The BJP on Friday April 20 released its third list of candidates for the crucial Karnataka assembly elections.

The BJP has named 59 candidates in its third list. In the first two lists, it had named a total of 154 candidates.

From the coveted constituency of Mangaluru South, BJP has fielded Vedavyas Kamath. He will be up against Congress’ sitting MLA J R Lobo.

Santosh Kumar Rai has been fielded from Mangaluru (Ullal) constituency, against Congress’ minister and MLA U T Khader.

Vedavyas Kamath (L) and Raghupati Bhat

In Mangaluru North, the BJP has decided to bank on Dr Bharath Shetty as the candidate against Congress’ sitting MLA Mohiuddin Bava.

In Udupi, former MLA Raghupati Bhat has been given the ticket. He will be facing sitting MLA and minister Pramod Madhwaraj of Congress.

In Kaup, it will be BJP’s former MLA Lalaji R Mendon against Congress candidate and sitting MLA Vinay Kumar Sorake.

Accusing the Congress of using impeachment as a political tool, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said it was a revenge petition to intimidate the judiciary following the Supreme Court’s verdict on Judge B.H. Loya’s death.

“It (impeachment motion) is a revenge petition after the falsehood of the Congress has been established in the Justice Loya death case,” he said in a Facebook post under the heading “Judge Loya Death Case – The One That Almost Created a Judicial Mutiny.”

His comments came after opposition leaders met Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and submitted an impeachment motion for the removal of Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“It is an attempt to intimidate a judge and send a message to other judges that if you don’t agree with us, 50 MPs are enough for a revenge action,” he said, adding that Congress and “its friends” had started using impeachment as a “political tool”.

The Minister said impeachment of a Supreme Court judge was to be done only in the case of either his incapacity or on proven misconduct.

“Trivialising the use of that power is a dangerous event… To use the power as intimidatory tactics when neither you have a case of ‘proven misconduct’ or the numbers on your side is a serious threat to judicial independence,” he said.

It was not difficult to collect 50 signatures of the Rajya Sabha or hundred signatures of the Lok Sabha members even on frivolous issues, he said, referring to the 71 MPs who signed the impeachment motion.

Jaitley said the judgement on Judge Loya exposed the conspiracy to generate falsehood as propaganda in the public and political space and alleged that there was connivance among some politicians, judges, lawyers and media.

“Never ever so blatantly in the past have national political parties, a few retired judges and some senior lawyers so closely identified themselves with the generation of falsehood that they almost come out as conspirators,” he said.

Jaitley said BJP President Amit Shah had no role in the Sohrabuddin case and that “the Caravan Magazine’s stories and investigations are a textbook example of fake news”.

The news website had reported about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Judge Loya in Nagpur in November 2014. Loya was hearing the alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in Gujarat in 2005 in which now BJP President Amit Shah was an accused.

Holding that public interest crusaders had graduated into “institution disruptors” picking up false causes, Jaitley said the Congress through its lawyers was too willing to identify with these “institution disruptors” and thus intimidate courts.

“A divided court is finding itself helpless to respond to these initimidatory tactics,” he said.

Referring to the press conference in January where four senior judges of the Supreme Court virtually revolted against the Chief Justice over allocation of cases including Judge Loya’s case, Jaitley said a divided court was the single greatest threat to judicial independence.

“What has happened today is a price the Indian judiciary has to pay for misadventures of many. There is no better time for judicial statesmanship and political foresight,” he added.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has once again said that the party leadership will decide his candidature from the Badami seat and he will abide by its decision.The chief minister said: “Whatever the party leadership says, I will abide by it”.

Addressing media persons in Mysuru on Friday, the CM said, “the party leaders from Bagalkot and Vijaypur districts, S R Patil, M B Patil, Thimmapur and others have requested me to contest from Badami. However, I denied. Still, they have submitted a request to the high-command. I will follow the decision of the high-command.”

Earlier, though Siddaramaiah’s contest from Badami was still uncertain, his son Dr. Yathindra had tweeted that the CM will file the nomination papers from Badami constituency on April 23 and deleted the tweet within minutes. It created more confusion among the Congress leaders, workers as well as the opposing team which is preparing a sketch to defeat the CM if he contests from the Chamundeshwary constituency.

It is sure that the CM will contest from Chamundeshwari constituency and he has expressed his wish to contest from Badami as well. However, it is said that the party leaders had culled the idea saying that it would give a sense of strong signal.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central Government to seize properties of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Mumbai.

A bench headed by Justice RK Agrawal dismissed the plea filed by Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parker and his mother Amina Bi Kaskar against attachment of their properties by the government, saying they belong to the fugitive underworld don.

The prime properties in Mumbai’s Nagpada belonged to Dawood but his mother and sister, both dead, had taken possession of them.

In 1988, the government sealed the properties under a law that allows the takeover of properties of smugglers, foreign exchange manipulators and their relatives.

Dawood’s mother and sister had challenged the takeover, which were initiated after the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai in which 257 were killed. Dawood had fled the country and the departments concerned sought to seize properties belonging to the fugitive don.

Amina Bi Kaskar and Hasina Parkar had moved the apex court after the tribunal and the Delhi High Court dismissed their challenge to the takeover order in July 1998.

In November 2012 Supreme Court ordered status quo in the case.

The government had claimed that several opportunities were given to Amina and Hasina to show legal sources of income to acquire the properties but no valid document was filed.

The two women reportedly had seven residential properties in their names – two in Amina Bi’s name and five in Hasina Parkar’s name. The properties, worth crores, were allegedly acquired with Dawood’s illegal wealth.

In November 2017, three south Mumbai properties belonging to the fugitive don were auctioned for Rs 11.58 crore. The properties were put on auction by the ministry of finance, under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act. The three properties were the Hotel Raunaq Afroz, also known as Delhi Zaika, Shabnam Guest House and six rooms in Damarwala building.

Dawood Ibrahim is the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. He is listed as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council’s IS and al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.

India’s assertion that he has been sheltered by Pakistan was confirmed recently when the latest list of terror organisations and terrorists released by the UN Security Council included Dawood Ibrahim and his Karachi address.

An FIR was registered against Karnataka BJP MLA Sanjay Patil on Friday on charges of delivering a provocative speech in Belgaum.

Patil, while addressing a gathering in Belgaum on Thursday, said that the upcoming election in the state is not about roads, water or other issues but about Hindus versus Muslims and Ram Mandir versus Babri Masjid.

The complainant has demanded disqualification of Patil’s candidature for his communal speech and for violating the model code of conduct.

The FIR was registered in Marihal police station in Belgaum Rural district under Sections 253a and 259A of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Karnataka will go to polls on May 12 to elect its representatives for the 225-member Assembly. The results will be out on May 15.

A week ago, a BJP MLA from UP had made similar comments about the next Lok Sabha polls. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections would be fought on the lines of ‘Islam versus Bhagwan’ and ‘Pakistan versus India’, BJP UP MLA Surendra Singh.

Manohar Yadavatti in Ramnagar

Ramnagar district is in the close proximity of the capital city of Bengaluru and if you are lucky enough to escape from the mad traffic, there’re chances that you may reach the district place within one and a half hours. But such timings could be rare one as almost on all days, the road further leading to the most sought after tourist place Mysuru is always crowded and traffic snarls and jams are literally an everyday feature.

Well other than these traffic hazards, Ramnagar on the face of it gives an impression as if it’s one more district just like the remaining ones in the prosperous Cauvery delta. Yes for name sake it happens to be another one district but only when you mix with the people and try to understand the ground reality your ears will become warm in no time!

The district has four constituencies namely Kanakpura, Ramnagar, Channapatna and Magadi and the region which was earlier part of Bengaluru Rural district came into being when HD Kumarswamy, Janata Dal Secular party’s state president happened to become the chief minister in alliance with the BJP after toppling his own party’s alliance government with the Congress.

KANAKPURA: It’s also a taluk headquarters and has many scenic spots catering to a variety of tourists like those interested in trekking, visiting temples and enjoying the lush green atmosphere. Although it’s time for scorching summer to commence most of the lakes are laughing with water level to the brim which speaks of the reasons for standing crops in the fields.

Mekedatu is a tourist place and you need to walk through the backwaters of the river during rainy season. The stretch of the part is so called as the mighty Cauvery literally becomes a small stream such that even a goat can jump from one side to the other part of the river.

Kanakpura was once also the name of the parliamentary constituency which has been now been renamed as Bengaluru Rural. The area which was hitherto known for agriculture, horticulture, sericulture and dairy farming, of late has also become a hub of granite industry and the granite found here has a huge demand not only in the state but elsewhere across the country and outside as well.

Granite business has also become a controversial subject of late with accusations of the administrative machinery and politicians of all hues making hay while the place was also the hotbed of illegal sand smuggling.

In fact PGR Sindhia had a complete control on the constituency for a couple of decades starting from 1983 when he represented it for the first time. He continuously won in Kanakpura during the 1983,1985,1989,1994 and 2004 general elections. Hailing from the RSS and ABVP background he distanced himself from these organizations and identified with the Janata Party and Janata Dal.

But all these accomplishments became a glory of the past as he drifted away from the Janata Pariwar to join the Bahujan Samaj Party. He was also nominated as Vice President of the state BSP but afterwards he miserably lost from this constituency and was expelled from the party.

In this way after undergoing a horrible honeymoon he made up his mind to return to the parent party hoping for a political rehabilitation. But in the meantime much had changed on the ground in Kanakpura. Sathanuru which was till then a separate constituency became part of the Kanakpura constituency and DK Shivakumar, Power Minister who’s all powerful in Sathanuru switched over his winning spree from Kanakpura.

DK Shivakumar has not only been returning from this constituency but thanks to his clout with the party high command he has also ensured that his brother DK Suresh also became the Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency.

He began his political career at the age of 25 by becoming an MLA from Sathanuru in 1989.That’s only a beginning as he became a minister when he was barely 30.His close proximity with SM Krishna as chief minister catapulted him to the role of the latter’s Man Friday. So far he’s been elected for five terms from Sathanuru and Kanakapura. In a way DK Shivakumar’s entry to Kanakpura also paved the way for PGR Sindhiya’s exit from the same.

Perhaps this experience of providing shelter was acknowledged by the party high command which entrusted with him another such assignment to keep the 46 Gujarat Congress MLAs intact to ensure the election of Ahmed Patel, party treasurer to the Rajya Sabha. He did no mistake in fulfilling his responsibilities but that also led to the beginning of a series of IT raids on his houses, offices and other properties across the country.

He’s yet to come clean on the fallout of such raids but things like these have hardly made any change over his master control on the constituency. The party office in a new building is being refurbished in grand manner while the Janata Dal Secular party office has been housed in an old building lacking basic infrastructure.

On the face of it, the situation gives a rosy picture as if everything is well with DK Shivakumar’s candidature. According to the Janata Dal Sources, Shivakumar’s family organizes some or the other event throughout the year just to keep the voters in good humor.

Sometime back under the guise of ‘Sreenivas Kalyanotsava’ every household was presented a sari. Likewise presentations or prizes in the form of wristwatches, wall clocks, cookers and laptops make it to every voter on the list. The competitions’ include quizzes, Rangoli and what not.

Again JDS leaders confide: Don’t be under the impression that all these are provided by the minister’s family. They’ll have sponsors in the form of granite quarry owners, businessmen and similar patrons.

They also admit: It’s not that everyone’s happy here. People are scared to talk in open against their nefarious activities. They are tired about the atrocities being committed on all those who try to raise their voices.

There’s a big chunk of silent voters who if at all make up their mind can change the tables upside down. But that’s the million dollar question which’s less chances of being answered in the affirmative.

MAGADI: HC Balakrishna who’s with the Janata Dal Secular for long parted ways with other seven JDS MLAs after they were expelled from the party for violating the party whip during the Rajya Sabha elections. All of them ultimately resigned from the party and joined the ruling Congress which rewarded them with party tickets.

He first got elected on a BJP ticket during 1994 polls but lost the subsequent elections again as a BJP candidate in 1999.In between he joined the Janata Dal Secular and had been getting elected successively in the polls during 2004,2008 and 2013.

But now it’s a total above turn to him. Interestingly the whole Congress unit which had been vehemently opposing him has suddenly embraced wholesale the Janata Dal Secular which it had been fighting tooth and nail.

This change of party has changed the situation so much that the Congress party office has transformed itself into the Janata Dal Secular office while the Congress party office is yet under construction!

A Manjunath who had lost to HC Balakrishna as a Congress candidate in the previous elections is now the JDS opponent to the latter. Just like they say everything is fair in love and war HM Revanna, Transport minister who was all along a formidable rival to HC Balakrishna is now being compelled to canvass for him. While A. Manjunath who’s the JDS candidate now still regards HM Revanna as his political guru and has his portrait unveiled in the JDS office!

Caste is thicker than blood is not a new found belief in this country. But to witness it you should come to Ramnagar district as Bhairegowda, former panchayati member claims: We have voted for Janata Pariwar ever since we have started exercising our electoral franchise. Let anyone chop off our hands but we shall only vote for Devegowda’s party!

Compared to the overconfident mood in the JDS office, there’s lull in the Congress circles. However Firoz Pasha, former town municipality president becomes cool to pooh pooh all tall claims made by the JDS camp. To substantiate his argument he claims: Can any election be won by such sheer enthusiasm? Balakrishna sir has been the MLA for four terms and has contributed enough for the development of the constituency. DK Suresh, Lok Sabha member also has good relations with voters while social welfare schemes of the Siddaramaiah government will contribute in ensuring the Congress candidate’s win.

CHANNAPATNA: This constituency has been considered as the most sensitive, volatile and of high voltage among all the 224 Assembly constituencies of the state. HD Kumarswamy former chief minister is the JDS candidate here. He’s also the party candidate in the adjoining Ramnagar constituency as well. CP Yogeshwara, sitting MLA is the BJP candidate for the third time while HM Revanna the Transport minister is the ruling party candidate.

For CP Yogeshwara, parties hardly matter to him as has been evinced by his electoral conquests. He first won from here as an Independent candidate in 1999 and joined the Congress party and later was re-elected on the party ticket in 2004 and 2008.Following the BJP government coming to power he quit his seat to become a minister in 2008.However, in the subsequent by-elections he forfeited his seat as a BJP candidate to Ashwath MC of the Janata Dal Secular.

Then HD Kumarswamy had announced that Ashwath MC was a diamond. But the human ‘diamond’ in no time joined the ruling BJP and vacated his seat when HD Kumarswamy dubbed him as ‘Black Diamond’. CP Yogeshwara again retained his seat as a BJP candidate in the subsequent by-polls held in 2011.

But he quit the BJP and contested the seat as a candidate of Samajvadi party in 2013 and made it to the Assembly. So for CP Yogeshwara changing parties and still making it to the Assembly is not a big deal.

But this time around the ground situation however doesn’t seem to be as conducive as it used to be earlier in all the six previous elections held so far. For instance during the 2013 elections he just managed to register a win against Anitha Kumarswamy by defeating her by a margin of 6,464 votes.

HD Kumarswamy looks to be making all ditch efforts to avenge the defeat of his wife who had shifted to the constituency after completing one term in Madhugiri constituency of Tumakuru district.

He has now claimed: Ramnagar and Channapatna are like two eyes and there’s no way one can see only with one eye.

But those in CP Yogeshwara’s camp make fun of this claim: Where’s was this second eye while he was a chief minister. Was he blind then?

But if you ask those in the HDK’S camp as to which seat he’ll retain in the event of winning from both, they are not sure as the only utmost priority now is to see that CP Yogeshwara is defeated!

RAMANAGAR: The constituency has remained a Janata Dal Secular party bastion from 2004 onwards when HD Kumarswamy won from there for the first time. He was subsequently reelected during the 2008 and 2013 polls while the party got elected in the by-polls held in 2009.He triumphed last time by a margin of 25,398 votes.

Every now and then he keeps swearing in that Ramnagar is his political birth place and will never ever think of changing his constituency. But, he’s no rationale to contest the neighboring constituency Channapatna.

One thing which is a noteworthy factor in this Vokkaliga dominant district is irrespective of the parties the personalities matter and this time around there appears to be mutual war of all sorts and forms.

Hindusthan Samachar/Manohar Yadavatti