Former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa rushed back to Bangalore from Delhi on Saturday morning amid speculation of renewed efforts by the opposition to topple the JD(S)-Congress government in the state.

Yeddyurappa was in Delhi to attend the two-day meeting of the party national executive when he made an unscheduled journey back to the state capital. Later, he clarified that he returned to attend to a family emergency and that it has nothing to do with state politics.

Trouble for the ruling alliance may come from another quarter: investigations by Enforcement Directorate against powerful Congress minister DK Shivakumar and his brother DK Suresh, who is also a Congress MP.

On Saturday, the brothers told media that the “desperate BJP hungry for power” was trying to “fix” them in a money laundering case to topple the government.

“The state BJP is using ED and Income Tax departments to harass us. They think that the government will collapse if they restrain us. But that will never happen. We will fight back and the government will be safe” said DK Shivakumar.

Speaking to News18, HD Kumaraswamy said that he was aware of the “dirty tricks” used by the BJP to unseat him and his government was not so weak to be demolished like this.

“We have done very well in the recently held Urban Local Body Elections. Congress and JDS together have won over 60% seats and got over 53% votes. The BJP is no longer a leading force in urban areas. If we continue in power till Lok Sabha elections next year, the BJP will bite the dust. That’s why they are back to old tactics. But we are prepared to fight them once again,” he told media.

The Karnataka Assembly has 224 members. At present, two seats are vacant.

The Congress has 79, JDS 36, BSP 1 and 2 Independents together form the ruling coalition, which has 118 MLAs. The BJP has 104 members.

BJP with 104 MLAs in the House can cross the half-way mark if it makes at least 15 legislators from the ruling coalition resign, thereby bringing down the total strength of the House to 107. This would also bring down the halfway mark for majority to 104.

Kumaraswamy has threatened that even he could “engineer” defections from the BJP to JDS, if the saffron party does not stop its “unconstitutional” methods to come to power.

The Karnataka BJP, meanwhile, said the “story of corrupt brothers now stays exposed in front of Kannadigas”.

(ANI)

Indian elections are based on ideologies and not personalities, said key opposition leaders on Friday and stressed that 2019 general elections will be a “Modi vs India” affair.

Speaking at the launch of Congress parliamentarian Kapil Sibal’s new book “Shades of Truth – A Journey Derailed”, they said that “a very broad-based strategic coalition” would be formed in “at least 25 states” to take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 polls.

After a brief address by former Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Charting the “all-round failure” of the government, Singh charged that the country is facing “an agrarian crisis, economic turmoil and deteriorating ties with neighbouring countries”.

He accused the Modi government of ignoring the plight of farmers, which has resulted in numerous protests in state capitals as well as the national capital.

Singh, Ansari and Sibal together unveiled the book to a packed house at the Nehru Memorial Museum Library here.

The book launch was followed by a panel discussion participated by Sibal, P. Chidambaram, Sitaram Yechury, Chandan Mitra and Sharad Yadav. They discussed the prospects of a joint opposition front for the 2019 general elections.

The panelists agreed that the opposition unity would be vital in the coming elections, with Sibal asserting that in “at least 25 states” a “very broad-based strategic coalition” would be worked upon to counter the BJP.

Chidambaram recounted that even in 2014 general elections, despite the wind in its favour, the BJP failed to attract the masses in several states like Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha.

Sibal also noted that the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, both currently ruled by the NDA, would have a decisive role to play in the next elections.

On the question of who will be the prime ministerial candidate of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) against Modi, all panelists, except Chandan Mitra of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), maintained that a prime ministerial face is not important.

Yadav recounted a series of elections where a joint coalition had formed the government without declaring their prime ministerial candidate in advance.

“But, much water has flown through the Yamuna since the time you are talking about,” interjected Mitra, who recently quit the BJP to join its adversary in West Bengal. He said the voters are much more aware today and therefore a prime ministerial candidate is important.

Mitra maintained that the prime ministerial candidate of the UPA must be from a regional party, whose credentials are well established.

Responding to an audience question, Sibal said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he is ready to take on Modi, so there is no question of “whether or not he is up for it”.

“He is up for it and he has said that publicly,” Sibal quipped, adding that a prime ministerial face is not important before the elections.

He recalled that there was a debate before 2014 general elections that the country needs a strong leadership and a prominent face. “The great leader (Modi) has given us demonetisation,” he said.

“It will be Modi vs India,” said Yadav, as the panelists nodded in affirmation and loud claps by opposition leaders resonated in the packed hall.

On their projections for the 2019 general elections, the panelists reiterated that the coming together of the opposition parties at state level would result in their victory.

The attendees included opposition leaders across political parties, including Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M, former JD-U members Sharad Yadav and Pavan Varma, TMC member Chanadan Mitra and a host of senior Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Saman Khurshid and Shashi Tharoor, among others.

A domestic helicopter of Altitude Air airline with seven people on board went missing in central Nepal on Saturday, officials said.

The chopper, en route from Samagaun of Gorkha district to Kathmandu, went out of contact with the air traffic control tower at 8.05 a.m, the Kathmandu Post reported.

There were six passengers including a Japanese tourist and five Nepalis on board, said Nima Nuru Sherpa, Managing Director at Altitude Air Pvt Ltd.

Though some local media reported about the possible crash in Dhading district, 50 km away from Kathmandu, the authorities could not confirm as the search and rescue operation was underway.

Tribhuvan International Airport General Manager Rajkumar Chhetri said that the helicopter was supposed to land in the capital at 8.18 am.

(Ians)

A Hurriyet activist was shot on Saturday by unidentified gunmen in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore area, police said.

The gunmen fired at Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani from close range in Bomai area.

“He was immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival”.

The slain activist was affiliated with the group led by Syed Ali Geelani and had been recently released from jail.

(IANS)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday immersed the ashes of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Yamuna river in his native village of Bateshwar, Agra.

Adityanath reached Bateshwar in a chopper and later drove to the Rani Ghat where the district administration had made elaborate arrangements.

He first prayed at the temples on the banks of the river and then immersed the ashes.

Ranjan Bhattacharya, Vajpayee’s son-in-law, was also present along with the state’s Medical Education minister Ashutosh Tandon.

Adityanath also visited the house where Vajpayee spent his childhood, a district official said.

The 60 square yard house is likely to be converted into a memorial and museum.

A small tourist circuit is also likely to be created here which will include a ‘yagyashala’, park, the series of temples and the Janglat Kothi where the Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart, as a child, had raised the banner of revolt against the British empire, the official added.

(IANS)

The Defence Ministry on Saturday announced that the next edition of the biennial Aero India air show would be held here from February 20 to 24, 2019.

“The government has decided to hold the Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24, 2019,” said the ministry in a statement from New Delhi.

The five-day event will be held at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the city’s northern outskirts amid tight security.

“The trade event will showcase technologies and products of global and Indian aerospace and defence firms, with static and flying display of military and civil aircraft, including fighters, jets, helicopters and air weapons.

“Besides global leaders and investors in the aerospace industry, think-tanks from the world over will participate in the show, providing an opportunity to exchange information, ideas and new developments in the industry,” said the statement.

“The air show will also give fillip to the domestic aviation and further the cause of ‘Make in India’. The defence production department is committed to ensure a result-oriented air show,” added the statement.

(IANS)

At least 15 people were killed and 25 others injured when a passenger bus collided with a truck on Saturday in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province.

According to the police, the accident took place at around 6 a.m. in Hawoz village of Zhari district, reports Tolo News.

The victims include women and children with a number of the injured in critical condition, health officials said.

(IANS)

The ruling Left and the Congress-led opposition have called for a state-wide shutdown on September 10 to protest against the rising oil prices, “which the BJP-led Union government has failed to curb”.

A day earlier, the national leadership of the Congress party called for a nation-wide protest and on Friday, the state Congress President M.M. Hassan told reporters here that they have decided to hold it in Kerala from dawn to dusk.

“We have instructed all our party members that it should hold a peaceful protest and at no cost should anyone attempt to take law into their own hands,” said Hassan.

On Friday the state leadership of the CPI-M met here and said they have decided to see that even while observing a shutdown in the state, the relief operations in flood-affected areas will go on unaffected and exempted all essential services form the shutdown.

(IANS)