Byrathi Suresh's wife Padmavathi’s affidavit: Couple’s wealth grows by 8 cr in 18 months

Politics

We compared Congress MLA Byrathi Suresh’s affidavit filed in 2018, and his wife Padmavathi’s affidavit filed now.

Soumya Chatterjee

Congress’s candidate for the Hosakote bye-poll in Karnataka, Padmavathi, filed her affidavit on Sunday. Padmavathi is married to sitting Congress MLA Byrathi Suresh from Hebbal, and this is her first election. The couple’s wealth has grown by just short of Rs 8 crore in the last 18 months.  According to Election Commission rules, a candidate has to declare not just their own assets, but also those of their spouse. The sum of all the assets (moveable and unmoveable) owned by Padmavathi and her real estate tycoon husband Byrathi Suresh amount to a little over Rs 425.5 crore. The affidavit filed by the Hebbal MLA in 2018 had said their assets were worth Rs 416.7 crore. The couple bought two new cars in 2019, including a Mercedes Benz and a Mahindra SUV, both costing little less than Rs 1.2 crore in total. .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;} .tg th{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;} .tg .tg-rva0{background-color:#9a0000;color:#ffffff;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} Heads 2019 2018 DIFFERENCE cash in hand 246653 549095 -302442 deposits 9126158.41 8169929 956229.41 investments 10719600 10719600 0 loan given 98152469.8 100593737 -2441267.2 cars 31386111 25910472 5475639 jewellery 16720800 12584800 4136000 residential property 319106646 286537316 32569330 commercial property 1316609630 1279297960 37311670 non-agri land 2262875000 2262875000 0 agri land 180700000 180700000 0   4245643068 4167937909 77705159.21 tag and tag. The first one should be copied and put just before the tag of your website, while the latter (i.e. table code) should be placed in the desired location. Table themes As you probably noticed there is a select box "--Table theme--" in the toolbar which allows selecting a table theme from the predefined set. The generated CSS contains all the necessary colors etc. so that the table should look similar when you paste it to your website. © TablesGenerator.comAboutChangelog They also bought commercial building in HMT Layout with built up area of 9,400 sq ft, in June 2019, for Rs 3.7 crore. Another residential building bought in February in Ali Asker Road costs more than Rs 3.25 crore. Byrathi Suresh made news in January after he had apparently lent his Mercedes car to former CM SIddaramaiah. The car was allegedly given as quid pro quo by Suresh as he had then got the post of chairman of the Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation. SIddaramaiah, who was the chairman of the coordination committee between the JD(S) and Congress was touted to be the man to ensure that the chairmanship goes to Byrathi. However, the Congress including several others claimed it was a non-issue.  Speaking to TNM then, Byrathi  claimed, "It’s my car. It's the one I use to travel. It's registered under my wife's name. I did not gift it to Siddaramaiah. I only let him use it once. Is that wrong? Wouldn't you let your friends ride your car if they need to? It was not a gift. Please try to understand." Incidentally Padmavati will be contesting against MTB Nagaraj – a Congress rebel who has now joined the BJP.  Read: Karnataka rebel MLA MTB Nagaraj’s assets grew by Rs 185 crore in 18 months Making the fight triangular, BJP’s Yuva Morcha secretary and former candidate from Hosakote, Sharath Bachegowda, is contesting as an independent. The JD(S) is poised to support him. 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.

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In property, one commercial building in HMT Layout with built up area of 9400 sq ft bought in June 2019 costs Rs 3.7 crore. Another residential building bought in February in Ali Asker Road costs more than Rs 3.25 crore.

The addition in assets with jewellery, automobiles and deposits seem to have been cancelled by reduction in cash in hand and recovery/withdrawal of personal loans.

Incidentally Byrati who seemed to be accumulating the greater share of wealth among the couple. 

In January, he had made news after he had apparently lent his Mercedes car to former CM SIddaramaiah. The car was allegedly given as quid pro quo by Suresh as he had then got the post of chairman of the Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation.

SIddaramaiah, who was the chairman of the coordination committee between the JD(S) and Congress was touted to be the man to ensure that the chairmanship goes to Byrathi.

However, the Congress including several others claimed it was a non-issue. 

Speaking to TNM on Sunday, Byrathi  claimed, "It’s my car. It's the one I use to travel. It's registered under my wife's name. I did not gift it to Siddaramaiah. I only let him use it once. Is that wrong? Wouldn't you let your friends ride your car if they need to? It was not a gift. Please try to understand."

Then the BJP had  accused former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of accepting a 2019 Mercedes Benz sedan as a gift from Byrathi as a 

While for Nagaraj, 25.84% of the wealth gain can be attributed to six days in August  just a fortnight after he helped the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, it’s not easy to pinpoint such dramatic rise.

Incidentally Padmavati would be contesting against Nagaraj in the seat who has now been fielded by the BJP as earlier predicted.

Making the fight triangular, BJP’s Yuva Morcha secretary and former candidate from Hosakote will contest from the same seat as an independent. The JD(S) is poised to support him. 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.

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Sarjapur residents say ‘illegal’ ad panels posing threat to road safety

Civic

However, a private contractor denied the allegations and claimed they have not done anything wrong.

Soumya Chatterjee

The Karnataka High Court’s scrutiny has ensured that Bengaluru is free from illegal advertising panels including flex banners by and large – but this is not the case even just outside the city limits. Citizen activists in Sarjapur allege that contractors who have been awarded tenders by the local panchayats are putting up ad panels indiscriminately on the divider of the Sarjapur Road. Other than placing these ad panels, those putting the ad panels have uprooted trees planted by the local residents, activists allege. While activist group Voice of Sarjapur has raised the issue multiple times, and has gotten the PWD to write to local panchayats to take action against the people putting up these banners, activists say that this has not helped. Even if PWD officials remove these installations from dividers, they reappear soon on the Sarjapur road stretch from Carmelaram Station to Sarjapur Circle Road, they allege. Deepanjali Naik, a member of Voice of Sarjapura says, “In the pretext of cleaning the divider, all the plants have been removed which were planted as part of a citizen initiative to make the neighbourhood green.” When contacted, Durgappa, Superintendent Engineer, PWD acknowledged the problem and said that he has asked local level engineers to sort out the issue. Based on the compliant by the activists, police have registered a non-cognizable report against unnamed persons. However, one of the private contractors denied the allegations and claimed they have not done anything wrong. Garry Regan, Managing Partner of DS Ads, said, “We have done everything following the norms. We have the requisite permission from the authorities. We will counter them (the activists) legally.

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BS Yediyurappa violated poll code: KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao writes to EC

Politics

The KPCC letter states that referring to the rebel MLAs as ‘future ministers’ was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Soumya Chatterjee

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Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao has written to the Chief Election Commissioner of India seeking action against Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel and others over alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct. In his letter, the KPCC president stated that Yediyurappa referring to the rebel MLAs of the former JD(S)-Congress ruling coalition as “future ministers” was a violation of the poll code. It may be recalled that all 16 of the 17 rebels, barring Roshan Baig, who were instrumental in ending the HD Kumaraswamy-led government, were inducted into the BJP following the SC order that they can contest the bye-polls. The disqualification of the MLAs had paved the way for the BJP to form the government in the state in July this year. In his letter, the senior Congress leader said, “BS Yediyurappa described them as ‘future Ministers of Karnataka’ after bye election and also said that all promises made to them would be fulfilled. This statement is made by Sri BS Yediyurappa with a view to induce and to influence the voters of the above said assembly constituencies.” (sic) Incidentally, 13 out of the 17 MLAs have already been given tickets to the bye-polls from the seats they had won during the 2018 elections as part of Congress/JD(S). 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 Congress also took exception to Yediyurappa stating that the BJP will field not Roshan Baig but M Saravana from Shivajinagara to give representation to the Tamil speaking population. The letter also encloses media reports, in English and Kannada, confirming Yediyurappa’s statements. Seeking action from the EC, the state Congress chief wrote, “These acts of Sri BS Yediyurappa and of the above said candidates of BJP and other leaders of BJP are in violation of the provisions of section 171 of the Indian Penal Code, the Provision section of 123 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and of the Model Code of Conduct. They have made these acts/statement with an intention to induce and to influence of the voters of the above said assembly constituencies; which is nothing but corrupt practices committed by them which is punishable under the provision of section 171 A to F and Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, Section of the 125 of the Representative People Act 1951 and of the Model Code of Conduct. It is an offence committed by the said leader and the same is reported in the media at large. It is the duty of the Commission to take cognisance suo motu and to initiate action against the said persons.” Moreover, the KPCC president also pointed out that the BJP promising an MLC seat to independent MLA from Ranebennur, R Shankar, who was also disqualified, was also a violation of the model code of conduct which has been put in place since November 11.

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Two die in boiler blast accident at Bengaluru factory, police detain owner

Accident

The explosion has been attributed to the built-up pressure within the boiler as it was not operational for some time.

TNM Staff

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The police in Bengaluru have detained the owner of a textile washing and colouring unit in Peenya after two workers died when a boiler in the factory exploded on Friday night.  According to media reports, the deceased have been identified as Srikanta (40), also known as Kanti, a resident of Kamath Layout in Doddabidarakallu, and Ramesh (35), a native of Bihar. Kanti, who is a native of neighbouring Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district, had recently joined Santosh Kumar, the owner of the factory, as a business partner.  The factory unit — Phoenix Washtech Garments — is a few years old and was closed for a month due to maintenance work. The explosion has been attributed to the built-up pressure within the boiler as it was not operational for some time.  According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), N Shashikumar, the factory was set to resume operations again on Monday after the maintenance period. The mishap occurred when Kanti had gone near the boiler to check if the equipment was working properly.  Ramesh was also at the spot to unload some garments, which were sent for washing and colouring at the time of the explosion. Both of them died at the spot, police said.  Due to the impact of the explosion, even the walls and cement sheets of the factory were damaged. “We have detained Santosh Kumar, a resident of Peenya, for questioning and have taken a case of criminal negligence against him for allegedly failing to take precautionary measures to avoid hazardous incidents,” the Times of India quoted the police as saying. The Hindu reported that the boiler unit was unauthorised. Quoting TR Ramesh, Additional Director, Department of Factories, Boiler, Industrial Safety and Health, it said the washing unit was not authorised by the department and even the boiler was not registered.  The Labour Department officials reportedly said a criminal case will be registered against the factory owner.

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Rs 95 lakh cash, liquor and sarees seized in Karnataka poll code violation

Politics

Meanwhile, the Congress in Karnataka wrote to the EC to file a police complaint against the BJP candidate of Hunsur Assembly segment, where 30,000 sarees were seized.

TNM Staff

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Election Commission officials have seized Rs 95 lakh in cash, 66 litre of liquor valued at Rs 83,000 and 30,000 sarees for violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) in Karnataka's 15 Assembly segments where by-elections are scheduled for December 5, an official said on Saturday. "Our flying squads and surveillance teams with the help of the local police have seized Rs 95 lakh in cash, 66 litre of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), 30,000 sarees and other materials from political parties, their candidates and agents since November 11 when the poll code was reinforced ahead of the bypolls," the official said in a statement. In the last 24 hours, Rs 8 lakh in cash and liquor worth Rs 13,335 were seized from some of the constituencies. The poll panel has deployed 248 flying squads, 479 surveillance teams and MCC teams to strictly enforce he poll code in all the 15 Assembly segments, including five in Bengaluru, seven in the state's northwest region and two in the old Mysore region.  In Mysuru, the District Electoral Officer (DEO) seized about 30,000 sarees in 425 plastic bags, intended for distribution to women voters, along with pamphlets containing pictures of former BJP legislator CP Yogeshwar and other ruling party leaders from a godown that was raided in the city's Hebbal industrial area. Taking exception to the development, the Congress has written to the EC to initiate appropriate action. In a letter written to the EC, the Congress has said, “We also request you to kindly direct the respective police to file an FIR against CP Yogeshwar and BJP candidate of Hunsur Assembly Constituency. It is very clearly violating people's Representative Act 1951, under Section 123(1) read with IPC 171(B), 171(E), 171(F). Therefore an FIR against the said persons should be filed and a strict vigilance must be kept till the elections are over in and around Hunsur Assembly Constituency.”  It further alleged, “The present government is also threatening the poll officers and not allowing them to work freely. It is a very serious concern about free and fair elections in Karnataka. Please take more interest and strict action in conducting bye elections in Karnataka.”  Other than this the EC flying squads have registered 29 FIRs against poll code violators in the last six days. Though by-elections have been necessitated in 17 Assembly segments following the resignation of their legislators belonging to the Congress (14) and Janata Dal-Secular (3) in July, they are being held in 15 segments as bypolls in two seats have been withheld due to pending court cases. The bye-elections will be held in Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapura, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijayanagara, Chickballapura, K.R. Pura, Yeshwanthpura, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagara, Hosakote, K.R. Pete and Hunsur Assembly segments. Bypolls in Muski (Raichur district) and R.R. Nagar (Bengaluru southwest) have been withheld due to litigation in the Karnataka High Court over their results in the May 2018 Assembly elections. The counting of votes will take place on December 9. "In all, 169 people were detained under the preventive sections of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code), 882 arms were deposited, 37 non-bailable warrants were executed and 255 cases booked," the official said. (With IANS inputs)

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Congress names six more candidates for Karnataka bye-polls

Politics

The bye-elections have been necessitated in 17 assembly seats following the resignation of MLAs from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular).

IANS

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The opposition Congress on Saturday named six more candidates for contesting the 15 Assembly by-elections across Karnataka on December 5. "Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the names of the candidates for contesting the Karnataka assembly by-elections," Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik in a statement in New Delhi. The candidates are GB Mangasuli (Athani), BA Kage (Kagwad), Lakha Jarkiholi (Gokak), Venkatrao Ghorpade (Vijayanagara), Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagara) and KB Chandrashekar (KR Pet). The party had announced candidates for eight other Assembly segments on October 31. They are: Bhimmanna Naik (Yellapur), BH Bannikod (Hirekerur), KB Koliwad (Rannebennur), M Anjanappa (Chikkaballapur), M Narayanswamy (KR Pura), M. Shivaraj (Mahalakshmi Layout), Padmavathi Suresh (Hoskote) and H.P Manjunath (Hunsur). The Congress is yet to announce candidate for the Yeshwanthapura seat in Bengaluru north. The by-elections have been necessitated in 17 Assembly segments following the resignation of their legislators belonging to the Congress (14) and Janata Dal-Secular (3) in July. Elections have been withheld in two seats because of pending court cases Bypolls in Muski (Raichur district) and R.R. Nagar (Bengaluru southwest) have been withheld due to litigation in the Karnataka High Court over their results in the May 2018 Aassembly elections. The counting of votes will take place on December 9. The announcement from Congress comes after the JD(S) and BJP both released their first list of candidates on Thursday.  The announcements came just a  day after the Supreme Court decided that the rebel MLAs who resigned from the Congress-JD(S) ruling coalition can contest the bye-polls. Incidentally, all the rebel MLAs except Roshan Baig joined the BJP in presence of Chief Minister and former state president BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday. The BJP has allotted 13 seats to 13 of these rebels and is yet to announce its candidates in 2 seats.

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Residents of Bengaluru’s Haraluru stage protests against poor infrastructure

Civic Issues

Residents, including children, organised a march on the Haraluru Main Road, holding up placards highlighting bad roads and the large number of potholes in the area.

Prajwal Bhat

Hundreds of residents from areas like Haraluru, Silver County Road, Kudlu, Somasundrapalya, Mangamanapalya and HSR Layout Sector 2 in Bengaluru took to the streets on Saturday morning in protest against the lack of infrastructure and amenities in the area. Residents, including children, organised a march on the Haraluru Main Road, holding up placards highlighting bad roads and the large number of potholes in the area.  "A walk or drive through our locality will show the conditions we live in. Our elected representatives and officials have failed us. If they had done their job properly and had taken proactive steps to address our concerns long-standing concerns. We would not have been on the streets along with our children to raise our voices and demand our rights for a better locality and better living conditions," a letter by residents led by Ramakrishna Reddy, President of the Haraluru Somasundrapalya Residents Association says. In a detailed letter addressed to Bengaluru (Central) MP PC Mohan, Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavali, BBMP Corporator Asha Suresh, as well as civic officials working in Mahadevapura and Bellandur, the residents highlighted various issues related to road works, lake rejuvenation, garbage disposal, storm-water drains, safety and administration.  Their key demands included the widening of Haraluru Main Road, traffic signals on Birla Junction, flyover or underpass for Haraluru Road, functional streetlights in all internal roads, cleaning streets using mechanical sweepers, a ban on unauthorised digging of roads, ban on water tankers, and a skywalk on Sarjapura Road near Springfield apartment.  Residents also demanded diversion of sewage flowing into the Haraluru lake by constructing a separate sewage line, installation of CCTV cameras, cleaning and the de-silting of stormwater drains, among several other improvements.  Residents raised the lack of accountability among officials since these neighbourhoods fall under three different constituencies — Mahadevapura, Anekal and Bommanahalli. They also called for regular ward committee meetings and monthly meetings with officials and elected representatives.  The protest was organised by a collective of resident welfare associations and citizen groups in the area. The protests come just weeks after a similar protest by residents of Bengaluru's Mahadevapura for better roads and development of the IT hub in Bengaluru.    

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