BJP backs Sumalatha in Mandya: What it means for the Cong-JD(S) coalition

Lok Sabha 2019

BJP insiders say that the party's leaders in Mandya were unwilling to plunge into a battle they were bound to lose.

Theja Ram

With the BJP announcing that the party would back Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya for the Lok Sabha polls instead of fielding its own candidate, it is now a two-way fight in the region. Late on Saturday night, the BJP announced that it was officially backing Sumalatha, wife of late popular Sandalwood actor and former Congress MP Ambareesh, who decided to contest as an independent from the Mandya segment after the Congress refused her a ticket. BJP insiders say that the party's leaders in Mandya – Dr Siddaramaiah and former MLA Ashwath Narayana – were unwilling to plunge into a battle they were bound to lose. "We would have only split the votes in Mandya and this would have benefitted Nikhil Gowda. Our goal is to bring down the coalition in its own fortress. Sumalatha is a strong candidate in her own right. She has the ability and acumen to provide a tough fight. Since she refused to contest on a BJP ticket, it was better to back her and capitalise on the votes against JD(S) and Congress," a BJP source said. During the 2018 bye-polls, the BJP had won over two lakh votes in the Mandya region. A party which has never been able to win more than one lakh votes in the previous Parliamentary elections in Mandya, had won more than it expected. "Based on our calculation, the Vokkaliga votes will split. Anti-government votes, which comprise about 2.5 lakh votes, would be cast in favour of Sumalatha. The Ahinda votes (Kannada acronym for Adivasi, OBC and Minority) votes will be split, especially since several leaders representing Dalit and Adivasi groups are supporting Sumalatha. The anti-Congress votes will also be cast on her behalf. If BJP had put up a candidate, Sumalatha would have had a higher chance of losing. The main goal was to split the Vokkaliga votes," the BJP source added. Strange bedfellows support Sumalatha in Mandya Karnataka's Mandya region, known for its large population of Vokkaligas, has been a bastion of the JD(S) for decades now. The region is also known for its factional division based on whether one is a Congress or a JD(S) supporter. While the region is known for its Vokkaliga presence, Mandya also has about 70,000 Dalits, 30,000 Muslims and over 3,500 Christians. According to Census data, there are 3,83,594 Hindus in the district and of these, over two lakh voters belong to the Vokkaliga community. “One of the reasons why the area is a JD(S) bastion is because the Vokkaligas all voted for Deve Gowda. This is because the community has always been favoured by the JD(S) over other communities. The Vokkaligas will only vote for people who represent their caste and Sumalatha, a Vokkaliga herself, has now ensured that the JD(S)’s vote bank can be broken,” a Congress leader said. In addition to shaking up the caste equation, Sumalatha has amassed support from factions, which would never have come together otherwise. A section of Congress leaders, who were unhappy with the party’s decision to ally with the JD(S) broke away and have offered to support Sumalatha. The BJP, which has built up an anti-Congress identity, is now working together with certain Congress leaders to ensure Sumalatha’s victory. “During the 2018 bye-polls, the BJP, for the first time, won over two lakh votes. This was because of anti-incumbency. But most importantly, they got the backing of people who were against the coalition. If Sumalatha has to face the JD(S), which is pouring in a huge amount of money to ensure Nikhil Gowda wins, sometimes, rivals have to come together, especially if it’s beneficial,” a BJP source added.

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Dharwad building collapse: Seven corporation officials suspended for negligence

Crime

This comes days after an under-construction building in Dharwad collapsed. As of Saturday, the death toll was at 14 while roughly 60 people have been rescued.

TNM Staff

In the aftermath of the Dharwad building collapse tragedy, seven officials from the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have been suspended. Town Planning Officer Mukund Joshi, Town Planning Cell Assistant Director Ashok Gadag, Zonal Officer Prabhakar Doddmani, Executive Engineer V Sridhar, Assistant Executive Engineer Chandrappa, Town Planning Cell Deputy Director B V Hiremath and Assistant Commissioner (zone-3) Santosh Anishettar have been suspended and an inquiry is pending. Speaking to TNM, Minister of Urban Development UT Khader said, “The Deputy Commissioner will head a team that will probe the involvement of the Municipal Corporation Officials. A police investigation has led us to believe that there was negligence on behalf of these officials. Once a detailed probe report is received, the government will take action.” This comes days after an under construction building in Dharwad’s Kumareshwar Nagar collapsed, killing many and trapping several others in the rubble. As of Saturday, the death toll stood at 14 while roughly 60 people have been rescued. Several others were injured. NDRF personnel along with fire and rescue services were deployed to conduct the rescue. Police officials earlier told TNM that Gangappa Shintri, father-in-law of former Dharwad Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, and one of the owners of the building, had invested money to construct a commercial complex in the area. Gangappa, along with Vivek Pawar, the architect, and the other owners of the building, Ravi Basavaraj Sabarad, Basavaraj D Nigadi and Mahabaleshwar Puradagudi, surrendered to the police late on Thursday night. They were booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life) of the IPC. Police said the accused had sought anticipatory bail. In the meantime, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy reacted to the tragedy and stated that if any negligence or foul play was found on the part of any officials, strict action would be taken against them. 

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Tumkur Cong MP to contest against Deve Gowda as an independent

Lok Sabha 2019

As part of the pre-poll tie-up, the Congress is contesting from 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, while JD(S) gets eight seats including Tumkur.

IANS

Defying the pre-poll alliance between the ruling allies in Karnataka, sitting Congress Lok Sabha member SP Muddahanumegowda on Saturday dared to re-contest from Tumkur constituency from where JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda is contesting and filing nomination on Monday. "Though my party (Congress) conceded my constituency (Tumkur) to the JD(S) as part of the seat-sharing arrangement, I have decided to re-contest in response to the demand from thousands of my supporters and cadre," Muddahanumegowda told reporters in Kannada at Tumakuru, about 70km northwest of Bengaluru. As part of the pre-poll tie-up, the Congress is contesting from 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats across the southern state, leaving the remaining 8, including Tumkur to the JD(S) despite vociferous protests by the party's local leaders and cadres. "I will also file nomination on Monday as a Congress candidate from Tumkur again even if Deve Gowda files nomination as a JD-S candidate. In the event of my party not giving me B-form as its contestant, I will still be in the fray as an Independent," an agitated Muddahanumegowda said, adding he cannot let down his supporters at any cost. Accusing his party high command of going back on its word to allow all its nine outgoing or sitting LoK Sabha members to re-contest, the rebel MP said why he should be made a scapegoat when the party's other MPs were allowed to re-contest from their seats. In fact, with 9 wins in the 2014 parliamentary polls from the state, the Congress had the largest number of Lok Sabha members from Karnataka, accounting for 21 per cent of the 44 seats it won from across the country though lowest ever since the first general elections way back in 1951-52. The BJP won 17 and JD-S only 2 in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the state. Ironically, Deputy Chief Minister from the Congress G. Parameshwara, who hails from Tumkur district, is said to be backing Muddahanumegowda unofficially due to mounting pressure from the party's local leaders and cadres. "I hope my party leaders and the JD-S will understand the pulse of the voters and allow me to re-contest from Tumkur and re-allocate another parliamentary seat to the JD(S)," said an emotional Muddahanumegowda. Earlier in the evening, JD(S) spokesman Ramesh Babu said in a statement that former prime minister Deve Gowda would file his nomination on March 25 at the deputy commissioner's office at Tumkur as a joint candidate of the JD(S) Congress alliance. The 85-year-old Gowda has shifted his parliamentary constituency from Hassan, about 180km from Tumakuru, after representing it for a record six times since 1991 to pave way for his grandson Prajwal to contest in his place for the first time. Prajwal, the only son of Deve Gowda's second son and state PWD Minister HD Revanna, filed his nomination on March 22 from the Hassan parliamentary seat, which is the traditional bastion of the Gowda clan. Polling in Tumkur and Hassan will be held in the first phase on April 18 along with 12 other seats in the central and southern regions of the state. Polling in the remaining 14 seats in the coastal and northern regions will be held in the second phase on April 23. Vote count in all the 28 Lok Sabha seats across the state will be on May 23.  

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Two men arrested from Bengaluru airport with illegal drugs worth Rs 55 lakh

Crime

965 grams of Amphetamine, 30 grams of cocaine and 4.525 kg of hashish were seized

TNM Staff

Two people were arrested on Saturday from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport for trying to smuggle out illegal drugs worth Rs 55 lakhs. The two men were apprehended while they were trying to board a flight to Doha on Friday. The duo has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and is currently behind bars. Officials found 965 grams of Amphetamine, 30 grams of cocaine and 4.525 kg of hashish from their checked-in luggage, which was concealed inside a quilt and tiffin boxes. According to a press release, the Narcotics Control Bureau, Bangalore Zonal Unit on the basis of a tip-off, intercepted two Indian nationals at Kempegowda International Airport on Friday. One person, aged 29 years, is a resident of Kodagu in Karnataka and the other, aged 24 years, is a resident of Malappuram in Kerala. The market price of the contraband seized is around Rs 55 lakh, reported The Times of India. Quoting sources, TOI reported, ”Following information about large quantities of contraband being smuggled, we deployed our team in the departure area. The duo was intercepted in the security check area. Their answers raised suspicion. Their check-in bags were inspected.” According to the same sources, the accused from Kerala has been identified as Noushad Mannakkamvalli and the one from Karnataka has been identified as Muhammed Nousheer. While the Amphetamine and cocaine were concealed inside a quilt, the hashish was concealed in two tiffin boxes, which were further placed in two backpacks. According to the release, both of them were trying to smuggle out the contraband drugs to Doha in Qatar by Oman Airways. Authorities are now probing the source of these drugs and trying to nab the racket running these operations. The release further said Amphetamine addiction increases anxiety, bladder pain, bloody or cloudy urine, suspiciousness, unusual sense of well being, mental depression, nervousness etc. The most commonly reported side effects with amphetamine products include dry mouth, weight loss, abdominal pain, restlessness, dizziness etc.  

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Cong corporator accused of abetting Bengaluru Dalit lawyer’s suicide arrested from TN

Crime

Recently, the Karnataka High Court had pulled up the state police over the investigation in the case.

TNM Staff

Almost three months after the suicide of 25-year-old Dalit lawyer S Dharini in Bengaluru, the Criminal Investigation Department on Friday arrested Congress corporator V Suresh of A Narayanpura ward from Tamil Nadu. Suresh is among the seven accused who have been booked for abetment of suicide. The corporator was arrested from a resort in Tamil Nadu’s Salem on Saturday. According to police, he was produced before a magistrate at midnight and was sent to 14 days of judicial custody. So far, the CID has arrested nine people in connection in the case even as the Karnataka High Court is hearing a petition where the Advocate Association of Bengaluru has sought a CBI investigation, accusing the local Mahadevapura police of shielding the accused. The High Court in the latest observation had said that Dharini’s life could have been saved if the state police were proactive in taking action based on police complaint by Dharini. Dharini was found dead at her Vivekananda Street residence in A Narayanpura ward by her mother on New Year’s day earlier this year. According to the police complainant, Congress corporator V Suresh and his associates had disconnected water and electricity supply in her house. The complaint said that the corporator was pressurising the mother-daughter duo to give up the property. Prior to her death, Dharini and her mother had also filed a complaint against the corporator and his aides with Mahadevapura police but that did not help. She had even met Bengaluru City Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar in this regard.  Following her death, police have registered an FIR under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and abetment of suicide. While speaking to TNM, lawyers alleged that senior police officials were acting at the behest of the political leader and shielding him throughout, Whitefield DCP Abdul Ahad denied any wrongdoing on the part of the police. Read more: Days after suicide by Dalit lawyer, Bengaluru lawyers protest over alleged police apathy      

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Lok Sabha 2019: K’taka Congress announces first list of candidates, renominates 10 MPs

Lok Sabha 2019

The party has not yet announced its candidate for Bengaluru South and Dharwad and is reportedly waiting for the BJP’s candidate list.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka Congress on Sunday released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. With no surprises in store, the party has offered tickets to sitting MPs. The party has offered the Dakshina Kannada ticket to Mithun Rai, Youth Congress President of Dakshina Kannada, overlooking senior leaders like Ramanath Rai and Vinay Kumar Sorake. Party insiders say that Mithun Rai's nomination comes in the backdrop of the demand for a candidate from the Bunt community. "Leaders from the Christian community is not happy with this. They wanted some sort of representation and the party did not choose any candidate from the community. Besides, Instead of fielding a candidae from the Muslim Community in Bengaluru Central, they should have chosen one for Bidar," the source said.  The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Eshwar Khandre has been given the ticket to contest from Bidar, a BJP bastion since 1998. Former Minister and Former MP of Mysuru CH Vijayshankar has been given the ticket this time around and will be up against BJP's incumbent MP Pratap Simha. Senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge has been renominated from Kalaburgi. Veena Kashappanavar is the only woman candidate in Congress’s first list. The party has nominated Lingayat leader Shamnur Shivashankarappa as its candidate from Davangere. The octogenarian had earlier expressed skepticims over contesting polls owing to old age. The party was mulling over fieliding Shamnur's son SS Mallikarjun.  The party has not announced its candidate for Bengaluru South and Dharwad yet. Congress sources say that the party is waiting for the BJP to announce its candidate from Bengaluru South before making a decision. The BJP had initially announced Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, wife of late BJP Union Minister and five-time MP Ananth Kumar, as its candidate from the constituency. However, her name did not appear in the BJP's first list, which was announced on Friday night. Here is a first list of candidates: Chikkodi - Prakash Hukkeri Belagavi - Virupakshi Sadhunnavar Bagalkot - Veena Kashappanavar Kalaburgi - Mallikarjun Kharge Davangere - Shamnur Shivashankarappa Raichur - BV Naik Bidar - Eshwar Khandre Ballari - VS Ugrappa Haveri - DR  Patil Dakshina Kannada - Mithun Rai Chitradurga - BN Chandrappa Mysuru-Kodagu - CH Vijayshankar Bengaluru Rural - DK Suresh Bengaluru Central - Rizwan Arshad Kolar - KH Muniyappa Chamarajanagar - R Dhruvanarayana Chikkaballapura - Veerappa Moily  

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'Yeddyurappa diary': Income Tax Dept says document was forged

Yeddy Controversy

The forensic department had said that they could not investigate till the original of the document was found.

TNM Staff

The Director General and Inspector General of the Income Tax Department of Karnataka and Goa, KG Balakrishna, on Saturday said that photocopies of the handwritten diary allegedly belonging to BS Yeddyurappa, found at Congress Minister DK Shivakumar's during a raid was a forged document. Speaking to the media, KG Balakrishna said, "The documents were sent to the forensic lab in Hyderabad and they said that unless the original document is provided they cannot investigate. The pages, according to our investigation, was a forged document. The pages were given to us as an attempt to influence some other investigation and we did not succumb to it." He also said that the diary entries were loose pages tied together and that the entries were not statements of accounts, which were inadmissible as evidence in as per Supreme Court order. He, however, did not clarify whether the Income Tax department had tried to track down if there was any original copy of the document. He also said that the first page put out by Caravan magazine, which was alleged pay offs of Rs 150 crores to Karnataka MLAs and politicians, was not part of the documents they had seized. According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the documents were given to Income Tax Department Officials by Minister DK Shivakumar during a raid conducted at his residence in Bengaluru in August 2017. "They were a xerox copy of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Legislator's Diary pages of 2009 with details of numerical entries against some individual names. The original of these documents was never given,” the CBDT’s statement says. The CBDT claimed that when the I-T officials questioned DK Shivakumar the Minister had responded by saying the papers were copies of a diary, written by BS Yeddyurappa, and the payments paid on behalf of Yeddyurappa to legislators, leaders, MLAs, Union Ministers between 2008 and 2011. CBDT also said that DK Shivakumar had told the Income Tax officials that he did not inform the authorities about the photocopied papers as he could not ascertain the authenticity of the documents. The CBDT said they had subsequently questioned BS Yeddyurappa in November 2017 regarding the diary entries. Yedyurappa had allegedly provided the I-T officials with a copy of his handwriting. This sample along with the photocopied material was sent to the forensic science lab in Hyderabad. "The forensic report said that unless the original document is provided, the authenticity of the documents could not be ascertained," KG Balakrishna added. Both the CBDT's press release and the reaction provided by the DG and IG of the Income Tax Department, however, raise more questions than answers: Why did the Income Tax Department not investigate the matter completely? Why did DK Shivakumar keep these copies at home?

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