A major fire broke out in an oil factory in Malur industrial area of Kolar district today.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

While workers suspected some people to be trapped inside, the factory management told police there was no loss of human lives.

“We have been able to contain 50 per cent of the fire”, said a police officer from Malur police station, adding no one has been able to go inside.

“The factory management says there were no workers. Hence, no casualties. Some others are saying that a few workers are trapped inside. We can talk about casualties only after going inside,” the police officer said.

Fire fighters were making all efforts to douse the fire.

Big drums of oil were exploding one after the other, making it difficult for fire fighters to venture closer to the factory, police sources said.

Any tie-up between the Congress and the JD(S) could be disastrous for both even if they manage to decimate the BJP in half of Karnataka.

The day dates for Karnataka Assembly elections were declared, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked the Congress to ally with former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular).

Speaking to the media, she had said, “Deve Gowda is a nice person. The Congress should go with him to defeat the BJP.”
A few hours before Mamata’s “nice man” certificate, Gowda had himself offered an olive branch to the Congress, saying he was ready for a tie-up. Before that, some well-known public personalities, led by 100-year-old Gandhian HS Doreswamy, had met Gowda and requested him to help the Congress and others defeat the BJP, which they called a “communal party”.

Minutes after his 85-year-old father’s offer of support to the Congress, ex-chief minister HD Kumaraswamy took on the Congress, categorically denying the possibility of any pact with the Congress.

An hour later, Gowda, too, did a U-turn, saying he was not interested in doing business with the Congress. All through these developments, the Grand Old Party, surprisingly, has kept quiet.

According to political analysts in Karnataka, Banerjee is not aware of the ground scenario in the state and a tie-up with the ruling Congress is impossible as both parties are in a direct fight with each other in at least 60-70 seats.

Any tie-up between the Congress and the JD(S) could be disastrous for both even if they manage to decimate the BJP in half of Karnataka. That’s because party cadre on the ground don’t see eye to eye in their respective strongholds and many may move to the BJP.

Contrary to popular belief that Karnataka is a three-party state, the Congress is the only party which is in contest in all 224 seats. The main opposition BJP is strong in about 160 seats and the JD(S) is in contention in about 70-80 seats.

In Old Mysore region, a JD(S) stronghold except state capital Bengaluru, it is more or less a direct fight between the Congress and the Gowdas. In the rest of Karnataka, the fight is between the Congress and the BJP. Only in 25-30 seats is the contest a triangular one. In such a scenario, an electoral understanding between the Congress and JD(S) would be politically not viable.

Both Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah are openly attacking the JD(S), calling it a ‘B’ team of the BJP. During his last two visits to Gowda strongholds of Hassan, Mandya and Mysore, Gandhi ridiculed the JD(S) saying the ‘S’ in JD (S) stands for ‘Sangh Parivar’ and not for ‘Secular’.

By branding JD(S) a ‘B’ team of the BJP, Siddaramaiah is trying to ensure that Muslim votes and non-BJP, non-Congress votes don’t go to the JD(S).

Offering support to the Congress also gives Gowda an excuse to go with the BJP if the elections result in hung verdict. The Congress vs Gowda war of words over alleged pact with the BJP has even embarrassed saffron party leaders. Commenting on the allegations, BJP state unit chief BS Yeddyurappa said his party was going to win 150 seats on its own and there was “no need” for an alliance with the JD(S).

Attacking the Narendra Modi government over its alleged failure to fulfil promises made to Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday accused it of playing with people’s sentiments.

“You are playing with people’s sentiments. It may give you temporary political benefits, but will cause permanent damage to the nation. We may differ in politics, but if it causes damage to the nation, it is not good,” the Andhra Pradesh CM said.
Making a suo-motu statement in the Assembly on the all-party meeting held on Tuesday, the CM flayed the Modi government, vis-à-vis fulfilment of the promises made to AP post-bifurcation.
“The Centre cannot arm twist the states. It cannot happen and we will not let it happen,” he asserted.
The Chief Minister displayed video clips of Modi’s speeches, made on different occasions, promising not only to honour the promises made in the AP Reorganisa- tion Act, 2014 but also ‘do much more’ to the state.
Chandrababu questioned if it was co-operative federalism or Team India spirit to not honour promises made to a state.
The Prime Minister owed an explanation to five crore people of Andhra Pradesh on this, he said, adding the centre “cannot discriminate between states.”
Noting that he had called for peaceful protests, seeking justice from the Centre, CM Naidu said the Centre would be happy if there was any violence “because it does not want Andhra Pradesh to develop”.

Ruling NDA ally Shiv Sena on Thursday questioned the “neutral or unbiased” functioning of the Election Commission after the Karnataka Assembly elections date allegedly leaked out before the official announcement.

“It was felt the ECI would remain neutral or unbiased. The country had already lost faith in ECI following the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) controversy. After the Karnataka episode, the bare minimum trust in ECI has vanished,” the Sena said.

An editorial in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ and ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana’ said: “Some Amit Malaviya of the BJP IT Cell announced the Karnataka poll dates (May 12) and punctured the ECI’s scheduled press conference where it was to be officially declared. What does this mean?”

When T.N. Seshan was the Chief Election Commissioner, he had shown that the poll panel had a ‘spine’. But before and after him, that backbone was missing, it said.

The reason for this is the persons heading the Election Commission were joining politics, were appointed to to Rajya Sabha, become ministers or Governors. Ditto was the case with judges of the Supreme Court or High Court chief justices.

“This is no sign of neutrality. These are the rewards for ’tilting the scales’ when in authority. Right from the ECI to the courts now, suspicions are being raised on people who are appointed, with preference being given to candidates from a particular state. Its detrimental to the country’s integrity,” the Sena said.

“After this government has taken over, it has been imposing like-minded persons without capabilities on the country’s legal machinery, education sector and the election departments, playing havoc with their credibility,” the Sena pointed out.

“Demonetisation was a total flop as it failed to unearth black money and the Reserve Bank Of India Governor’s credibility was finished. But as the (demonetization) news had already leaked out, industrialists and politicians managed to successfully convert several tonnes of Rs 500-Rs 1,000 bundles to white while the common man suffered,” the Sena said.

(IANS)

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday listed the various information leaks that have come to light recently. From the Facebook data breach by a UK firm to influence election campaigns to Karnataka election date leaks and CBSE questions papers’ leaks, the Congress leader said there’s leak everywhere and that the country’s “chowkidar” (watchman) — read PM Modi — is “weak”.

After news surfaced that UK data firm Cambridge Analytica was involved in harvesting data to influence US presidential elections, it was found out that the firm has worked in India in the past. As per Cambridge Analytica’s website, its services were used in the Bihar Assembly Elections in 2010 and the India partner of CA’s parent company allegedly worked with three political parties – BJP, Congress and JD(U).

The Union Law Ministry on Thursday consented to the Social Justice Ministry’s proposal to challenge the Supreme Court’s recent order on the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities (Prevention) Act, 1989, sources told The Indian Express. The Dalit MPs in the NDA have been mounting pressure on the government to file a review petition against the ruling.

The apex court, on March 20, observed “instances of abuse” of the Act by “vested interests” for political or personal reasons. In light of this, the SC laid down stringent safeguards, including provisions for anticipatory bail and a “preliminary enquiry” before registering a case under the Act.
Read | In Uttar Pradesh, a BJP Dalit MP speaks up: We need to save Constitution, Bahujans
“To avoid false implication of an innocent, a preliminary enquiry may be conducted by the DSP concerned to find out whether the allegations make out a case under the Atrocities Act and that the allegations are not frivolous or motivated,” ruled a bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit.
A delegation of Dalit MPs had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday to discuss the judgment and voice their concerns. Following the meeting, Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale had stated, “The PM said the government is in the process of filing a review petition once the Law Ministry finishes studying the matter. Our government is doing the most work for welfare of Dalits, unlike other governments who were all talk.”
Express Explained | Rising pendency, falling convictions: what data on SC/ST Act trials show
The BJP has more than three dozen SC MPs.
Athawale’s Republican Party of India (A) – a BJP ally – meanwhile is filing its own review petition in the SC to challenge the judgment. “…our lawyers feel we should take a stand as a party. In the review petition, we will state that it was after detailed discussions in Parliament that offences under this Act were made non-bailable. By diluting it, atrocities against Dalits will increase,” the Dalit leader from Maharashtra had said.