Denied ticket in bye-poll, BJP’s Sharath Bachegowda to stand as independent

Politics

Sharath was aspiring for a BJP ticket to contest the Hoskote bye-election, after the seat fell vacant with MTB Nagaraju’s resignation along with 16 other rebels.

Theja Ram

Rebellion in the Karnataka BJP unit took a new turn on Thursday with the party’s Yuva Morcha secretary and former candidate from the Hoskote segment filing his nomination papers as an independent. With hundreds of BJP party workers in tow, Sharath Bachegowda submitted his affidavit in Hoskote. Sharath Bachegowda was aspiring for a BJP ticket to contest the bye-election from Hoskote, after the seat fell vacant with MTB Nagaraju’s resignation along with 16 other rebels. Sharath is the son of veteran politician and Chikkaballapura MP BN Bachegowda, who defeated former Congress Chief Minister Veerappa Moily in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sharath began openly dissenting against the BJP in August this year, when Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his loyalists began lobbying for the disqualified MLAs. BN Bachegowda contested elections for the first time on a Janata New Party ticket and won the Hoskote seat in 1978. He won the elections from a Janata Party ticket in 1985, 1994 and 1999. A strong voice against the Congress party in Karnataka, Bachegowda solidified his political career in the Janata Party. However, he quit the JD(S) and joined the BJP in 2008 after a fallout with former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda. His embittered relationship with the JD(S) stemmed from Deve Gowda’s refusal to allow Bachegowda to rise up the party’s ranks. Bachegowda lost to Nagaraju, who had stepped in as the Congress’ face in Hoskote in 2004. Bachegowda lost to Nagaraju in 2013 as well. By defecting to the BJP, Bachegowda ensured that his son Sharath too would climb up the ranks in the BJP. Sharath went on to become the BJP Yuva Morcha secretary and began campaigning and working for his father in Hoskote soon after. In 2018, Sharath contested on a BJP ticket against Nagaraju and lost from the Hoskote segment. The Bachegowda family has for long been arch-rivals of Nagaraju, who was once considered a loyalist of Congress leader Siddaramaiah. Bachegowda senior and Siddaramaiah were once in the JD(S) and were competitors for the top posts in the party. The two leaders have never seen eye to eye. MTB Nagaraju’s closeness to Siddaramaiah had led the Bachegowda family to consider him their rival too. With the BJP now welcoming Nagaraju with open arms, it was a massive blow to Sharath, who decided to contest the bye-polls as an independent. Ironically, former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday announced that the JD(S) would support Sharath in his election campaign if he would accept the party’s help. Although Sharath is rebelling against his own party, his father – the incumbent MP from Chikkaballapura – has refused to campaign for his son. On November 2, Bachegowda told the media that his son had left home and was on his own. “My son is not coming home. We are living separately. My son is educated and intelligent. It is his decision to contest the poll and I will not intervene. I will not solicit votes for my son,” he had said. This set off massive speculations that the father-son duo was trying to wrest power in the region from MTB Nagaraju by playing the “divide and rule game”. “This situation is exactly like Mandya during the Lok Sabha polls. Sumalatha wanted a Congress ticket but she contested as an independent. But Congress workers supported her. In Hoskote, Sharath wanted a BJP ticket but the party did not give it to him. He is contesting as an independent and the BJP cadre is supporting him. Although Bachegowda is saying that he won’t support his son, no one is ready to believe it,” a BJP leader said. Congress sources say that Sharath’s rebellion would only give the party an edge in winning the Hoskote seat. The Congress has fielded Padmavati Suresh, wife of Hebbal MLA Byrathi Suresh, from Hoskote. The party has Siddaramaiah actively campaigning for Padmavati. “The infighting will benefit us. We are happy that Sharath Bachegowda is contesting as an independent as it will split the BJP’s votes,” the Congress leader said.    

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After denying hand in defections, BJP gives tickets to 13 disqualified MLAs for bye-polls

Politics

The first list of candidates released by the BJP included the names of 13 out of the 17 disqualified MLAs

Prajwal Bhat

After months of denying any hand in the defection of 17 Congress and JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka, the BJP on Thursday gave tickets to 13 disqualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs as in the upcoming bye-elections in the state.  The BJP announced that Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), Shrimant Patil (Kagwad), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Anand Singh (Vijayanagara), Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Pura), ST Somashekar (Yeshwanthpur), Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), MTB Nagaraj (Hosakote), Narayanagowda (KR Pet), and AH Vishwanath (Hunsur), would be the party's candidates in the bye-elections.  The first list of candidates released by the BJP included the names of 13 out of the 17 disqualified MLAs. The disqualification of the MLAs paved the way for the BJP to form the government in the state in July this year. In its second list released on Thursday afternoon, the BJP confirmed that former corporator Sharavana will contest from the Shivajinagar Assembly constituency. The party did not invite former Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig into its fold.  The BJP meanwhile is yet to announce candidates in Shivajinagar and Ranebennur constituencies.  On Thursday, 16 out of the 17 disqualified MLAs joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa. However, former Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig was not invited to join the party.  Former independent MLA from Ranebennur R Shankar was inducted into the BJP but his name does not figure in the first list of candidates announced by the party. The BJP needs to win six out of the 15 bye-elections to keep its majority in the Assembly. Following the elections, the strength of the Assembly will be 222 and the BJP needs to improve its current tally of 106 to 112.  The bye-elections in the Maski and RR Nagar constituencies are yet to be announced. Former MLAs Pratapgouda Patil and Muniratna are also disqualified from the Assembly but are yet to find out when bye-elections will be held in their constituencies.  The BJP's announcement comes on the day the JD(S) announced candidates for 10 constituencies and also confirmed that the party will support Sharath Bachegowda candidature in the Hosakote constituency. 

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BJP sweeps to victory in Mangaluru City Corporation polls

Politics

The Congress had managed to win six consecutive terms since 1983.

Harsha Raj Gatty

BJP MLAs Vedavyas Kamath and Bharath Shetty | Photograph via Apul Alva

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a clear majority winning 44 seats of the 60 wards in the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) polls. The Indian National Congress (INC) secured 14 seats and two other seats were won by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) candidates. The result is a turn-around from the 2013 polls, in which the Congress had secured 35 seats and the BJP had won only 20 seats. The coastal district in recent years has turned into a key bastion for BJP with wins in the state Assembly and Parliamentary elections. However since 1983, for six consecutive terms, Congress had secured a majority in the MCC, INC had formed an alliance with JD(S) post the 1997 MCC elections. The local polls had remained elusive to BJP except for a term between 2007 and 2013. Securing victory at MCC polls was seen as a significant milestone for BJP this year, given this is the home turf of BJP MP and party state President Nalin Kumar Kateel. Also, except Mangaluru constituency won by Congress legislator UT Khader, the BJP had won six of the seven legislative constituencies. The BJP selected 40 new faces for the MCC polls, among the notable BJP candidates were former Deputy Mayor Sumithra Kariya (Baikampady ward), Lokesh Bollaje Lokesh Bollaje (Katipalla East), Diwakar (Cantonment) Sudeer Shetty (Kodialbail), Premananda Shetty (Mangaladevi) have won polls, whereas its minority candidates Arshad (Kudroli), Asha D Silva (Falnir), Jessel D Souza (Bendoor) faced defeat in their respective wards. Meanwhile, among the Congress leaders; former Mayor of MCC, M Shashidhar Hegde and Bhaskar K retained their position at Derebail South and Padav east respectively. However the party's another former Mayor Harinath was defeated by BJP's Lohith Amin, incumbent Congress corporator from Kulai Prathibha Kulai also suffered a loss in Idya West. SDPI candidates Muneeb Bengare from Bengare and Shamshad Abubakkar from Katipalla were the only two who have secured the victory for their party. Former mayor Gulzar Banu, who contested independently after not receiving a ticket from the Congress party, lost the polls. Unlike in 2013, when the Janata Dal (Secular) had won two seats, and CPI (M) and Independent candidates had secured one seat each, none of their candidates managed to win this time. Speaking to the media following the result announcement, Mangaluru (South) MLA Vedavyas Kamath thanked voters for helping the BJP to win the polls and said that the party will work on immediate priorities such as online payment of bills and formation of ward committees. On the other hand, former MLA Mohiuddin Bava said that there was no anti-incumbency against the Congress, but the BJP secured its win due to the ongoing Ram Mandir issue. "Also, note that Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) still does not command the voters confidence," he said. In the polls, the Mangaluru city corporation witnessed 59.67% turnout which was significantly lower than the turnout of 63.33% in 2013. over 180 contestants were in the fray, it was for the first time that nearly 50% of the seats were reserved for women as per the Karnataka government notification in August 2018. Story by Story Infinity (Subs and Scribes Media Ventures LLP.)

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Bengaluru-bound GoAir flight misses runway, lands on grass

Accident

Severe fog conditions reportedly led to poor visibility at Kempegowda International Airport on Monday.

TNM Staff

Representational Image

In a near mishap, a GoAir flight arriving in Bengaluru from Nagpur landed just off the runway at the Kempegowda International Airport on Monday. The flight immediately took off again and landed on the runway in its second attempt. Flight G811 flight departed early Monday morning from Nagpur, and was set to reach Bengaluru at 7.15 am. Preliminary reports suggest that severe fog conditions in Bengaluru resulted in poor visibility, which led to the incident.  Passengers and crew on board did not report any serious injuries, sources said. Officials at the Kempegowda International Airport declined to comment on the incident, stating that only the airline and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have the authority to speak on the issue. DGCA has launched an inquiry into the matter. GoAir has not responded to request for comment. According to reports, the entire crew has been grounded. Fog conditions often affect flights scheduled at Bengaluru airport between November and February. In July, an Air India Express flight travelling from Delhi to Mangaluru veered off the taxiway and skid onto a patch of grass and mud at Mangalore International Airport. All 183 passengers and six crew members aboard the plane were safe. At the time, the Mangalore International Airport Director VV Rao told TNM, "The pilot, while attempting to land, could not establish a stable approach so the aircraft circled the runway and landed in the second attempt. He added, “The aircraft skid after the pilot was unable to control the speed while turning from the runway to the taxiway. The pilot has to slow down and turn into the taxiway. If the aircraft is fast, a 90-degree turn is not possible so it is because of speed this has happened."

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With influx of 16 Cong-JD(S) rebels, dissent brews within Karnataka BJP

Crime

The BJP leaders, who were hoping to get tickets to contest elections, are now unhappy about the rebel leaders joining the party, say sources.

Theja Ram

A day after the Supreme Court allowed Karnataka rebel leaders to contest the bye-polls slated to be held on December 5, the BJP inducted 16 of the 17 rebel leaders into the party. This move has given rise to rebellion within the party as BJP leaders, who were hoping to get tickets to contest elections, are now unhappy about the rebel leaders joining the party. BJP insiders say that former JD(S) President Adagooru H Vishwanath, former Athani MLA Mahesh Kumatahalli, and former Ranebennur MLA R Shankar alias Pendulum Shankar, are unlikely to get tickets to contest the elections. The Hunsur dilemma AH Vishwanath, JD(S) leaders say, had incurred a huge debt close to Rs 90 crore during the Karnataka Assembly elections held in 2018. Vishwanath, who was appointed as the JD(S) state president, had hoped to bag a ministry or the chairmanship of a board or corporation during the coalition’s regime. However, the JD(S) first family had kept him away from power. “Vishwanath had also asked Deve Gowda to help him with the debt but no one came to help him. He decided to help Ramesh Jarkiholi and join the BJP to ensure that his son gets a shot at entering politics,” the JD(S) leader said. BJP insiders say that former Channapattana MLA CP Yogeeshwar has been campaigning in Hunsur, Vishwanath’s stronghold, hoping to bag a ticket to contest elections. However, Vishwanath allegedly struck a deal with the BJP in exchange for tendering his resignation. BJP sources say that Vishwanath wanted his son Amit Devarahatti to get the ticket to contest the bye-elections. “The BJP ideally wants Vishwanath to contest. They don’t want his son. But Yogeeshwar is threatening to work against the party if he is not given the ticket,” the source said. Unhappy rebel leader in Athani Trouble is brewing for the BJP in Belagavi’s Athani as well as former MLA and Congress rebel Mahesh Kumatahalli is hoping to contest bye-polls on a BJP ticket. Party insiders say the high command is adamant that Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who was caught watching porn in the Assembly in 2012, will be given the ticket. The BJP is currently in talks with Mahesh Kumatahalli, where the party is offering to elect him as a Member of the Legislative Council and give him a ministerial portfolio or the chairmanship of a state-run board or corporation. “BL Santhosh wants Laxman Savadi to get the ticket. He was appointed as the Deputy CM after the high command decided that he would contest from Athani. Mahesh Kumatahalli is not happy about these developments,” the source said. Trouble for Pendulum Shankar Dissent is brewing in the BJP’s Ranebennur unit, where party loyalist Kantaraju, who had contested the Assembly elections on a party ticket in 2018, is unhappy about R Shankar’s entry into the BJP. BJP sources say that several BJP leaders are apprehensive about giving R Shankar a ticket as he has, on multiple occasions, proved to be unreliable, and prone to easily breaking his word. On the afternoon of May 15, 2013, R Shankar, the former KPJP MLA from Ranebennur, had announced that he would offer his support to the coalition. Just a day later, he announced that he would support the BJP and a day later, supported the coalition. Over the course of the 14-month coalition government, R Shankar withdrew his support for the coalition twice. Known as a party hopper, BJP loyalists do not want R Shankar to get the ticket. “BJP leaders, who have been with the party, are not happy about R Shankar being considered as the candidate. Several leaders have also requested the high command that R Shankar be kept away from contesting elections. The party was supposed to decide on the tickets yesterday (Wednesday) but many leaders are adamant that R Shankar be kept away. The leaders in Delhi will have to decide,” the source added.     

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After Bengaluru woman posts video alleging domestic violence, husband detained in UAE

Crime

The Indian Consulate in UAE has assured help to Jasmine Sultana.

TNM Staff

After a Bengaluru woman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took to Twitter to reveal the abuse against her at the hands of her husband, the police in Sharjah detained the man on Wednesday.  In the 10-second video on Twitter, 33-year-old Jasmine Sultana can be heard urging her parents to take her back to India, even as she spoke with blood trickling from her swollen eye. In the tweet, she identified her husband as Mohammed Khizar Ulla. “I have (been) assaulted badly by (my) husband. I want help,” she wrote. She has two boys, aged 5 and 17 months.  Required urgent help .....my name Jasmine sultana I live in UAE Sharjah my husband name is Mohammed khizar ulla ....I have assaulted badly by husband I want help ..... pic.twitter.com/ugp2E6tqm3 — Jasmine Sultana (@JasmineSultan18) November 12, 2019 The video till now has got more than 90,000 retweets. Speaking to Khaleej Times (KT), Jasmine said she wanted to thank Twitter and all those who showed support for her on the platform. She also said that she is relieved that her husband is in police custody. She said over the years, she was in an abusive marriage and was subjected to humiliation and violence.  “He assaulted me violently on Sunday night. He punched more on my eyes, twisted my hands, and hit me on my ribs, my neck and my head. I thought I would die," she told the newspaper and said she posted the video as she could not endure the abuse any further. She said she managed to post the video as soon as she could get hold of her phone, as her husband had disconnected the landline as well. He had held her captive so that she could not seek help. He took her to the hospital only when her five-year-old son would not stop crying on seeing his mother getting beaten.  Taking to Twitter, Sharjah police confirmed the arrest by the competent authorities but urged the public not to share the video further as it has negative repercussions among the community. As reported by KT, Jasmeen had married Khizar Ulla in 2013, when she was working as an HR professional in Bengaluru. This was her second marriage. She said that her husband started abusing her from day one but she endured it. She also said that he would call her as a “used woman” and steal all her jewellery, claiming her family did not give him enough dowry.  The Indian Consulate in UAE, which is also apprised of the situation, assured help to her. The woman continues to be in UAE as her husband has kept her passport.  "We et Jasmine and are in regular touch with her. We have called her husband to the consulate tomorrow, and understand that local authorities are already questioning him. We will provide all possible help to Jasmine," the Indian Consulate said on Twitter. We met Ms. Jasmine today and are in regular touch with her. We have called her husband to the Consulate tomorrow and understand that local authorities are already questioning him. We will provide all possible help to Ms. Jasmine. — India in Dubai (@cgidubai) November 13, 2019

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16 of 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs join BJP, Cong’s Roshan Baig missing

The BJP did not clarify if former Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig, had joined the party.

TNM Staff

Courtesy: Prajwal Bhat

Sixteen out of the total 17 disqualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs of the Karnataka Assembly joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday. This comes after the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday upheld their disqualifications but allowed them to contest in the bye-elections set to be held on December 5. All disqualified MLAs, with the exception of former Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig, were inducted into the BJP during a ceremony held at the party's office in Bengaluru. Fifteen constituencies will go to polls next month, with the exception of RR Nagar and Maski constituencies. The politicians were disqualified by the former Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in July. At the same time, the 17 MLAs with the exception of Shrimant Patil and R Shankar, approached the Speaker with resignation letters. The disqualifications of these MLAs paved the way for BJP to form the government in Karnataka in July. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld the disqualifications of the MLAs but allowed the MLAs to contest in the bye-elections. "The state of affairs in the previous government meant that we had to resign from the Assembly. We wholeheartedly welcome the chance to join the BJP and we will be doing everything to help our candidates in the upcoming elections", former Hunsur MLA AH Vishwanath said. The former MLAs who joined the BJP on Thursday are — Ramesh Jarkiholi, AH Vishwanath, Pratapgouda Patil, Shivaram Hebbar, BC Patil, Mahesh Kumathalli, Anand Singh, Sudhakar, Byrathi Basavaraj, ST Somashekar, Muniratna, Gopalaiah, Narayan Gowda, R Shankar, Shrimant Patil, and MTB Nagaraj. MTB Nagaraj was not present during the induction ceremony, but sources from the BJP confirmed that he had joined the party. Roshan Baig, another disqualified MLA, was conspicuous in his absence. BJP did not clarify if he had joined the party. Roshan is a seven-time legislator and a former minister in the Congress government. He resigned on July 10 from the Shivajinagar assembly segment in the centre of Bengaluru. The Congress had also suspended Baig on June 19 for his alleged anti-party activities, including criticism of the party's state leaders after the recent Lok Sabha elections in which the party was routed in Karnataka. A party communication on Wednesday left out Roshan's name from the list of disqualified MLAs inducted into the BJP. Despite this, Roshan Baig claimed that it was a typing error and that he was joining the BJP. Roshan is accused in the IMA scam which came to light in his constituency earlier this year.

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