HD Kumaraswamy has repeatedly clashed with the media over a number of issues since taking charge as the Chief Minister of the state.

First he threw tantrums multiple times and said he would boycott the media. But now Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has gone a step ahead and on Sunday claimed that he is planning to bring in restrictions for the electronic media in the state. He made the claim while speaking at a programme in Mysuru. “For whose benefit are you misusing our (politicians) name and bringing news to people? I am discussing bringing in regulations for the media,” he stated.

He further accused television channels of spreading unconfirmed news to improve their TRP (target rating point) ratings. “Yesterday, I saw that there was a meeting between Sa Ra  Mahesh, GT Deve Gowda, Revanna and others. This news plays the entire day but in reality, we are in a comfortable position and did not have meetings like this,” he said, referring to suggestions made on news channels that the JD(S) was holding meetings to discuss the political situation in the state. “Do you need only us (politicians) to improve your TRP and channel?” the CM added.

He also said, “The media does not want to highlight people’s woes, but instead wants to focus on sensational false stories. Do you think the government will keep quiet?”

Kumaraswamy, who has not spoken to TV channels in the past month, vowed to continue to ignore television journalists. This is not the first time Kumaraswamy has vowed not to address the media. He has repeatedly clashed with the media over a number of issues since taking charge as the Chief Minister of the state.

Soon after taking charge, Kumaraswamy suggested that a separate room be allocated for journalists to interact with ministers at the Vidhana Soudha,  the state secretariat. This was interpreted by many in the media as a way of protecting ministers from being asked uncomfortable questions.

In July 2018, Kumaraswamy blamed the media for trying to divide the state by holding discussions on the demand for a separate North Karnataka state. He has repeatedly complained that his statements have been misrepresented by the media

In October 2018, in a press conference at the Vidhana Soudha, Kumaraswamy lost his cool when a journalist suggested that the Chief Minister has ordered load-shedding in Gulbarga.

Agencies

Kolkata, May 20 : A day after the 7th-phase Lok Sabha poll ended on Sunday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu is expected to call on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee here on Monday, party sources indicated.
Ridiculing Sunday’s exit poll predictions in which almost all the pollsters indicated Prime Minister Naredra Modi-led NDA government coming to power for second successive time, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said it was all gossip and aimed at diverting attention to replace the
EVMs.
” I don’t trust Exit Poll gossip. The game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. I appeal to all Opposition parties to be united, strong and bold. We will fight this
battle together,” she said adding, ” Wait for May 23, the day when the results of 544 Lok sabha seats results will be out. “

Responding to this her TDP counterpart and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is expected to fly here this afternoon and meet Ms Banerjee at her Kalighat residence in south Kolkata.

Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has been visiting across the country meeting most of the opposition leaders, including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gndhi.
Mr Naidu, who also held joint campaign with Ms Banerjee, has been playing the role of a facilitator to bring all non-NDA opposition parties together and cobble a coalition if need arises in case of a
hung verdict.
After a meeting with the Congress president and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday, he had flown to Lucknow.

Bikram, May 16 : Congress president Rahul Gandhi today predicted that May 23, the day of counting would be ‘Good Bye’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as people had already rejected him in six phases of Lok Sabha elections and they would also do so in the final phase on May 19.

Addressing an election meeting here in favour of Misa Bharti, RJD candidate from Patliputra, Mr Gandhi said that Narendra Modi government was sure to be ousted from power and only formality remains to be completed with the declaration of the election result. He said that the crushing defeat of BJP and its allies in the elections was inevitable as people had made up their mind to ‘say goodbye’ to the government.

Mr Gandhi said that Congress had prepared an action plan to ameliorate the condition of poor people and farmers if his party was voted to power. A sum of Rs 72,000 would be deposited to the individual bank account of 25 crores most poor people every year while one lakh youths would be given employment at Panchayat level in next one year, he added.

Congress president said that his party if voted to power would ensure farmers were not put behind bars in the event of their failure to repay loans.

Mr Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was maintaining stoic silence on corruption in Rafael deal and was not explaining why Anil Ambani`s company was selected for the deal and why former defence minister Manohar Parrikar had said that he was not aware of the deal.

Mr Gandhi continued to taunt on honesty being claimed by Prime Minister Mr Modi and provoked people to raise the slogan ‘chowkidar chor hain’, as he has been doing in all his public meetings.

Besides Misa Bharti, daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and her two brothers- Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Yadav, MLA Tej Pratap Yadav, senior RJD leader and former union minister Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav, senior Congress leader and state election campaign committee chairman Akhilesh Prasad Singh, AICC In charge for Bihar affairs Shaktisinh Gohil and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Madurai, May 16 : A slipper was hurled on Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan at Villapuram here on Wednesday night.

Police said the incident occurred when the actor-turned-politician was addressing an election rally in support of his party candidate for the Tirupparankundram assembly by-election.

A gang, suspected to be BJP men flung the slipper on the actor and shouted slogans against him. The slipper however did not hit Mr Haasan and fell on the crowd causing flutter.

Commotion prevailed in the meeting after the slipper attack.

As the MNM cadre attempted to assault the attackers, Kamal Haasan intervened and said ‘we don’t have to worry about it; they (police) will take care of it.’

Police removed over a dozen people soon after the slipper attack for questioning and restored normalcy.

The MNM chief stoked a major controversy during an election campaign at Karur district on Sunday by stating that the “first extremist of Independent India was a Hindu and his name was Nathuram Godse.”

Mr.Haasan’s Hindu extremism barb triggered widespread condemnation from the Sangh Parivar outfits and various political parties across the country. However, the unrelenting actor continued to maintain his stand stating he had only spoken about what was a historic fact.

Agartala, May 16 : Asserting the return of Modi government at the centre, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb today claimed that the last phase of election on May 19 would see a significant rise in the number of BJP seats that will raise the tally of NDA to more than 300.
He stated that the BJP will win at least 23 seats out of 42 in West Bengal owing to the misrule of Trinamool Congress. ” The Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has resorted to most undemocratic attitude to the national leaders of BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that ultimately defamed India before the international community,” he stated.
“In democracy, opposition parties have been playing an important role and leaders need to have the quality to give space for the opposition but in West Bengal it is absent. The TMC workers attacked BJP’s national president Amit Shah and leaders of the party. Mamata Banerjee herself is abusing Prime Minister almost daily, which the people of Bengal do not like and which would go against TMC in the election,” Deb stated.
He further stated that Mamata Banerjee had lost her mind as she could sense her miserable defeat in the Loksabha election and the upcoming assembly election and added, “She has become frustrated as people of West Bengal are prepared to answer the Trinamool Congress.”

Mandirbazar, May 16 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming at a rally in Uttar Pradesh that he will rebuild the vandalised statue of Vidyasagar.

Addressing a public meeting here in South 24 Parganas district which falls under the Mathurapur Lok Sabha constituency, Ms Banerjee asked, statues can be rebuilt, but can he restore 200-year old heritage?

The TMC supremo said, ” The Prime Minister has no shame. He is lying at a public rally in Uttar Pradesh. Their goons vandalised the statue, but he is blaming us. He says he will rebuild the statue. Bengal has enough funds to do so. “

“We don’t need your alms. Can you restore the 200-year-old heritage? Let him prove his allegations. Or else we will drag them to jails. We have all the documents,” she added.

Ms Banerjee said, ” All media outlets have shown how the statue of Vidyasagar was smashed into pieces. The people will answer you through the power of their votes. “

“Narendra Modi, you think you can scare people through threats and beatings. But remember, the elections would be over soon but my movement against all such atrocities is only beginning. You can’t escape anywhere,” the TMC supremo warned.

“Last night I came to know that campaigning time has been cut short based on BJP’s complaint. They do not want anyone else to campaign after Modi. Election Commission has become BJP’s brother. The entire country is saying that the Election Commission is sold out to the BJP, not just me. They can arrest me if they want. I am not afraid to speak the truth,” the chief minister remarked.

“What happened a day before yesterday was shameful. Under the leadership of Amit Shah, their goons vandalized Vidyasagar’s statue, Vidyasagar College and the University of Calcutta. We will not tolerate any attack on our icons,” Ms Banerjee said.

Police say a gun battle broke out in a neighborhood in southern Pulwama town early on Thursday.by Rifat Fareed.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – Five people, including three rebels, a civilian and one Indian army personnel, have been killed in a pre-dawn gunfight in Dalipora village of Pulwama in the southern part of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Chandan Kohli, a senior superintendent of police from Pulwama, told Al Jazeera that the gunfight started in the early hours of Thursday after a search operation was launched.

“In the gunfight, three Jaish-e-Muhammad members and one army personnel were killed,” said Kohli before adding that “one civilian also died in the crossfire while they were being evacuated from the target house”.

Thousands protest in Kashmir over rape of three-year-old

The civilian was identified as Rayees Ahmad Dar, in his early 20s, who suffered injuries to his chest and neck.

“He was brought dead to the hospital. His brother also suffered a bullet injury in his leg and is being treated in the hospital,” Dr Abdul Rasheed Para, the superintendent of Pulwama district hospital, told Al Jazeera.

Kohli said that two of the fighters were local and one of them was a foreigner “who was wanted in many cases”.

“He was one of the top commanders of the outfit present in the region,” the official said, adding that the gun battle lasted five hours.

After news of the operation spread in the volatile villages of southern Kashmir, hundreds of people came out on the roads raising anti-India slogans. The protests lead to stone-throwing clashes between youth and the forces.

“Even in the holy month of Ramadan, they can’t let the people live peacefully. We are forced to carry the coffins of our children,” said Fayaz Ahmad Mir, a Pulwama resident.

India’s BJP denies human rights violations in Kashmir

Authorities suspended internet services in the district and imposed a curfew in the adjacent villages.

Security forces in the region have launched a crackdown on the rebels following a suicide attackon a convoy of Indian forces on the south Kashmir national highway in February where 42 paramilitary troopers were killed.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by JeM. The attack strained relations between India and Pakistan and triggered military escalations between the two countries.

Indian authorities have taken several measures to tighten the spaces of dissent in the region. They banned two top separatist outfits, Jamaat-e-Islami and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and jailed hundreds of their leaders.

The Indian government has also warned students from the disputed territory against pursuing their studies in colleges in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, saying the Indian government does not recognise those degrees.

Aljazeera

The Election Commission (EC) has ordered an inquiry into a charge by the BJP that Karnataka Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar distributed cash to voters ahead of the May 19 by-election in the Kundagola Assembly segment in Dharwad, an official said on Tuesday.

“We have asked our District Electoral Officer M. Deepa to inquire into the allegation that the Minister was distributing cash to voters and community leaders,” Karnataka’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K.G. Jagadeesha told IANS here.

In a complaint to the state CEO on Monday, BJP legal cell member M. Vinod Kumar alleged that Shivakumar, staying at Hotel Cotton County near Hubli airport and campaigning for Congress candidate Kusumavati Channabasappa, was distributing cash to also local influential leaders to distribute it to the voters ahead of the polling day.

“As the BJP complaint was without audio or video evidence, we have asked the DEO to crosscheck with our flying squads and observers deployed in the Assembly segment to prevent any malpractice or violation of the model code of conduct,” said Jagadeesha.

The party candidate (Kusumavati) is the widow of Congress Minister for Municipalities C.S. Shivalli, whose death on March 22 necessitated the bye-poll.

The BJP had fielded S.I. Chikkanagoudar, who lost to Shivalli by just 633 votes in Assembly elections in May 2018.

Mysuru, May 15 : RSS Convener Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat today clarified that there will be no interference or suggestions in selecting State BJP President by the RSS.
Speaking to newsmen here on Wednesday, he further clarified that there was no role of RSS for change of BJP Karnataka President and no one from the Sangh nominated. Central BJP leadership will look after the matter.
Referring to coalition government in the State, Bhatt alleged that due to infighting among coalition partners Congress-JDS leaders there is no government at present and at any movement after May 23 Lok Sabha poll results it will collapse. When asked about sidelining veteran party leaders including L K Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said it was creation of the media only and Modi is facing the 2019 General Election under their guidance besides no senior leaders of the party has made such statements.
Declining to comment on a statement by film actor turned politician Kamalahassan terming Naturam Godse as the first Hindu terrorist, Bhat said he will not react those who speak without knowing facts and people will describe various voices on this issue. On the violence in west Bengal during the BJP President Amit Sha’s roadshow, he said everyone has right to speak in the democracy and why the TMC government fear of BJP if they have given good governance. Earlier people voted for Mamata Banerjee as the Left party government failed, but now TMC also following the footsteps of Left , he pointed out.