With exit polls predicting a thumping victory for the BJP in Karnataka, the party’s state President BS Yeddyurappa said that 20-22 Congress MLAs would join the BJP after the Lok Sabha election results are announced.

“Many exit polls have predicted that BJP will 20-23 seats. Ver since election campaigning began, I have maintained that BJP would comfortably win 22 seats in Karnataka and that many big leaders of the Congress and the JD(S) will lose,” Yeddyurappa said.

Stating that the Congress leaders have reportedly informed the high command that the party has not benefited anything from the alliance with the JD(S), Yeddyurappa said this was proof everyone was unhappy with the coalition. “Once the election results are out on May 23, a lot will change in the state politics. 20-22 Congress leader will join the BJP. They are not happy with the outcome of the coalition,” he added.

Yeddyurappa held talks with Gokak Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi on Monday regarding defecting to the BJP. Party sources say that Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi will fly to New Delhi on Wednesday to hold talks with senior leaders regarding the defection of other MLAs.

“Congress MLAs Mahesh Kumatihalli, Bheema Nayak, JN Ganesh are already in talks. Ramesh Jarkiholi has been holding talks with other legislators over the phone. Yeddyurappa has entrusted the responsibility of herding in MLAs to Ramesh Jarkiholi. Over 20 MLAs say they will defect only if the NDA comes to power this time,” the source added.

Patna, May 21 : Former chief minister and senior RJD leader Rabri Devi today wondered whether ‘recovery of EVMs from around strong rooms was part of a pre-determined process.

Before Election Commission (EC) came up with a clarification on the issue saying ‘visuals seen viral on media do not pertain to any EVMs used during the polls’, Ms Rabri Devi asked the apex election body to explain on media reports about movement of EVMs.

Taking to her official Twitter account to target EC, RabrI Devi said, “EVMs are being recovered from around strong rooms across the country. EVMs are being seized from trucks and private vehicles. From where, EVMs are coming? Where they are going? When, why and who is transporting EVMs for what purpose? Whether it is part of pre-determined process? Election Commission should explain at the earliest”.

Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, son of Rabri Devi said, “Visuals and claims of sudden movement of EVMs observed across the north India! Why is it so? Who is transporting these EVMs and Why? What is purpose and objective of this exercise? In order to avoid any confusion and misconception, Election Commission must issue a statement as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile, state election office in a statement asserted that security of polled EVMs was the primary responsibility of administration.

The constituency-wise exit poll conducted by TV9-News9-CVoter has predicted several big losses for the Congress-JD(S) combine, especially in the most controversial constituencies including Mandya, Kalaburgi and the three segments in Bengaluru city. The polls predicted that of the 28 total seats in Karnataka, BJP would win 18 seats, the Congress 7 seats, JD(S) 2 seats and one seat would go to an independent.

The exit polls indicate that Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy would lose the Mandya segment to independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh backed by BJP. One of the most controversial election battles that was fought in 2019, the Mandya segment witnessed a tough fight between the two candidates.

With several Dalit, women’s right and minority groups offering their support to Sumalatha in addition to disgruntled Congress party workers, the election campaign became a point of friction between the coalition partners.

Another shocking prediction is the loss of a stronghold for the Congress – the Kalaburgi segment. Veteran politician and eight-time MP from Kalaburgi, Mallikarkjun Kharge is predicted to lose the seat to his mentee-turned-rival Dr Umesh Jadav of the BJP.

Umesh Jadav, the former MLA of Chincholi had quit the Congress and joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Jadav had expressed his unhappiness with not being offered the ticket. He had also taken offence to the party giving preference to Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge while allocating ministerial berths.

The polls also predicted that the BJP’s Tejasvi Surya, PC Mohan and DV Sadananda Gowda would win from Bengaluru South, Bengaluru Central and Bengaluru North segments. Although, south and central have been BJP strongholds, the Congress had fielded a strong candidate –Krishna Byre Gowda, from Bengaluru North hoping that his image as a well-educated urbanite would attract the city’s voters towards the Congress.

While Nikhil Kumaraswamy is touted to lose, his grandfather HD Deve Gowda has been predicted to win from Tumakuru. Deve Gowda’s other grandson Prajwal Revanna has been predicted to win from Hassan.

News9 – CVoter constituency-wise exit polls for Karnataka:

• Mandya: Independent candidate Sumalatha wins JD(S)’ Nikhil Kumaraswamy loses
• Chikkaballapura: Congress’ Veerappa Moily wins BJP’s Bachegowda loses
• Chitradurga: Congress BN Chandrappa wins BJP’s A Narayana Swamy loses
• Hassan: JD(S)’ Prajwal Revanna wins BJP’s A Manju loses
• Vijayapura: BJP’s Ramesh Jigajigani wins JD(S)’ Sunitha Chavan loses
• Kalaburgi: Dr Umesh Jadav wins Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge loses
• Bidar: BJP’s Bhagwanth Khuba wins Congress’ Eshwar Khandre loses
• Ballari: BJP’s Devendrappa wins Congress’ VS Ugrappa loses
• Haveri: BJP’s Shivakumar Channabasappa Udasi wins Congress’ DR Patil loses
• Dharwad: BJP’s Prahallad Joshi wins Congress’ Vinay Kulkarni loses
• Davangere: BJP GM Siddeshwara wins Congress’ HB Majappa loses
• Shivamogga: BJP’s BY Raghavendra wins JD(S)’ Madhu Bangarappa loses
• Udupi-Chikkamagaluru: BJP Shobha Karandlaje wins JD(S)’ Pramod Madhwaraj loses
• Dakshina Kannada: BJP Nalin Kumar Kateel wins Congress’ Mithun Rai loses
• Belagavi: BJP’s Suresh Angadi wins Congress’ Virupaksha Sadhunnavar loses
• Raichur: BJP Raja Amaresh Nayak wins Congress’ BV Nayak loses
• Koppal: Congress’ Rajashekat Hitnal wins BJP’s Sanganna Karadi loses
• Uttara Kannada: BJP’s Anantkumar Hegde JD(S)’ Anand Aasnotikar loses
• Chikkodi: Congress’ Prakash Hukkeri wins BJP’s Annasaheb Jolle loses
• Bagalkot: BJP’s Parvatagouda Gaddigoudar wins Congress’ Veena Kashappanavar loses
• Mysuru-Kodagu: Congress’ CH Vijayshankar wins, BJP’s Pratap Simha loses
• Chamarajanagara: BJP’s V Srinivas Prasad wins Congress’ Dhruvanarayana loses
• Kolar: Congress’ KH Muniyappa wins BJP’s S Muniswamy loses
• Tumakuru: JD(S)’ HD Deve Gowda wins BJP’s GS Basavaraju loses
• Bengaluru South: BJP’s Tejasvi Surya wins Congress’ BK Hariprasad loses
• Bengaluru North: BJP’s DV Sadananda Gowda wins Congress’ Krishna Byre Gowda loses
• Bengaluru Central: BJP’s PC Mohan wins Congress’ Rizwan Arshad loses
• Bengaluru Rural: Congress’ DK Suresh wins BJP’s Ashwath Narayana Gowda loses Agencies

HD Kumaraswamy was supposed to join the top brass of 21 Opposition parties in Delhi, who are rallying for a non-BJP government at the Centre.

On Tuesday morning, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy cancelled his visit to the national capital — New Delhi, unceremoniously. He was supposed to join the top brass of 21 Opposition parties who are rallying for a non-BJP government at the Centre. Kumaraswamy was also to be a part of the delegation that is meeting the Election Commission regarding the issue of EVMs.

A JD(S) source claimed that the CM’s visit has been cancelled due to the prevailing “fluid state” following the exit polls. All major exit polls have hinted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s return.

“See now, the exit poll results have come out. Everything is now in a fluid state. So let the clear picture emerge, that is why he is waiting for May 23. There is no point for him to go. Anyway, we are expecting five seats in total, so our role is more to act as a binding factor for all other small parties. So let the results come out, then only we can act on that direction,” the JD(S) source added.

The Opposition parties intend to demand that the EC tally the VVPAT slips with the EVM count for every constituency in order to detect discrepancies. Ahmed Patel of the Congress, Sharad Pawar of NCP, Chandrababu Naidu of TDP, Satish Chandra Mishra of BSP, Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) and Derek O’Brien of the TMC are expected to meet the EC officials. Kumaraswamy was also supposed to join the 21 parties and address the press jointly at the Constitution Club in Delhi, before heading for a meeting with the Election Commission.

It may be recalled that Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony in mid-2018 was the first time that the top leaders of all anti-BJP political parties came together on the same stage in a show of unity.

The CM’s office could not be reached for comment. Now, KC Venugopal, the AICC-Karnataka-in charge is likely to meet the CM later in the day at the former’s JP Nagar residence.

The calling off of the CM’s visit has also triggered speculations about the longevity of the state government amidst the continuous public infighting between the two coalition partners. Since the formation of the coalition government, the two parties had also contested the Lok Sabha polls as pre-poll allies.

The open bitterness among some leaders and former rivals has even displeased Congress President Rahul Gandhi who cracked the whip on Sunday. Following that, KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) President Dinesh Gundu Rao was forced to make a public statement appealing to leaders of both the parties to avoid making controversial comments.

However, the JD(S) source claimed that despite the apparent differences, there is no threat to the government.

Incidentally, BJP president Amit Shah is hosting a dinner in Delhi for all the NDA allies, two days ahead of counting of votes.

Agencies

A truck carrying several hundred beer bottles in Andhra Pradesh caught fire on Monday afternoon near Nandyal in Kurnool district, gutting the cargo on board the vehicle. Police suspect that the fire started in the engine but spread through the vehicle quickly as the flames caught on to the liquor in the bottles.

While the vehicle was immediately brought to a halt on the side of the road, the incident resulted in many bottles exploding, sending glass pieces flying in every direction. The incident took place close to the office of the Road Transport Authority (RTA) in Nandyal.

The driver of the truck, who jumped out as soon as he noticed the smoke and later attempted to put out the fire, was injured. He was shifted to the nearest government hospital to treat his burn injuries. Speaking to reporters, he said that the truck was coming from Hyderabad after picking up the load from a distillery in Sangareddy district.

The Nandyal Prohibition and Excise circle inspector Lalita Devi told reporters that 1,300 cartons carrying 15,600 bottles were gutted in the incident, which resulted in an estimated loss of goods worth Rs 15 lakh. The vehicle was also completely destroyed in the fire.

While the cause of the fire is yet to ascertained, police suspect that excessive heating up of the engine may have led to the incident.

Earlier this year, a man was burnt alive in Hyderabad after the car that he was driving on the city’s Outer Ring Road (ORR) caught fire near Sultanpur village in Sangareddy district’s Ameenpur mandal. Visuals of the incident showed the car, parked on one side of the road, even as locals filmed it. The deceased was identified as Ganta Venkata Giri, who resided in Bowranpet and worked as an Assistant Manager at the Gangavaram Port’s office in the city. He was on his way to work in Banjara Hills when the incident occurred.

Agencies

Karnataka Chief Secretary hold talks with Veerendra Heggade on water problem in Pilgrim Centre Dharmastala
Bengaluru, May 20 : Karnataka Chief Secretary Vijaya Bhaskar held talks with Dharmasthala Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple Administrator Veerendra Heggade and discussed about the acute water shortage being faced at the pilgrim Centre Dharmasthala.
According to official sources, Heggade and the Karnataka Chief Secretary discussed about the acute water shortage being faced by 30,000 to 40,000 devotees visiting the temple daily.
The talks were held on the backdrop of Heggade, who had appealed to the devotees to postpone their visit to Dharmasthala due to acute shortage of water faced for bathing and for preparing meals for visiting devotees.
He had stated in a release that Nethravathi river has gone dry and according to Weather office it may take atleast 10 days to get rain this part.
Heggade had reportedly suggested the State government for the need to construct another balancing reservoir across the Nethravathi, which overflows during Monsoon and store the water in summer.
Chief Secretary held talks with Heggade following a direction from Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the sources added.