the staffers. “I am the CM’s son and I’ll get this hotel blown up and closed,” Nikhil was quoted as saying by one of the hotel employees back in 2006.

Vishweshwar Bhat is the editor-in-chief of Vishwavani newspaper. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Vijaya Karnataka, Kannada Prabha, and Suvarna News.

The news of the FIR sparked an uproar on social media, with several BJP supporters and leaders in the state defending Vishweshwar. Shobha Karandlaje, BJP MP from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru took to Twitter to criticise CM HD Kumaraswamy for curtailing freedom of expression in the state.

Several other BJP leaders including BL Santhosh, CT Ravi, and Arvind Limbavali also took to social media to term the police action against Vishweshwar as ‘Emergency in Karnataka’ and said that the state government is going after print media professionals after initially filing cases against social media activists.

BJP also issued a statement criticising HD Kumaraswamy over the arrest of Vishweshwar. The FIR against the editor comes weeks after police in the state took action against five BJP sympathisers – journalists Mahesh Vikram Hegde and Hemanth Kumar, and BJP supporters Shruti Belakki, Sharada Diamond, and Ajith Shetty Heranje – for instances of fake news shared by them.

Mahesh was detained and let go by the police, while Hemanth, Shruti, and Sharada were arrested for sharing a fake letter which was supposedly written by Karnataka Home Minister MB Patil to Sonia Gandhi in 2017. The letter discussed a meeting ministers held with representatives of the “Global Christian Council” and “World Islamic Organisation” regarding the strategy to be adopted for the Karnataka Assembly Elections.(The organisations do not exist).

Agencies

India’s slowing economic growth is of serious concern and the country needs to urgently cut tax and interest rates to revive the economy, a top industrial body said on Monday ahead of the inauguration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term.

The economy grew 6.6% in the three months to December – the slowest pace in five quarters – and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) said the bigger worry was that domestic consumption was not growing fast enough to offset a weakening global economic environment.

“The recent signs of slowdown in the economy stem not only from slow growth in investments and subdued exports but also from weakening growth in consumption demand,” FICCI said in a statement suggesting various measures the government could adopt in the next budget expected in a month.

“This is a matter of serious concern and if not addressed urgently, the repercussions would be long term.”

Modi – who won a thumping majority in the general election despite the agricultural sector’s economic woes, a shortage of jobs and the stuttering economy – takes oath of office on Thursday and will need a finance minister who can help navigate through the challenges facing the economy.

Agencies

A list of ministers who can be dropped without repercussions has been made.

Highly placed sources in the Congress say that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has called for a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where the issue of dropping ministers will be raised.

Party insiders say that Women and Child Welfare Minister Jayamala, Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge, Sugar from Commerce and Industries Minister RB Thimmapur, Backward Classes and Welfare Minister C Puttaranga Shetty, Labour Minister Venkataramanappa, Urban Development Minister UT Khade, Minor Irrigation Minister CS Puttaraju, Small Scale Industries Minister SR Sreenivas and Transport Minister DC Thammanna are on the list of ministers likely to be dropped during the rejig. These ministries will instead be given to MLAs who are likely to join the BJP, in an attempt to incentivise them.

 “The reshuffle will happen in mid-June. Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has asked Congress leader Siddaramaiah to make a list of potential MLAs, who are likely to defect and hold talks with them. The Congress is also making a list of party loyalists, who can be removed from the cabinet without repercussions and replace them with rebels,” the source added.

Congress sources say that four MLAs in the party have held talks with BJP leaders regarding defection including Chikkaballapura MLA Dr K Sudhakar, Hirekerur MLA BC Patil, Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi and Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig. “If these leaders stay back, the others won’t be persuaded to leave,” the source said.

The Karnataka legislative assembly that has a total strength of 225 MLAs including the Speaker. The BJP is the single largest party with 105 BJP MLAs. Two independent MLAs have offered their support to the BJP has increasing its tally to 107 MLAs. The party needs just 7 MLAs to reach the halfway mark of 113.  

Who is to be blamed for the loss?

Furious with his party men for the rebellion and the massive losses suffered in their strongholds, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is planning to sack JD(S) Ministers from Tumakuru and Mandya – SR Sreenivas and CS Puttaraju. While the JD(S) patriarch lost from Tumakuru, Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil suffered a crushing defeat in Mandya.

“Someone has to be blamed when things go wrong and this time it is the district-in charge ministers. Puttaraju and Sreenivas are two strong leaders in JD(S) and they are likely to be sacked. Congress is also planning to take remedial measures to turn things around. Firstly, there is demand for Priyank Kharge to be removed from his cabinet post. They are thinking about giving the seat to a leader from Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Someone from the Lambani community,” the source said.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara said that the party would initiate changes required to further political growth. “There will be organisation-level changes. There are no disgruntled MLAs and everyone is staying with the party,” he added.

Sources in the BJP say that the party is confident of toppling the government and will bring in President’s rule soon and later go for snap polls in November this year.

“Yeddyurappa kept making noises about the government falling but so far nothing happened. Everyone knew that the MLAs would not be persuaded to leave until Lok Sabha polls were over. The high command has instructed leaders to be patient. We are sure of bringing at least 15 of them into our Cong-JD(S) mulls cabinet reshuffle, rebel MLAs to be made ministeBlurb:  A list of ministers who can be dropped without repercussions has been made.

Highly placed sources in the Congress say that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has called for a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where the issue of dropping ministers will be aised.

Party insiders say that Women and Child Welfare Minister Jayamala, Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge, Sugar from Commerce and Industries Minister RB Thimmapur, Backward Classes and Welfare Minister C Puttaranga Shetty, Labour Minister Venkataramanappa, Urban Development Minister UT Khade, Minor Irrigation Minister CS Puttaraju, Small Scale Industries Minister SR Sreenivas and Transport Minister DC Thammanna are on the list of ministers likely to be dropped during the rejig. These ministries will instead be given to MLAs who are likely to join the BJP, in an attempt to incentivise them.

 “The reshuffle will happen in mid-June. Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has asked Congress leader Siddaramaiah to make a list of potential MLAs, who are likely to defect and hold talks with them. The Congress is also making a list of party loyalists, who can be removed from the cabinet without repercussions and replace them with rebels,” the source added.

Congress sources say that four MLAs in the party have held talks with BJP leaders regarding defection including Chikkaballapura MLA Dr K Sudhakar, Hirekerur MLA BC Patil, Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi and Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig. “If these leaders stay back, the others won’t be persuaded to leave,” the source said.

The Karnataka legislative assembly that has a total strength of 225 MLAs including the Speaker. The BJP is the single largest party with 105 BJP MLAs. Two independent MLAs have offered their support to the BJP has increasing its tally to 107 MLAs. The party needs just 7 MLAs to reach the halfway mark of 113.  

Who is to be blamed for the loss?

Furious with his party men for the rebellion and the massive losses suffered in their strongholds, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is planning to sack JD(S) Ministers from Tumakuru and Mandya – SR Sreenivas and CS Puttaraju. While the JD(S) patriarch lost from Tumakuru, Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil suffered a crushing defeat in Mandya.

“Someone has to be blamed when things go wrong and this time it is the district-in charge ministers. Puttaraju and Sreenivas are two strong leaders in JD(S) and they are likely to be sacked. Congress is also planning to take remedial measures to turn things around. Firstly, there is demand for Priyank Kharge to be removed from his cabinet post. They are thinking about giving the seat to a leader from Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Someone from the Lambani community,” the source said.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara said that the party would initiate changes required to further political growth. “There will be organisation-level changes. There are no disgruntled MLAs and everyone is staying with the party,” he added.

Sources in the BJP say that the party is confident of toppling the government and will bring in President’s rule soon and later go for snap polls in November this year.

“Yeddyurappa kept making noises about the government falling but so far nothing happened. Everyone knew that the MLAs would not be persuaded to leave until Lok Sabha polls were over. The high command has instructed leaders to be patient. We are sure of bringing at least 15 of them into our party,” the BJP source added.

Agencies