In a major reshuffle, the state government on Saturday transferred 20 IPS officers, including top-ranking officers in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), the Karnataka Lokayukta and State Intelligence Department.

Notably the transfer orders came a day after chief minister Kumaraswamy alleged that “certain kingpins’ were trying to bribe Congress and JD(S) MLAs to pull down his ministry, and were mobilising funds from people involved in illegal activities towards this end.

The new postings are: Alok Mohan (ADGP, railways, Bengaluru), P S Sandhu (commissioner for traffic and road safety, Bengaluru), P Ravindranath (ADGP, forest cell, Bengaluru), Sanjay Sahay (ADGP, police computer wing, Bengaluru), Alikana S Murthy (ADGP, Karnataka Lokayukta, Bengaluru), Alok Kumar (additional commissioner of police, crime, Bengaluru), N Satheesh Kumar (DIG, KSRP, Bengaluru), Sandeep Patil (Jt commissioner, CAR, Bengaluru), PS Harsha (DIG, prisons, Bengaluru), KT Balakrishna (SP, intelligence, Bengaluru), P Rajendra Prasad (SP, wireless, Bengaluru), Ram Niwas Sepat (SP, ACB, Bengaluru), Ida Martin Marbaniang (DCP, traffic west, Bengaluru), Bheemashankar S Guled (SP, railways, Bengaluru), G Radhika (AIGP, DGP office, Bengaluru), Hanumantharaya (SP, Yadgir), S Girish (DCP crime, Bengaluru), AN Prakash Gowda (SP, Hassan), KV Jagadish (DCP, traffic east, Bengaluru) and N Chaitra (SP, directorate of civil rights enforcement, Bengaluru).

Meanwhile, it is learnt that few Congress legislators are opposed to the transfer of several senior officers by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and the issue is likely to come up for discussion at a meeting, scheduled today (Sunday) to be held by AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal with party leaders.

(PTI)

The BJP central leadership’s attempts to form a consensus between party MLAs and alliance partners in Goa over alternate leadership due to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s illness remained inconclusive on Sunday.

Allocation of portfolios held by Parrikar could take place in the next few days, a ruling alliance Minister said.

Emerging out of a city hotel, where BJP’s General Secretary (organisation) Ram Lal and party observers B.L. Santosh and Vijay Puranik met MLAs from the BJP, allies Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward, and Independent MLAs for several hours, Lal said that he will address the media on Monday.

Earlier in the day, BJP MLAs emerged from their meetings with the BJP observers and supported continuation of Parrikar as CM ’till he is alive’. “Within the BJP, they should find somebody and Parrikar should remain the Chief Minister till he is alive,” BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral told reporters.

Parrikar is admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi for treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

MGP leaders, including Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar, insisted that no leadership issue was discussed by their representatives with BJP’s central leaders.

“What was discussed today was not about the government, but about the people of Goa. No leadership issued was discussed,” Dhavalikar said.

Till Saturday, MGP President Deepak Dhavalikar had insisted that administration was suffering on account of Parrikar’s repeated absence and a functional CM was necessary.

Dhavalikar on Sunday maintained that Parrikar was well and clearing files, so there was no question of giving any other person the chief ministerial charge.

However, Goa Forward President and Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai’s move to bunch together six MLAs — including himself and two other Goa Forward MLAs — and make a collective demand for a “permanent solution” caused discomfiture to the BJP’s central observers.

“We met the BJP central observers and impressed upon them to find a permanent solution to the leadership issue. Ad hocism is not an option. We asked them to take their time and not act in haste. We also told them to take the views of Parrikar and arrive at a decision,” Sardesai told reporters after meeting Ram Lal.

Sardesai on Saturday had rejected a proposal mooted by the MGP to appoint Dhavalikar the Deputy Chief Minister, who would officiate as Chief Minister in Parrikar’s absence.A

Asked if the BJP had discussed finding a permanent solution to the leadership issue with alliance leaders, Ram Lal responded with a firm “no.”

State BJP President Vinay Tendulkar said that “there is no question of change in leadership”.

Parrikar was shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on Saturday.

The state BJP’s core committee is expected to meet on Monday to deliberate the issue in presence of the three observers.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 14 MLAs in the 40-member Assembly, of which three are severely ill. Support of allies is thus critical to the survival of the alliance government.

(IANS)

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that nobody becomes an Election Commissioner “without political approach”.

“People don’t get appointed there (Election Commission) without political approach. Since I too have been a Chief Minister, I know it,” Yadav said at the NDTV youth conclave here when asked if he trusts the Election Commission’s neutrality.

“A list of the proposed names comes (to the appointing authority). So, ultimately, they (appointees) have to pass through a political process. We may say from outside that the commission is neutral, but it does pass through a political arrangement,” the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister added.

Yadav pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in Baghpat less than 24 hours before polling in neighbouring Kairana and Noorpur by-polls in Uttar Pradesh in May but the EC did not stop him.

He said that the rally could have influenced the voters in the adjacent constituencies.

Speaking about EVMs, Yadav said: “The trust has been breached, and I was the first to flag the issue. We can only request the EC to explain to political parties as to how it restores the EVMs that develop snag.”

The Samajwadi Party leader advocated the use of ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs) for free and fair elections.

“If ballot papers are used, people’s anger would be vented and the trust-deficit with the EVMs will also be healed,” he said.

The Samajwadi Party leader also said that the nation must be “saved from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)”.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is visible. But we have also to fight the one which is invisible. It was the RSS that spread false propaganda on the ground against the Samajwadi Party during the Assembly elections… the RSS creates gulf between different castes and communities,” Yadav said.

He said that the road to PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) passes through Uttar Pradesh and he and other like-minded parties would ensure that the BJP is defeated in the state in the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

“If the BJP is stopped in Uttar Pradesh, it will be stopped nationally… if anyone can stop the BJP, it is the regional forces,” Yadav said.

“I will all be for the alliance and will not hesitate to go back two steps, if needed (for the grand alliance). I will not back off,” he said, adding that the Congress as a national party ought to have a “large heart” on the alliance.

“Their (Congress) responsibility is bigger as it is a national party. They need to take the regional parties along,” he said.

(IANS)

The money-spinning Kerala tourism industry celebrated quietly on Sunday after receiving the first chartered flight of tourists this season following the devastating floods.

The flight with 46 tourists from Australia landed at the Cochin International Airport here on Saturday night.

The heavy rains and unprecedented floods that shattered the state, leaving hundreds dead and thousands homeless and causing widespread destruction, led to numerous cancellations by tourists.

“Our efforts have already started paying off. Most of our tourist destinations are ready to welcome the visitors from India and abroad. The state government has accorded top priority to restoring roads leading to tourist places,” said Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran.

Kerala’s total direct earnings from the sector in the last calendar year touched Rs 26,000 crore, up from Rs 23,098 crore, a growth of 12.56 per cent.

Speaking to IANS, E.M. Najeeb, who heads the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI), said it was a friend who organised the charter flight from Australia.

“They have planned a 21-day trip to India and had cancelled the three-day Kerala leg. When I came to know of it, I promised that they will have nothing to worry about in Kerala.

“By now 90 per cent of the damaged infrastructure has been put back to place,” said Najeeb.

Meanwhile, the 10th edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will be held here from September 27 to 30.

“The response has been huge. Close to 400 overseas buyers and 1,095 domestic buyers have registered to take part,” said Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society.

(IANS)

Turuvekere BJP MLA Masale Jayaram on Friday accused Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara of discriminating against his constituency by not ensuring the release of Hemavathy river waters. A video of him breaking down before the electronic media went viral on social media.

The MLA who had been on an indefinite dharna at the Hemavathy canal at Adavanahalli alleged that as he is BJP legislator, Parameshwara has been deliberately ignoring the constituency.

Besides, he also alleged that Parameshwara has also been favouring Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar’s relative Dr Ranganath, the Congress MLA from Kunigal, as the water has been flowing to Kunigal. “Out of 10 taluks, nine are declared drought-hit, except for Turuvekere”, he said when contacted over the phone. Though Hemavathi Project chief engineer Ramakrishna visited him and promised that the water will be released in a couple of weeks, the MLA continued his dharna along with hundreds of his supporters overnight.

(PTI)

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Saturday ruled out any alliance with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for the coming Assembly polls in the state and said the TRS owed an explanation to the people for imposing additional expenditure by going for early elections.

Replying to a query at a press conference Shah, who was here to launch the party’s election campaign, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao during his speech in Parliament was in a different context and it cannot be interpreted as an understanding between the two parties.

He denied reports that the BJP was hand-in-glove with the TRS and alleged that it was the TRS and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) which were engaged in “shadow boxing”.

The BJP chief wanted to know why the TRS imposed early polls on the state when the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are slated to be held nine months later.

Shah said Rao had initially supported Modi’s idea of “one nation one election” but he was surprised when he suddenly changed his stand.

“Rao and TRS have forced a small state to bear expenditure of two elections. BJP believes that TRS has put an additional burden of crores of rupees on people to further its political interests,” said the BJP chief.

Shah said that the BJP was ready to give a tough fight to both the TRS and the opposition Congress in every constituency. He was confident that the BJP will emerge as a strong and decisive force in the state.

Shah said there was no chance of the TRS getting a fresh mandate.

“If the TRS government comes back to power, it will continue its politics of appeasement,” he said slamming it for passing a resolution to provide 12 per cent reservation to Muslims and sending it to the Centre for its approval.

Claiming that the Modi government provided Rs.2.3 lakh crore to Telangana during the last four years against the Rs 15,000 crore given during the Congress rule, Shah said the BJP showed no discrimination towards any state but was opposed to the politics of appeasement.

(IANS)