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Missile attack on Syrian airbase, US blamed

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An airbase in Syria’s Homs province was hit by “several missiles” in a “likely attack by the US” on Monday, according to state media reports.
The Tayfur airbase, also known as T4, is located in a strategic position between the cities of Homs and Palmyra, reports CNN.

Citing a military source, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said the attack had caused an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.

It said the airfield was targeted with several missiles. The Syrian air defence had responded and shot down eight incoming missiles, the agency added.

Video footage on social media in Lebanon showed aircraft or missiles flying low over the country, apparently heading east towards Syria.

However, the Pentagon has denied the Syrian claims of the airbase attack that comes hours after President Donald Trump tweeted “Animal Assad” would have a “big price to pay” for an alleged chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma.

“At this time, the Department of Defence is not conducting air strikes in Syria. However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable,” a Pentagon statement said early Monday.

On Sunday, Trump said there would be a “big price to pay” after the alleged chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held city of Douma, which the US blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a series of tweets, Trump also slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tehran, saying “Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad”.

It was not clear what retaliatory action Trump has in mind, but the issue is expected to be discussed at a “small group” meeting of the National Security Council on Monday, led by John Bolton on his first day as White House National Security Adviser, administration officials told CNN.

Last April, the US launched Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase after Washington and others accused Assad’s forces of perpetrating a deadly chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed 80 people, which the Syrian military denied.

In Saturday’s attack, toxic gas inside barrel bombs were dropped from helicopters over Douma that killed over 40 civilians.

Images showed people, including children, apparently dead and injured with some kind of spittle or foam in their mouths in makeshift medical centres.

The authenticity of the images could not be immediately confirmed.

Rahul Gandhi’s fast at Rajghat a ‘drama’: BJP

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The BJP on Monday hit out at the Congress for observing fasts across the country over alleged increase in atrocities on weaker sections under the Narendra Modi government and dubbed it a party “drama” to launch its President Rahul Gandhi.

Mysuru : AICC President Rahul Gandhi speaks during his Janashirvada Yatra in Srirangapatna town on Sundday. PTI Photo by Shailendra Bhojak(PTI3_25_2018_000158B)


As Rahul Gandhi reached the Rajghat in New Delhi to observe the fast as per his party’s call, the Bharatiya Janata Party reminded the Congress and its leadership of alleged “ill-treatment” of Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar by the party’s leaders, including then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“The Congress has been doing politics of appeasement of the Dalits since the times of Nehru ji. Today (Monday), they are doing a drama to launch party President Rahul Gandhi. The Congress can go to any extent to launch its leader,” BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra told media persons here.

Accusing the Congress chief of playing “divisive politics” ahead of the Assembly polls in Karnataka, the BJP leader said Rahul Gandhi cannot do away with the atrocities against the Dalits in the election-bound state as it was ruled by the Congress.

“In Gujarat, you (Congress) tried to divide the society in the name of the Patidars. You did the same thing in Haryana over the Jat reservation demand. In Madhya Pradesh, you went to Mandsaur to show solidarity with farmers while your leader was caught on camera provoking violence,” Patra said, accusing the Congress of using such occasions to “fast-track” to establish Rahul Gandhi as its leader.

“This is not fast — this is fast-tracking of Rahul Gandhi’s political career,” Patra said.

“Why doesn’t Rahul Gandhi sit on fast in Karnataka, where 9,080 cases of crimes against Dalits have been registered, 358 Dalits murdered and 809 Dalit women harassed under the Congress rule,” the BJP leader wondered.

“Why this double standards. Are Dalits of Karnataka not Dalits,” he asked.

Another BJP Spokesperson Bizay Sonkar Shastri dubbed Rahul Gandhi’s fast as “drama” to show solidarity with the Dalits and accused him of “vitiating” the atmosphere in the country after the March 20 Supreme Court order on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

“This is not Rahul Gandhi’s love for the Dalits. After spreading violence, he is doing the drama of non-violence,” he said while listing out the Centre’s steps for the welfare of SCs/STs.

“Ever since Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister, he has relentlessly been working for the welfare of the backward communities and that has the Congress worried,” Shastri said and urged the Dalits not to fall for what he called the Congress “propaganda”.

Earlier, the BJP on Sunday night issued a video clipping of Gandhi on social media and accused him of spreading “falsehood” about the said Act.

In the video, Rahul Gandhi is allegedly heard accusing the Modi government of diluting the SC/ST Act.

“Rahul Gandhi may choose to fast but should refrain from spreading falsehoods,” the BJP said in a tweet.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s order, the Congress is organising day-long fasts across the country on Monday to promote harmony between different sections of society and protest against the government’s alleged anti-Dalit policy.

(IANS)

Six cops suspended after father of woman who alleged rape by BJP MLA dies in police custody; probe ordered

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The father of a woman, who alleged that she was raped by a BJP MLA and his accomplice last year, has died allegedly in police custody following his arrest on Sunday, according to media reports. The woman had tried to commit suicide outside Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow on Sunday saying, no action has been taken against the accused yet.

Pappu Singh (50) was rushed to a hospital from the district jail Sunday night and died during treatment on Monday.

“The man was admitted to the hospital on Sunday night after he complained of abdominal pain and vomiting. He passed away in the early morning hours. He was admitted by the police,” a doctor of the District Hospital in Unnao was quoted as saying by ANI.

District Magistrate Ravi Kumar NG said that the postmortem examination of the victim would be conducted by a panel of doctors to ascertain the cause of death. He said that a probe had been ordered into the matter.

Pushpanjali Devi, SP, Unnao, told ANI that two police officers and four constables have been suspended following the incident. She also said that four people accused of beating the woman’s father have been arrested.

The woman alleged that she was raped in June last year by Kuldeep Singh Sengar, A BJP MLA of Unnao district’s Bangermau constituency.

She has also accused the Unnao police of not taking any action or registering a case on her complaint, Vijay Sen Singh, in-charge of the Gautam Palli police station, said.

The woman told ANI on Sunday that she has been going from pillar to post for the last year but, no one listened to her.

“I want all of them arrested. Otherwise, I will kill myself. I had even gone to the chief minister but, to no result. When we lodged an FIR, we were threatened,” she had said.

However, Sengar denied the allegations, saying it was a conspiracy to malign his image.

“It is a conspiracy hatched by my political opponents to tarnish my image and damage my reputation… I have no problems with any probe. Let a probe be conducted, and the guilty be given the stringent punishment. If I am found guilty in the probe, I am ready to face the punishment,” the BJP MLA told PTI.

The immolation bid had taken place outside the Golf Club gate of the chief minister’s residence. However, the police foiled it, Singh said.

BJP releases first list for Karnataka assembly election

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The BJP on Sunday released the first list of 72 candidates to contest in the May 12 Karnataka assembly elections for the 224 seats across the southern state.

“The central election committee of the party has decided the first 72 names for the ensuing Karnataka legislative assembly elections,” said the BJP in a statement released by its state unit here.

The committee met under the party’s national president Amit Shah and among its members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended it at the party’s head office in New Delhi.

Among the candidates are many of the party’s 48 sitting or outgoing legislators from the state’s northern, central and southern region, including Bengaluru, which has 28 assembly constituencies.

Prominent nominees are the party’s chief ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, K.S. Eshwarappa from Shivamogga, Jagadish Shettar from Hubli-Dharwad Central, Basavaraj Bommai from Shiggaon, C.M. Udasi from Hangal, K.V. Hegde from Sirsi and B. Sriramulu from Molakalmuru (reserved).

Of the 224 assembly segments across the state, 173 are general, 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Only three women figure among the 72 contestants – Sashikala Jolle from Nippani assembly segment in the state’s north-west region, Roopali Naik from Karwar in the coastal area and Poornima Srinivas from Hiriyur in central part.

Sashikala is re-contesting from the same seat, while Roopali is a former civic corporator in Bengaluru and Poornima is the party’s women wing’s secretary.

In the outgoing assembly, the BJP has 48 legislators, including four from the Karnataka Janata Party, a regional outfit, Yeddyurappa floated in December 2012 after he left the party owing to his removal as its first Chief Minister in the state following his indictment by the state ombudsman in the multi-crore mining scam that also rocked its first government in south India.

Sriramulu is the party’s Lok Sabha member from Bellari reserved (ST) constituency in the state’s northwest region, which has rich iron ore mines.

Among defectors who recently joined the party from the ruling Congress or the rival Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are Malikaiah Guttedar from Afzalpur and Subhash Guttedar from Aland in Kalaburgi district, Mallikarjun Khuba from Basavakalyan in Bidar district, B.S. Yatnal from Bijapur city in Vijayapura district and C.P. Yogishwar from Channapatna in Ramanagara district.

Yatnal, a former minister of state for railways in the Vajpayee government, re-joined the party ahead of the hustings.

Party’s former state ministers S. Suresh Kumar, V. Somanna and Arvind Limbavalli are among the contestants from Bengaluru seats.

(IANS)

Syria chemical attack: ‘It was like my lungs were shutting down’

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Survivors and activists share their stories of horror and shock after a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma.

By his third frantic dash down the stairs, with a wet piece of cloth over his mouth and a little girl in each arm, everything went dark for Khaled Abu Jaafar.

“I lost consciousness. I couldn’t breathe any more; it was like my lungs were shutting down,” recalled the resident of Douma, in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta.

“I woke up about 30 minutes later and they had undressed me and were washing my body with water,” Abu Jaafar told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “They were trying to make me vomit as my mouth was emitting a yellow substance.”

Abu Jaafar is one of the survivors struggling to cope with the effects of a chemical attack on Saturday in the besieged town of Douma, the last rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Rescue workers and medical staff have said at least 85 people were killed in the chlorine gas attack – an accusation dismissed by the Syrian government as “farcical”.

Among those killed, witnesses said, were many women and children who had sought refuge in the basements of buildings to escape heavy bombardment by pro-government forces.

Abu Jaafar, a radio station worker, said that as panicked residents started running around after the attack, he rushed to one of these hideouts to check on his friends and help get people out.

“While people were in the shelters, some on the roof managed to see the gas bombs as they dropped from the planes,” Abu Jaafar said, describing what he said was green gas emanating from the canisters falling from the sky.

“Those who saw them rushed to tell everyone in the basement to evacuate,” he added. “I went up and down the stairs about three times to help evacuate children from the building.”

Evacuation deals
The attack came on the second day of a fierce ground and air push by pro-government forces after a period of relative calm.

The Syrian army said the offensive was in response to deadly shelling by Jaish al-Islam, the last remaining opposition group in Eastern Ghouta, on residential areas in Damascus. Jaish al-Islam denied the allegation.

The group is currently in negotiations with the Russian army, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, over a possible evacuation deal, according to reports carried by state media and pro-Syrian opposition Orient TV.

Last week, two other rebel groups reached evacuation agreements with the Russians, which resulted in about 19,000 people leaving for the northern province of Idlib.

They included fighters from the Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham groups, their relatives and other locals.

Rebel groups argued that the evacuation amounts to forced displacement, but gave in after weeks of intense bombardment.

Meanwhile, remaining civilians continue to endure a bombing campaign and the effects of a crippling government siege that has been in place since 2013.

‘Unbearable scenes’
The chemical attack in Douma is the largest of its kind in Syria since April last year, when nerve agent sarin or a sarin-like substance was dropped onto the town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing at least 85 people.

Symptoms of a chlorine attack include dyspnea and coughing, as well as intensive irritation of the mucous membrane and breathing difficulties.

On Saturday evening, rescue workers posted videos on social media of people appearing to show symptoms consistent with a gas attack. Some appeared to have white foam around their mouths and noses.

Abu Jaafar said that those who did not manage to evacuate their shelters died instantly.

“There were basements in other buildings with people who didn’t see the gas in time. We entered those buildings and found bodies on the staircases and on the floor – they died while attempting to exit,” he said.

Although some Douma residents rushed to various medical points, a shortage of supplies and doctors meant that treatment options were limited.

Activists said that several of Douma’s clinics and ambulance teams had been hit during the bombardment campaign, largely disrupting the town’s medical assistance capacity.

When we arrived to the roof of the building I was helping at, I saw the lifeless bodies of a mother in her 50s, with two of her adult daughters and a child with their arms around each other, all foaming at the mouth
ALAA ABU YASSER

Local activist Alaa Abu Yasser was also among those who tried to help evacuate people.

“I went to a building where about 35 people had died as a result of this attack; the scenes I saw were unbearable, it’s like nothing I have ever seen even in the movies,” he told Al Jazeera, describing the aftermath of the attack.

“As I approached the building, a father was crying hysterically as he dragged his feet towards us carrying his two children … he was hugging them, smelling and kissing them after they suffocated to death,” Abu Yasser added.

Several witnesses speaking to Al Jazeera said that during a chemical attack it is common practice for people to rush to the top floors and on the roofs of buildings in a bid to avoid inhaling the gas that tends to “stick to the ground”.

“When we arrived to the roof of the building I was helping at, I saw the lifeless bodies of a mother in her 50s, with two of her adult daughters and a child with their arms around each other, all foaming at the mouth,” said Abu Yasser.

“I mostly saw bodies of women and children in three separate rooms; they’ve been placed there to isolate the smell of the gas from those who survived,” he added.

Although the White Helmets, a group of rescuers operating in opposition-held areas in Syria, and Syrian American Medical Society have given a death toll of at least 85, there are fears that the number of people killed in the attack could be higher.

“The rescue teams have not been able to document all the cases,” local activist Mansour Abu al-Khair told Al Jazeera. “They’re overwhelmed and cannot deal with the impact of the attack.”

He explained many of those who lost their lives were still under destroyed buildings and have not yet been pulled from the rubble.

“Others are instantly being buried by their families, so they aren’t accounted for in terms of registered numbers,” al-Khair said.

“We expect the death toll to surpass 100,” he added.

Aljazeera

Ambareesh’s silence leaves Congress confused

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MLA Ambareesh has not reacted to the due date given by K C Venugopal, the Congress in-charge for the state and this has left the Congress High Command in state of confusion. The due date lapsed on April 8.

As he was obvious by his nonattendance amid the visit of AICC president Rahul Gandhi to the state, the party high command asked that he illuminate his stand on challenging from Mandya constituency. There were gossipy tidbits that his wife Sumalatha and his nearby associates could challenge from Mandya. In any case, Ambareesh has kept up hush over the issue giving rise to guess works.

Around 500 of his supporters met him in Bengaluru and welcomed him to the region. In spite of this, Ambareesh did not issue statements which left the party confounded.

It is said that Ambareesh told his followers on Sunday that he would take an approach the issue by Monday. There are bits of gossip that Ambareesh hosts been requesting the party to hand more than five ‘B’ structures to him for five constituencies, excluding Malavalli and Nagamangala.

Rahul says Shah, Modi only 2 non-animals in country

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed BJP chief Amit Shah’s remarks equating the Opposition parties with animals, saying that the “disrespectful statement” reflected his “mentality” that considered Dalits, tribals, minorities and even his own party leaders “worthless”.

Mysuru : AICC President Rahul Gandhi speaks during his Janashirvada Yatra in Srirangapatna town on Sundday. PTI Photo by Shailendra Bhojak(PTI3_25_2018_000158B)


“Calling the entire Opposition animals…see according to Amit Shah and the basic vision of the BJP, RSS – there are only two non-animals in this country. There is Mr Narendra Modi and there is Mr Amit Shah,” Rahul told reporters here.

“Everybody else as far as they are concerned are animals. That’s fine, that is the way they look at the world. It is a disrespectful statement, but we don’t take what Mr Amit Shah says with too much seriousness,” he said.

Taking a swipe at Shah, the Congress chief said it was the mentality that there were only two or three people in this country “who are worth anything, who understand everything and everybody else is a worthless person”.

“It’s not only Dalits, it’s tribals, it’s minorities. It doesn’t stop there. It’s Mr Advani, Mr Manohar Joshi, even Mr Gadkari, it’s everybody. The thing is that the BJP people internally don’t have guts to say it to you. They say it to us,” he said.

At a rally in Mumbai to mark the BJP’s foundation day on Friday, Shah had equated Opposition parties to ‘snakes’ and mongoose’ and ‘dogs’ and ‘cats’, who are seeking to unite despite their inherent differences to take on the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Later, Shah said his intention was not to equate Opposition parties with animals.

Based on the information gathered from District Election Officers and Superintendent of Police, The following information on Model Code of Conduct violation and Law & Order enforcement is provided:

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Model Code of Conduct:
As on date there are 1156 Flying Squads and 1255 Static Surveillance Teams have been activated. Flying Squads and other Model Code of Conduct Teams constituted for the purpose of enforcement on Model Code of Conduct have cumulatively removed 12537 number of Wall Writing, 17693 numbers of posters and 7711 number of banners from public property and have lodged 06 Cases under Karnataka Open Places (Provisions of disfigurement) act 1981. From Private Property cumulatively 6866 number of Wall Writing, 7949 number of posters and 2543 number of banners were removed.
Further, Static Surveillance Teams have seized Cash worth
Rs.60,18,000/- and 01 vehicle in last 24 hours. Cumulatively, the Static Surveillance Teams have seized
Rs. 3,93,68,880/- cash, 4.5 litres of Liquor and vehicles & other items worth Rs. 1,18,66,272/-.
Further, Flying Squads Teams have seized Rs. 7,48,000/- Cash, dustbin, buckets , lunchbox about 300 types in godown in 1000 carton box valued Rs.8,00,00,000/-, 58.46 litres of Liquor worth Rs. 2396/-, house old articles worth 11 lakhs,24 mixer/grinder worth Rs.36,000/-, 03 vehicles worth Rs.6,05,850/- in last 24 hours. Cumulatively, the Flying Squads Teams have seized Rs.54 ,52,100/- cash, 328.925 litres of liquor, other items worth Rs.9,96,52,100/-, 22 vehicles worth
Rs. 82,96,560/-. Other Police authorities they have seized cash worth Rs. 7,00,000/- & 10 Sarees, 160 Laptops and 485 Litres of Liquor.

Cumulatively, Flying Squads, SSTs and other police authorities have seized Cash worth Rs. 4,55,20,980/-.

Flying Squad Teams & other Police authorities have booked FIRs in 32 Cases of Cash/other items related to seizure and other MCC related violations in the last 24 hours. Cumulatively, Flying Squads they have registered FIRs in 175 Cases. SSTs they have registered FIRs in 10 cases of Cash/other items related to seizure in last 24 hours. Cumulatively, Static Surveillance Teams have registered FIRs in 43 Cases.
While Excise department have seized 1,080.53 litres of IML & other liquor worth Rs. 4,62,835/- and booked 44 Heinous cases,
95 cases for Breach of Licence conditions and 116 cases under Section 15 (a) of Karnataka Excise act 1965 in last 24 hours. Cumulatively, 9257.642 litres of IML & other liquor worth
Rs. 40,96,908.20/- and booked 357 Heinous cases, 559 cases for Breach of Licence Conditions, 02 NDPS case and 944 cases under Section 15 (a) of Karnataka Excise act 1965. And also 137 different types of Vehicles have been seized.
LAW & ORDER:
1721 arms have been got deposited, licenses of 2 arms were cancelled, 994 persons were bounded over under preventive sections of CRPC, and 1851 Non-bailable warrants were executed, preventive sections of CRPC booked in 627 cases, 795 Nakas made operational in the last 24 hours. Cumulatively, 60648 arms have been got deposited since the date of enforcement of Model Code of Conduct and out of total 95,329 arms 91,925 arms have been deposited till date, 50 arms were impounded, 4 armed license have been cancelled, preventive sections of CRPC are booked in 9471 cases, 7576 persons were bounded over under preventive sections of CRPC and 15879 Non-bailable warrants were executed from the date of enforcement of elections.

Rohingya crisis: Supreme Court to hold final hearing on deportation of refugees today

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“As India has ratified the Convention, it will be the violation of Articles 2, 6, 7, 19, 20, 22, 31 and 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” the lawyer said.

FILE – In this June 24 2014, file photo, Rohingya children gather at the Dar Paing camp for Muslim refugees, north of Sittwe, western Rakhine state, Myanmar. Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the Somali-born student who carried out a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University on Monday, reported railed on his Facebook account against U.S. interference in countries with Muslim communities. But he specifically protested the killing of Muslims in Myanmar _ also known as Burma _ where the Rohingya ethnic minority faces discrimination and occasional violence from the Buddhist majority and the army and bureaucracy. The Rohingya draw occasional international attention when the violence against them becomes too large to ignore, or when they seek foreign shores as boatpeople in great numbers, but their plight is generally ignored. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)


The Supreme Court on Monday is likely to hear a petition related to deportation of Rohingya refugees who had fled the persecution in Myanmar last year. A top court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, will hear the matter wherein the Centre has questioned the credentials of the petitioners seeking to block the deportation of Rohingya refugees, saying the genesis of the PILs threaten to change the country’s demography and destabilise it.

Last month, a bench comprising Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had directed the Centre to file a comprehensive report on the conditions in Rohingya refugee camps across various states, particularly Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. The order came after senior advocate Colin Gonsalves claimed that the conditions at the camp are unhygienic and “filthiest to say the least”.

Appearing for petitioner Zaffar Ullah, Gonsalves said the poor and unhygienic conditions had led to several deaths of refugees living in these camps. The senior lawyer urged the apex court to direct the Centre and states to provide better hygienic facilities in these camps.

Earlier this year, the Centre had urged the top court to leave the issue of securing the country’s border to the executive. It also rejected charges that Border Security Force personnel are using “chilli and stun grenades” to turn away Rohingya refugees.

Responding to a petition filed by two Rohingya refugees who accused the BSF of using chilli and stun grenades to push back refugees at the border, the affidavit said the MHA had sought a report from the BSF following this and found that the charges were “false, incorrect and far from truth.” The MHA stated, “it is submitted that no such devices are used either as alleged or otherwise.”

In October last year, SC said the Rohingya refugee problem was of a “great magnitude” and the state would have to play a “big role” while dealing with the contentious issue.

PTI

BJP releases first list of 72 candidates; a look at top five candidates in fray : Karnataka Assembly Election 2018

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 72 candidates for the 12 May Karnataka Assembly Election on Sunday, which included prominent names such as the party’s chief ministerial face BS Yeddyurappa, veterans such as KS Eshwarappa, B Sreeramulu, and Jagadish Shettar among others.

The committee met under the party’s national president Amit Shah and among its members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the meeting at the party’s head office in New Delhi.

BS Yeddyurappa

The Karnataka BJP head and former chief minister is one of the only two Members of Parliament (MPs) who has been given a ticket to contest the state polls. He will be contesting from his home turf Shikaripura assembly constituency in Shivamogga district.

Projected as the party’s chief ministerial candidate, Yeddyurappa has been elected from Shikaripura to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for seven terms in the past. A prominent leader of the Lingayat community, the BJP state chief tried to float his own party, Karnataka Janata Party, prior to the 2013 Assembly polls but later joined hands with BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Recently, Yeddyurappa undertook a 75-day Parivartana Yatra covering a distance of around 6,000 kilometres to strengthen the party’s support base across the state. He was the first chief minister of Karnataka to spent 25 days in prison for corruption.

Speaking on calls for a separate Lingayat religion, Yeddyurappa told Firstpost, “BJP has never used religion or caste to win elections. We believe in nationalism. For us, everyone is a proud child of Mother India. About this Lingayat-Veerashaiva issue, BJP’s consistent stand has been that the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the entire community, should guide the society. We will go by that.”

KS Eshwarappa

In a crucial move, BJP has given KS Eshwarappa, Yeddyurappa’s arch rival, the ticket to contest from Shivamogga city assembly constituency. The move is seen as an attempt by the BJP top brass to put an end to the rift between the two leaders. Currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, party workers had expressed their discontent that if Eshwarappa was offered the ticket, BJP would be defeated, as was the case in the 2013 Assembly polls.

Eshwarappa is a Kuruba, but his influence in the community remains limited as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is a more popular leader among the Kurubas, backward castes and Dalits. A firm believer in Hindutva, he launched the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade in 2016, an organisation named after an 18th-century warrior to mobilise the backward castes, a move which was viewed by many party members as a way to create alternate centres of power with the BJP in the region.

Jagadish Shettar

A lawyer and Lingayat leader, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shivappa Shettar will be contesting from Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency. In 2008, he was elected to the Assembly for the fourth time from the constituency with a margin of 26,000 votes.

Earlier an activist with Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Shettar comes from a family that’s rooted in the erstwhile Jan Sangh. He is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. In March this year, Shettar condemned the Karnataka government’s move to recommend granting of minority religion status to the Lingayats and claimed Siddaramaiah did so to gain political mileage.

B Sreeramulu

The Ballari MP, known to be a close associate of the Reddy mining brothers, will contest the polls from Molakalmuru (reserved for Scheduled Tribe) constituency in Chitradurga district, marking a departure from his Ballari rural seat he has represented in the past.

According to Myneta.info, Sreeramulu has eight criminal cases pending against him including charges of bribery, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation. Like Yeddyurappa, he floated his own party BSR Congress before the 2013 Assembly polls but merged with the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and was among 17 BJP Lok Sabha members elected from Karnataka that year.

Known as a strong leader of the Valmiki Nayak community, Sreeramulu is a key participant in most of the core committee and strategy meetings of the party. He is also a prominent face seen at Modi’s rallies and is trusted by Yeddyurappa to win over the Scheduled Tribes vote bank in the state, according to this News18.

Even after Shah declared the party has nothing to do with mining baron Janardhan Reddy, Sreeramulu said, ““I can only say that Mr. Reddy is a staunch supporter of the BJP and is with the party.” The north Karnataka district of Ballari is known for its thousands-of-crores-worth illegal mining scam between 2007 and 2012, which forced Yeddyurappa to resign as chief minister in 2011.

R Ashoka

The BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Karnataka will be contesting from the Padmanabhanagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru (South). He currently represents the constituency, which comprises eight Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards, in the Vidhan Soudha. Being a Vokkaliga, it plays out in Ashoka’s favour as the Padmanabhanagar constituency has a sizeable population of Vokkaliga voters. The MLA is an RSS worker and has held the transport and health portfolios in the Karnataka state government in the past.

PTI

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