JD(S) leader blames Congress for ‘strains’ in Karnataka's coalition govt

Politics

Horatti had recently called for dissolution of Assembly and a mid-term poll in the state.

IANS

Ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) legislator Basavaraj Horatti on Tuesday blamed ally Congress for the strains in the functioning of their year-old coalition government. "A section of the Congress leadership has been interfering in the functioning of our government from day one and straining the relations between the alliance partners," he told reporters here. Horatti, a member of the Legislative Council and former minister, had recently favoured dissolution of Assembly and a mid-term poll, ending uncertainty over the survival of the coalition government, which has a slim majority in the house. "Instead of straining the ties further, it is better to dissolve the assembly and go for fresh polls as our party cannot be a mute witness to the dissident activity in the Congress affecting governance and day-to-day administration," he asserted. Horatti's diatribe against the Congress came hours after JD-S state President A.H. Vishwanth resigned from the post, owning moral responsibility for the rout the party faced in the recent Lok Sabha elections.  "Vishwanath's resignation is unfortunate but inevitable as party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy failed to rein in Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah from interfering in the government working and letting down the allies in winning more than one Lok Sabha seat each," Horatti alleged. Though the ruling allies fielded joint candidates - 21 Congress and 7 JD-S, they only won two seats with the JD(S) winning just one in Hassan. 

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‘Pay us our dues’: Karnataka sugarcane farmers launch fresh protests against factories

Protest

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy held talks with the protesting farmer leaders and promised to hold a meeting with district level officials on June 11.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday met with sugarcane farmers protesting against the state government over unpaid bills of sugar factories in the state. The protesting farmers had staged an agitation earlier on Tuesday outside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, highlighting 67 sugarcane factories in the state that were yet to pay for crushed cane procured from farmers. "We are here demanding the unpaid dues of factories for the last six months. The government has held meetings with factory owners but the payment is yet to be released," Kurubhara Shantakumar, president of the All India Sugarcane Growers Association told TNM. The Chief Minister, once again forced on the defensive by sugarcane farmers, hastened to set up a meeting with the farmer leaders and agreed to consult with district officials in a meeting on June 11. He further promised to settle the issue and ensure that the unpaid bills are paid to the farmers.  ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಹೆಚ್ ಡಿ ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಅವರು ಇಂದು ರೈತ ಸಂಘಟನೆಗಳ ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮಾತುಕತೆ ನಡೆಸಿದರು. ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಕಾರ್ಖಾನೆಗಳಿಂದ ಕಬ್ಬಿನ ಬಾಕಿ ಹಣ ಕೊಡಿಸುವಂತೆ ಆಗ್ರಹಿಸಿ ಪ್ರತಿಭಟನೆ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ರೈತ ಸಂಘಟನೆಗಳ ಒಕ್ಕೂಟದ ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮಾತುಕತೆ ನಡೆಸಿ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಯನ್ನು ಶೀಘ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಇತ್ಯರ್ಥ ಮಾಡುವ ಭರವಸೆ ನೀಡಿದರು. pic.twitter.com/ePefpVNbdg — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) June 4, 2019 In November 2018, sugarcane farmers stormed the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi protesting over the same issue. CM Kumaraswamy was later criticised for describing the protesting farmers as 'people pretending to be sugarcane farmers' which further angered the protesting farmers. The protests were backed by the BJP, the main opposition in Karnataka.  In the last few months, over 100 out of 175 taluks in Karnataka have been declared drought hit. The lack of pre-monsoon rainfall in the state has particularly affected sugarcane growers who are still waiting for their fixed remunerative prices to be paid by factories. The farmers are now exploring legal avenues to ensure that they receive their payment. For instance, in Mandya, over 100 sugarcane growers recently approached police officials with complaints against NSL Sugars and Chamundeshwari Sugar Mills demanding payment of over Rs 100 crore, Shantakumar adds. The farmers were persuaded by the police to drop their complaints and assured that their money would be paid.  The remunerative price to be paid for crushed cane is fixed at Rs 2612.5 per tonne. Sugar factories are also required to pay the price within 14 days of procuring the crushed cane, according to the Karnataka Sugarcane Act 2013. 

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Why some Congress leaders want Siddaramaiah out of state leadership

Politics

Sources say that the Congress High Command may clip Siddaramaiah’s wing within the party – however, this could lead to repercussions for the coalition in the state.

Theja Ram

The grim reality of poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections has hit the Congress and JD(S) hard in Karnataka, and has also raised questions of accountability of those in-charge. JD(S) State President Adagooru H Vishwanath resigned from his post on Tuesday, accepting moral responsibility for the party’s failure. However, Vishwanath placed the blame for the coalition’s failure squarely on former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s shoulder. And while Vishwanath was addressing the media at noon on Tuesday, another significant development in the state’s political scenario occurred parallelly. Former Karnataka Home Minister and a staunch Congress loyalist, Ramalinga Reddy openly accused the Congress leaders in-charge of the party and the coalition of greed. In a Facebook post, Ramalinga Reddy blamed state leaders of rendering veteran leaders powerless within the party. And he indirectly targeted Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao. “The inability to think about long-term repercussions, not taking into account the opinions of party veterans, and the placement of ineligible leaders as ministers and their inability to connect with the people are the main reasons why we lost the Lok Sabha elections in the state,” Ramalinga Reddy said. He also blamed the party leadership of allocating monumental responsibilities to newcomers, “with no knowledge about party affairs”, which he claims led to the party’s downfall. Reddy raised concerns about the inability of the leaders of the coordination committee (referring to Siddaramaiah) to quell the infighting and bring the leaders up to task. “Certain Congress leaders and party workers have no connect with each other. By neglecting the seniors and party workers, the cadre were not motivated to help win the elections and they have voiced their opinions with the veterans. If the party needs to buck up, ignoring seniors is not the way to go about it,” Ramalinga Reddy added. With this comment, Siddaramaiah is facing a full-blown revolt from veterans. Last week, veteran Congress veterans Kagodu Thimmappa, Motamma, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and SR Patil also accused Siddaramaiah, KC Venugopal, and Dinesh Gundu Rao for the party’s multiple failures. “Kagodu Thimmappa and Shamanur Shivashankarappa were against forging a coalition since the very beginning. They have been loyal to the party for decades and their opinions were not considered while forming the alliance. They blamed Siddaramaiah for the rebellion in the party cadre,” a Congress leader says. And with both AH Vishwanath and Ramalinga Reddy joining the bandwagon of leaders hassled with Siddaramaiah’s iron hold on party affairs, sources say that the High Command may be motivated to clip Siddaramaiah’s wings within the party. An unrivalled leader in the Congress, Siddaramaiah is also the most important and powerful one the Karnataka Congress has. Although the Congress leaders cannot remove Siddaramaiah from being in-charge of the party’s affairs in the state, sources say that the veterans are demanding that his responsibilities be reduced. Insiders in the grand old party are now pushing for uprooting Siddaramaiah from his post as the chief of the coalition’s co-ordination committee. Complaints about Siddaramaiah using the committee as his toy have been rolling in from both the Congress and JD(S) leaders. “They want Mallikarjun Kharge to replace Siddaramaiah as the co-ordination committee chief. If Kharge is the head, then the veterans will have a voice in the party. Siddaramaiah’s cronies will have to check their behavior and there may actually be a chance for the coalition to survive,” a senior Congress leader says. This could also backfire, the leader says, as there is a high possibility of Siddaramaiah orchestrating the break-up of the coalition in such a scenario. “He will ensure that at least 40 out of the 78 MLAs withdraw their support from the coalition. Right now, he wants to be the leader of the opposition and break away from the JD(S). Besides, AH Vishwamath may join the BJP and so will JD(S) leaders GT Devegowda, Narayana Gowda, HK Kumaraswamy and others. The BJP has not approached them but they will go and ask BJP for an offer soon,” the Congress leader claimed.    

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Mobile towers within 50 m of schools, hospitals illegal: New rules from Karnataka govt

Telecom

Telecom companies will be given three months to move existing towers that violate the rules, failing which action will be initiated against them.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka government has brought in the Telecommunication Infrastructure Towers Regulations, 2019 into effect as of 29 May, to prevent the mushrooming of mobile towers. According to the new rules, all mobile towers should be located at least 50 metres from schools, religious buildings, hospitals and a few other buildings. “All new mobile towers will have to follow these regulations while existing ones will have to be shifted if any violations are found. Telecom companies will get three months to move towers failing which action will be initiated against them,” said Urban Development Minister UT Khader, according to a Times of India report. Towers near rivers will need to be shifted 6 metres from the banks; by 5 metres near lakes and water tanks that are greater than 10 hectares in size; by 3 metres near lakes and water tanks that are lesser than 10 hectares in size, and by 5 metres from the defined boundaries of canals and storm water drains that are 10 metres in width. In residential areas, mobile towers can come up only on vacant land and there needs to be at least 3 metres of buffer zone around the tower. In case there are no empty lands, towers should be shifted to rooftops and positioned at least three metres from the edge of the building. The new regulations further add a fee for erecting towers along with stringent licensing procedures. Telecom companies will need to pay a fee of Rs 1 lakh to the BBMP per tower in Bengaluru. Similarly, telecom companies should pay municipal corporations, town panchayats and gram panchayats as the sanctioning authorities to install towers in other areas of the state. As per the new rules, telecom operators will also have to submit a set of documents, including the location, site plan, structural ability certificate, occupancy certificate, ownership document, lease agreement deed, and a no-objection certificate from the fire department. Of these, the site plan and occupancy certificate are vital. The new rules were deemed necessary after the BBMP found many mobile towers were built on unauthorised buildings. The BBMP estimates that there are 6,700 telecom towers in the city of which 5,500 are currently built on unauthorised or illegal buildings. The buildings were deemed illegal/unauthorised based on declarations made by the telecom companies themselves to the BBMP.

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Karnataka HC stays Bengaluru elevated corridor project again

Environment

Meanwhile, the HC has asked if the Steel Flyover case will be clubbed with this MPC case.

TNM Staff

File image of protest against elevated corridor

The Karnataka High Court has once again stayed the controversial elevated corridor project for Bengaluru spread over 100 km of roads divided into four stretches. The HC was hearing a case filed by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) and Citizen’s Action Forum (CAF) in 2014, pertaining to the functioning of the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC). The division bench headed by Chief Justice AS Oka and Justice Dinesh Kumar on Monday extended the stay till June 17 when the matter will be heard again. This means the Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) under the state Public Works Department, the implementing agency for the project cannot resume any work including the tendering process. The HC had earlier stayed the project during its last hearing of the case in April. Meanwhile, the state government has been asked to make submissions with regards to the formation and functioning of the MPC. The project is already facing stiff opposition as the project was okayed without due process and also because of the massive environmental and financial cost. While the project is pegged to cost Rs 30,000 crore, it will need at least 3,700 trees to be cut down. Vijayan Menon, a member of CAF, said, “The case has got nothing to do with the EC particularly. We have been saying that the state government have been planning a lot of big projects with the elevated corridor being one of them. Therefore, the state government has been barred from taking action on any such projects. So the stay has been extended.” He added, “The case has nothing to do with the merits or demerits of the elevated corridor project but about the due process.” Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the same bench, which was hearing the Steel Flyover case filed by NBF, asked if the case should be clubbed with the MPC case as the state government has scrapped the project. Responding to that, the government counsel sought time to receive directions. Background According to the 74th Constitutional Amendment, all town planning activities have to be done by the Metropolitan Planning Committee, of which two-thirds of the members have to be elected corporators. The petitioners had approached the court to direct the state government to ensure that all large scale projects like the elevated corridor are okayed only through the MPC followed by mandated public consultation processes. The same case had resulted in the scrapping of a proposed “expert committee” for the betterment of Bengaluru headed by former Infosys chief Narayana Murthy soon after HD Kumaraswamy became the CM for the second time.  

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Karnataka JD(S) president Vishwanath quits post, blames Siddaramaiah

Crime

The leader also said that the JD(S) ministers in Kumaraswamy’s cabinet are detached from the party and have not worked together to help build support for it.

Theja Ram

JD(S) leader Adagooru H Vishwanath on Tuesday resigned from his post as sate president of the party owing to the massive defeat the JD(S) suffered in the Lok Sabha elections. “I am resigning from my post as state president due to ethical reasons. HD Deve Gowda had appointed me as the president and given me the responsibility to ensure victory for the party. But we did not perform well,” AH Vishwanath told the media. The veteran politician and prominent Vokkaliga leader said that he had decided to resign from his post soon after the Lok Sabha election results were announced on May 23. The JD(S) won only a single seat (Hassan) and the election also witnessed the defeat of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in Tumakuru and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya. With the party desperately trying pin the blame on someone, Vishwanath became the sacrificial lamb. In his resignation letter to JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, Vishwanath wrote, “You placed immense trust in me when you appointed me as the state president of the JD(S), and this has been my biggest accomplishment. I had to quit the Congress party, which was where my political journey began, in order to retain my self-respect. In such turbulent times, you stood by my side and invited me into your party like a friend.” Vishwanath maintained that despite CM HD Kumaraswamy’s effort to waive farm loans, the government has not been able to deliver in various other departments. Vishwanath also said that the JD(S) ministers in Kumaraswamy’s cabinet are detached from the party and have not worked together to help build support for it. “Your defeat in the Lok Sabha elections has pained everyone in the party including me. We did request the Congress to allow you to contest from Mysuru, however, you were left with no choice but to contest from the Tumakuru segment and suffer defeat. Your defeat is a defeat for the entire state,” AH Vishwanath’s resignation letter states. He also said that the irresponsible statements made by local JD(S) leaders and party workers during the campaign in Mandya led to the defeat of Nikhil Kumaraswamy. The alliance with the Congress has only been a namesake. The coalition’s coordination committee has not been able to work in tandem with the requirements of both parties, Vishwanath said, while adding that it had become Siddaramaiah’s play toy. “As the state president of the JD(S), I was not even included in it. Dinesh Gundu Rao and my views were not considered in the coordination committee. We had no say in any decisions and Siddaramaiah is lording over it. It has become Siddaramaiah’s play toy. My only request is that I must be allowed to serve the people of Hunsur,” his letter adds. Vishwanath has been a vocal critic of former CM Siddaramaiah and had also, on multiple occasions, stated that the latter’s highhandedness would lead to defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. “Congress leaders must stop their mischievous attitude. They must stop trying to sabotage the coalition government. They can do all this politics in 2022, this is not the time. We had brought Siddaramaiah to Congress, we created a situation that made him the Chief Minister,” he said. Just two days ahead of his formal announcement, Vishwanath had complained about how he was sidelined during the selection of Lok Sabha candidates despite being the state president of the party. Last week he had also advised his party men to break away from being a party that supports only the Vokkaliga community. “Don’t treat a particular community with disdain, it is not good. Why do you think independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won the Lok Sabha poll from Mandya? She won because of her good nature and positive approach,” he had said.    

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Karnataka CM writes to PM Modi, demands Bharat Ratna for Shivakumara Swami

Politics

The revered seer who was also known as the “walking god” to his followers, passed away on January 21 after a series of hospitalisations

TNM Staff

File image

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the Bharat Ratna be posthumously conferred on late Siddaganga mutt seer Shivakumara Swami of Tumakuru. The revered seer who was also known as the “walking god” to his followers passed away on January 21 after a series of hospitalisations.  He was worshipped as the reincarnation of 12th century poet, philosopher and social reformer Basavanna, who founded the Lingayat religion. In his letter, the CM wrote, “Dr. Sivakumara Swamy has rendered remarkable service to the Society for over seven decades through philanthropy, education and spiritual activities. He has dedicated his life, with selfless devotion, to the betterment of humanity. Through his peerless contribution to education, he has created a large band of alumni who are making enormous contribution to the society in various walks of life.” “Dr. Sivakumara Swamiji's service to the people deserves recognition at the highest level through the award of Bharat Ratna. Innumerous memoranda have been received from all political parties and civilians, Institutions and Associations, to confer the title of "Bharatha Rathna" award,” he added. The CM’s demand however is not new as he has asked for the same on previous occasions. Speaking just two days ahead of the seer’s demise, the CM had said, "I had recommended Bharat Ratna for Swami in 2006 itself for his good work. If necessary, we will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant the award to Swami."  The same demand has been echoed by leaders of major political parties in the state including Lingayat strongman and BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa. The Lingayat seer was also the head of the Sree Siddaganga Education Society which runs about 125 educational institutions in the state -- from engineering colleges to business schools. Incidentally, the seer who has never been involved in the politics of the state, inadvertently became one of the greatest influencers of the state’s polity. Politicians cutting across party lines - from Prime Ministers to Chief Ministers and the who’s who in state politics would court the seer, especially in the run-up to elections, in an attempt to get his endorsement.          

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