Akhilesh threatens to quit INDIA over BSP

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s seemingly unprovoked outburst at the December 19 INDIA meeting over the possible inclusion of Bahujan Samaj Party in the opposition grouping left most of the attendees shocked. Akhilesh had announced at the meeting that his party would quit INDIA if the Bahujan Samaj Party was brought on board. He said he has heard that a move is afoot to rope in Mayawati.

The leaders of opposition parties present in the meeting were surprised by the SP chief’s comments as there has been no discussion on the induction of the BSP in any of the four meetings of the group held so far. According to sources, Akhilesh feels that a powerful section of the Congress is keen to ally with the BSP in Uttar Pradesh and it is only a matter of time before the induction of the party in the opposition group is proposed. His statement at the meeting was an attempt to pre-empt any such proposal.

Mayawati, who has kept away from both the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, was quick to remind the opposition leaders that “no one knows who might need whom in the future for the sake of the public and the country”. Directly targeting Akhilesh Yadav, she said parties that make such statements may face embarrassment later. Mayawati’s quick response to Akhilesh’s outburst is being seen as her readiness to do business with the opposition. The main battle for the 2024 elections is likely to be fought in Uttar Pradesh with both the ruling and opposition parties preparing to pull out all the stops.

Cong to reopen talks with Prashant Kishor

The Congress is likely to restart talks with poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor. The earlier talks between the two had broken down as Kishor wanted a position next to the Congress president with a free hand to manage all elections for the party. The party refused to accept his proposal as it would have rendered the entire party structure powerless with all powers, including selecting state presidents, conducting surveys and choosing candidates, going to Kishor.

But the situation has now changed with Kishor confining himself to Bihar, where the Congress has no leader of repute. According to sources, Congress leadership has expressed interest in working with Kishor in Bihar for the next Lok Sabha election. Kishor too has indicated his readiness by announcing that he is closer to the ideology of the Congress than that of any other party. Sources said that the newly-appointed Congress incharge of Bihar Mohan Prakash is likely to be asked to start discussions with Kishor.

Congress leaders did not rule out the possibility of fielding Kishor as an opposition alliance candidate in the Lok Sabha elections from Bihar. Congress also plans to use Kishor’s services to manage the party’s campaign in the next general election. His former deputy Sunil Kanugolu has delivered stellar results for the party in the Karnataka and Telangana assembly elections. This has reaffirmed the party’s faith in professional poll managers. Kishor and Kanugolu are likely to handle Congress campaign in the next election.

BENGALURU/BELAGAVI/BAGALKOT/KALABURAGI:  Even as the state government is on alert over the increasing number of Covid cases, Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) plants that generate medical grade oxygen to treat critical Covid patients are not working in different parts of the state.

Despite spending at least Rs 1 crore on each unit about 3-4 years ago, when the pandemic was at its peak, they are now in a sad state of disrepair, lying unused in most government hospitals. The state has 50 such units and the total cost spent on it was over Rs 150 crore.

They said, “But there is a problem with human resources, especially the technical and paramedical staff, across the health delivery system. During peak Covid, the state government recruited paramedical staff in large numbers, but removed them when the number of cases started coming down and none has been maintained since.”

Venkatesh Nayak, Director, of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Delhi who obtained information through an RTI from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told The New Indian Express, “Studies have revealed that the oxygen PSA plants are not always in a proper functional condition. The government must publish real-time data about the preparedness of these oxygen generation facilities in all hospitals, particularly now when there is a scare of the new COVID-19 variant JN.1 spreading rapidly. The transactions of the Prime Minister Cares Fund are most opaque of all such public charitable trusts because the government has refused to bring the fund under RTI which has been challenged.”

When contacted, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil told The New Indian Express, “I had a video conference with our officers two days ago on the same issue. I asked them for a status report on the plants to find out if they are functioning effectively. Our interest is to see that they are functional and we will see to it that they are all perfectly operational.’’  

Top sources in the Health Department claimed that oxygen plants set up in Belagavi, Bagalkot and Kalaburagi districts are functional and can be put to effective use if the situation arises. However, when asked if they can demonstrate the units’ effective functioning on Monday, the authorities said they can do it only on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: As the year approaches its end, the wrestling saga has culminated with the elections of the Wrestling Federation of India on Thursday. It took just over eleven months but the results, however, was not as sweet for the protesting wrestlers.

Even as supporters of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh shouted slogans and burst firecrackers at his residence which serves as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) office, to celebrate their victory in the elections, less than two kilometres from there one of India’s most decorated woman wrestlers announced her retirement.

staunch supporter of Brij Bhushan, was elected the WFI president after securing 40 out of 47 votes to beat Anita Sheoran, a former CWG medallist. Teary-eyed Sakshi Malik, the lone woman wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal to date, placed her shoes on the table while announcing her decision at the Press Club of India.

She along with Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and multiple World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat were the face of the protest against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan on sexual harassment charges and mismanagement.

“We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide has been elected as the president of WFI, then I quit wrestling,” Sakshi told reporters with Bajrang and Vinesh in her company.

“We wanted a female president but that did not happen,” the 31-year-old said. Unable to control her emotions, a sobbing Sakshi left the venue soon after. The announcement marked an end to her illustrious career of more than a decade wherein she bagged bronze in the 2016 Rio Games apart from winning medals of all colours at the Commonwealth Games. The gold came last year when she made a dramatic comeback in the final, which also turned out to be her last international outing.

Bajrang felt let down by the government. “It’s unfortunate that government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI elections,” he said during the press conference. As far as the elections were concerned, the faction of Brij Bhushan, who was ineligible to contest as he had completed three full tenures, won 13 out of 15 posts. As was reported by this daily in July, a compromise formula was devised apparently at the behest of the union government as candidates from other faction — Prem Chand Lochab, former secretary of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), and Devender Kadyan, a hotelier from Haryana — won the elections for secretary general and senior vice-president’s posts respectively.

Hours later, the newly-elected body cancelled all the decisions taken by the ad hoc committee. Kadiyan, who later attended the meeting, said he and Lochab have been apprised of the move and they support them. The formation of the new executive committee also paved the way for lifting the suspension of the WFI by United World Wrestling, the world governing body.

Sanjay, a close associate of the outgoing WFI chief became the new President with his panel winning 13 of the 15 posts in the elections — a result that expectedly brought disappointment for the top three wrestlers — Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia — who had aggressively pushed for a change of guard at the federation.

The top wrestlers had early this year, launched an agitation against Brij Bhushan who they had accused of sexually exploiting women wrestlers.

The matter is in court.

Winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games was the highlight of Sakshi’s 13-year-old career in which she won three CWG medals, including gold in the 2022 edition and four Asian Championship medals.

The Haryana wrestler, though, was struggling on the mat before the latest CWG edition and had conceded her spot in the national team to young Sonam Malik, who beat her during the national selection trials a number of times.

Sakshi appeared to be getting back her form during the 2022 Birmingham Games but it may be mentioned that the level of competition at the CWG is pretty weak as wrestlers from powerhouses Japan and Iran do not compete there.

Olympic medallists Punia and Phogat also addressed the media.

“It’s unfortunate that the government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI elections,” rued Bajrang and added that he is not sure if he will continue to pursue competitive wrestling.

The wrestlers had managed to mobilise huge support from different sections of society during their protest but the agitation fizzled out the day they planned a march towards the new Parliament building on May 28 when Delhi police removed all the protesters from Jantar Mantar for rioting.

The wrestlers had officially called off their protest on June 7 when Sports Minister Anurag Thakur assured them that none of the family members or close associates of Brij Bhushan would be allowed to enter the WFI election fray.

“With Sanjay Singh becoming president, I don’t think women wrestlers will get justice because back door politics is still on to break their resolve. About 15-20 girls met with the sports minister and told him about the exploitation and today they are down to just six and they too are being coerced to pull out,” alleged Bajrang.

Bajrang said the ministry has gone back on its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist would be allowed to contest the elections.

“Following our protest in January, an oversight committee was formed by the ministry. Several female wrestlers had deposed before the panel, following which the sports minister said in front of the media that any person associated with Brij Bhushan would not enter the WFI. We waited for the outcome of the oversight committee for three months before starting the protest again. We were fighting for the truth and honour of our sisters and daughters,” said 29-year-old Bajrang.

The Tokyo Games bronze winner said it was a long-drawn battle and 2-3 generations might have to suffer before getting justice.

“The fight we have fought, I feel the next one or two generations will have to continue the fight to get justice. We fought with full strength but the promise the government had made, it could not stand firm on that. Very sad to say that,” he added.

BENGALURU:  AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge’s name being proposed as the Prime Minister face of opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc is likely to put Congress under pressure to win more seats in the Lok Sabha elections next year.

A cautious Congress is now likely not to experiment with new faces, but field old warhorses to ensure better winning chances. Heavyweights, including ministers, could be asked to contest the polls to shore up the numbers and ensure Kharge a better chance if the results, if at all, swing INDIA way.

The Congress now has a lone MP DK Suresh, representing Bengaluru Rural constituency, out of 28 seats in the state. It is aiming at 20 seats with the advantage of it being in power.

Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna has voluntarily offered to be the Tumakuru candidate. The party could ask PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi to contest from Belagavi, Social Welfare Minister Dr HC Mahadevappa from Chamarajanagar, Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa from Kolar, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre from Bidar, former minister Shivaram Hebbar — if he quits BJP and returns to Congress, MLC Saleem Ahmed from Haveri and Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yathindra from Mysuru-Kodagu.

Mahadevappa has proposed his son Sunil Bose’s name, while Muniyappa wants his daughter and KGF MLA Rupakala Shashidhar to be made a minister if he contests the polls, sources said.

The party plans to field H Anjaneya from Chitradurga, Ramanatha Rai from Dakshina Kannada and state Backward Classes Commission Chairman K Jayaprakasha Hegde from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, the sources said.

“Though Kharge’s name has not been formally proposed, it is still a matter of pride for all Kannadigas as he is the tallest leader from the state,” said Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundurao.

It is interesting to see if Kharge, who is now a Rajya Sabha member, will contest from the Kalaburagi seat, which he lost in 2019, as he will be busy with the party campaign at the national level, a political analyst said.

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU/BAGALKOT: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the country’s airports and other vital establishments, will soon take over the security of the Parliament building complex. Sources said the CISF will conduct a comprehensive survey of the entire complex from Friday to assess the security measures in place. 

The CISF will be in charge of access control to the new and old Parliament complex. Entry will be subject to frisking and screening with hand-held detectors, and personal belongings will be checked through X-ray machines. Sources said shoes, heavy jackets, and belts may also be scanned. Earlier, frisking of visitors to Parliament complex was done by Delhi Police. 

“The plan is to ensure 100% security to both the new and old Parliament complexes and all other subsidiary buildings through a comprehensive security cover by the CISF, which will also have the existing elements of Parliament Security Service, the Delhi Police, and the Parliament Duty Group of the CRPF,” said a source.

Trained CISF commandos will be deployed for frisking and spotting suspects. Meanwhile, Delhi Police sleuths have detained a software engineer from Karnataka’s Bagalkot for questioning in the December 13 Parliament breach case. Sai Krishna Jagali, 30, son of a retired DySP, is a friend of D Manoranjan, one of the accused. His name was found in Manoranjan’s diary.

Bagalkot Superintendent of Police Amarnath Reddy said Sai Krishna was picked up from his house in Bagalkot on Wednesday night. He has not been arrested so far. On Thursday, a Delhi court extended the police custody of the four accused — Manoranjan, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad — till January 5.