We have accepted defeat, says DK Shivakumar on Karnataka bye-polls

Karnataka Bye-polls

With the BJP set to win in at least 10 seats, if not more, the Karnataka government is likely to face zero threat.

TNM Staff

File photo

Following the counting day predictions that showed BJP leading in 12 out of 15 seats that went to polls, Congress leader and former minister DK Shivakumar in a press meet in Bengaluru said that his party has accepted defeat. The Congress party was hoping to come back to power through these elections. They focused their bye-elections campaign on the fact that the people were upset with their elected representatives rebelled just a year into their term, bringing down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. However, for now the status quo will remain in Karnataka. The result of the bye-elections is crucial for the four-month-old BJP government in Karnataka, as the ruling party requires at least seven wins in the bye-elections to have a simple majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, with 113 as the halfway mark. The BJP which currently has 106 members needs to win at least six more seats on Monday to stay in power. However, with the party looking to win in at least 10 seats, if not more, the government is likely to face zero threat. The Congress, too, has come to this conclusion. DK Shivakumar expressed shock on Monday morning as the results trickled in, saying that he had not expected this. However, he said, “If the people are giving a green signal for (the party) defectors then we accept that.” The coalition government of Congress and JD(S) fell as a result of 17 sitting MLAs resigning, which gave way to the BJP to set up the government. A Supreme Court verdict held that the defector candidates were not barred from going to polls. Following this, the BJP welcomed 16 of the defector candidates and gave them membership. Only Roshan Baig from the Shivajinagar constituency was denied membership.

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Narrow escape for family of four as their BMW car catches fire in Bengaluru

Fire Accident

Police are investigating the incident which took place on Saturday night at around 7.30 pm.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

It was a providential escape for four individuals of a family after their BMW car caught fire in Bengaluru. No injuries were reported in the incident which happened on Saturday.  Mohammed Irshad, a resident of Bagalagunte in Bengaluru, was travelling in his BMW 5 series along with his wife and two children, when a motorist passing by alerted him to smoke that was emanating from the back of the vehicle. Mohammed and his wife, who were seated in the front, were able to immediately get out, but the two children were stuck as the back doors weren’t opening. The two children were subsequently pulled out through the front doors minutes after which the car burst into flames. Traffic police in the vicinity and passersby stopped to help the family retrieve their belongings from the car. According to reports, the incident took place on Saturday night at around 7.30 pm near 8th Mile Cross in Bengaluru’s Peenya neighbourhood. A fire brigade was called to the location by the traffic police; they quickly put out the fire. As per reports, initial investigations revealed that the car had been parked in the family’s home for a long time and had not been used. The family was reportedly on their way to distribute blankets to poor people living on footpaths and bus stands. They had only driven for about a kilometre when the motorcyclist drew their attention to the smoke coming from the back of the car. Bagalagunte police are investigating the incident. It was in the last week of November that a woman from Hyderabad had died in Karnataka’s Bidar district after a car that she had been travelling in caught fire. The 39-year-old was travelling back to Hyderabad from Udgir in Maharashtra, when the incident occurred.

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LIVE BLOG: Results of Karnataka Bye-Elections 2019

Politics

The BJP needs to win at least six seats to stay in power.

TNM Staff

PTI/ File image

In what is a litmus test for rebel MLAs of the former Congress-JD(S) government and one which will also seal the fate of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, counting of votes for the December 5 bye-polls have begun. Bye-elections were held in Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapura, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijaynagara, Chickballapura, KR Pura, Yeshwanthpura, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagar, Hosakote, KR Pete and Hunsur Assembly seats. Except for Shivajinagar, in all the seats, the rebels have fought on a BJP ticket.  The result of the bye-elections is crucial for the four-month-old BJP government in Karnataka, as the rulingparty requires at least seven seats in the 224-member Assembly for a simple majority, with 112 as the halfway mark. The BJP which currently has 106 members needs to win at least six more seats on Monday to tay in power.  Around 67.9 % (26 lakh) of the 38 lakh voters cast their ballots in the 15 constituencies to fill the vacancies caused by the resignation of 14 Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and their subsequent disqualification by former Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar for defying their party whip. Follow live updates here: Note: Please disable your ad blocker if the blog is not loading      

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‘Kill the Bill’: Protest held in Bengaluru against NRC, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

Protest

The protestors contended that both these laws will destroy the secular foundations of this country.

Soumya Chatterjee

Scores of people, carrying placards and shouting slogans, gathered at Bengaluru’s Mysore Bank circle on Sunday afternoon to protest against the Centre’s move to bring in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). The protest was organised by a Bengaluru-based techie Ashok Koyi and members of the All India People’s Forum and other progressive groups also joined the demonstration. The protest comes after on Monday Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the NRC implemented across the country by 2024. Opposing the NRC and the CAB, the protestors contended both these laws will destroy the secular foundations of this country. They iterated that the Constitution of India guarantees equality before the law and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, which the CAB and NRC will violate this. Demanding that government withdraw both these bills immediately, several protesters likened the present ruling union government with ‘Nazi Germany’. They said by offering only non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan citizenship, this Bill blatantly ignores the plight of persecuted Muslim minorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sri Lankan Tamils, Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and many other persecuted communities in the region. Critics of the NRC, including former IAS officers and scholars, say while the NRC is anti-poor and against the migrant, tribal population, the CAB is unabashedly communal. Incidentally, in Assam, where the first such exercise was carried out, there were reports of retired soldiers being stripped off their citizenship due to lack of legacy documents. Speaking to TNM, Ashok said, “There is a narrative thrown at us that so-called illegal immigrants are exploiting our resources. Even if that is the case, NRC and such exercises is not the solution.” He asked, “If there is a rat in the house, do we burn the house down or find the rat? He stressed many people who have been living in India for generations do not have any documents other than ration cards, voter ID cards. “What is the need for a poor landless person to have other documents?” “So the only way for these people to exist for the current government is to bribe government officials or create fake documents,” he added. Safeer Asif, another protestor, said, “We should be careful of the people we elect. While the government is expected to work for the welfare of the people, it is giving unnecessary trouble to the people. When they say everybody else from other countries will be allowed and only Muslims will be rejected, is it not wrong? We call our country as Bharat Mata and we call all of us as sons of Bharat Mata, then why are we being discriminated against?”

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Rave party in Karnataka district raided by cops, 17 people arrested

Arrest

The organisers of the party allegedly distributed invites on Instagram in a private conversation and police believe that there may have been a supply of narcotics at the party.

TNM Staff

Image for representation/Pixabay

In the early hours of Sunday, police officials from Ramanagara station in Karnataka received a call from concerned villagers in Ramanagara stating that over 500 people had gathered at a mango grove on the outskirts of town. After receiving the call, the police officers from the station conducted a raid on the party at around 2.30 am. Individuals at the party attempted to run and escape upon seeing the police enter the premises, however, the police have managed to apprehend and arrest 17 of the organisers. According to reports, the police also seized liquor bottles, cameras and even a DJ music system from the party and are currently investigating to see if there had been any sale and/or use of drugs at the party. The organisers of the party were reportedly working as managers and HR professionals in Bengaluru companies and did not have the appropriate permission necessary to hold the party. They have been identified as Madhumitha, Puranik and Purohit. During the investigation of the culprits, police were able to ascertain that an entry fee ranging anywhere from Rs 3000 up to Rs 5000 was charged. The organisers had sent invites to the party via Instagram. The organisers had utilised the social media app to send invites to a private group. Police officials believe that there may have been a supply of narcotics at the rave party, the drug tests which have been administered so have returned negative and further investigations are underway. “Some of the people were from Tamil Nadu and Kerala while a majority of them are from the IT sector in Bengaluru. There were men and women at the party, the consumption of alcohol was high and the music was at a high volume,” the police reportedly stated.

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Karnataka bye-elections: Counting of votes for 15 Assembly seats begins

Politics

Around 67.9 per cent (26 lakh) of the 38 lakh voters cast their ballots in the 15 constituencies to fill the vacancies caused by the resignation of 17 coalition government members.

IANS

Image for representation

Votes polled in Karnataka's by-elections on December 5 in 15 Assembly constituencies will be counted on Monday and results would be declared by evening, an EC official said on Sunday. "Arrangements have been made for counting of votes in the 15 Assembly segments on Monday from 8:00 a.m. at 11 centres, including three in Bengaluru for four urban seats. Postal ballots will be counted first, followed by counting of votes in EVMs," Election Commission official G. Jadiyappa told IANS here. The results of the by-elections are crucial for the four-month-old BJP government in the southern state, as the ruling party requires at least seven seats in the 223-member Assembly for a simple majority, with 112 as the halfway mark. "Though trends will be available from 9-10 a.m., a clear picture of the votes polled will emerge post-noon and results will be declared after completing 20 rounds of vote count in each constituency," said Jadiyappa. Around 67.9 per cent (26 lakh) of the 38 lakh voters cast their ballots in the 15 constituencies to fill the vacancies caused by the resignation of 14 Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and their subsequent disqualification by former Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar for defying their party whip. Of the nearly 38 lakh voters in all the constituencies, around 26 lakh voted, with 8 of them in semi-urban and rural areas recording above 75 per cent and 4 seats in Bengaluru registering below 60 per cent. Hosakote in Bengaluru Rural district recorded the highest voting percentage of 90.90, followed by Chikkaballapur 86.84, Hunsur 80.59, K.R. Pete 80.52, Hirekerur 79.03, Yellapur 77.53, Kagwad 76.24 and Athani 75.37. Bypolls in two seats - Muski in Raichur district and R.R. Nagar in Bengaluru southwest were not held due to a litigation in the Karnataka High Court on their results in the May 2018 Assembly elections. The BJP and the opposition Congress contested in all the 15 Assembly seats, while the JD-S in 12 seats. BJP Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday claimed they would win the majority of seats.

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Priority for Kannadigas in blue collar jobs in private companies, says Karnataka govt

Jobs

The government is likely to come up with a legislation detailing on the percentage of reservation and detailed clauses soon.

Soumya Chatterjee

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In a move that’s a step closer to reservation, the BS Yediyurappa-led Karnataka government on Saturday passed a notification giving priority to Kannadigas for clerical and factory jobs in private companies. The state government is likely to come up with legislation detailing the percentage of reservation and detailed clauses. It had in November amended the Karnataka Industrial (Standing Orders) Rules, 1961 to make provisions for such reservation possible. In his Independence Day speech, Chief Minister Yediyurappa addressed the growing demands for reservation for locals in jobs, and assured a lion’s share of jobs for Kannadigas in Karnataka. However, the move has been mooted by past governments as well. In February, the then HD Kumaraswamy-led government had introduced recommendations made in the Sarojini Mahishi Committee report of 1986, to give 100% reservation for Kannadigas in Group C and D jobs in private establishments. The same proposal was also there in the 2017-18 state budget. However, after questions were raised by the Advocate General of the Karnataka High Court about whether the rule violates Article 19 of the Constitution, the recommendations were not enforced and jobs for Kannadigas were only made a priority. Applicants who believe that they have been wrongfully denied a job can now write to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district complaining about the company. If the charges are proved, the DC can issue a notice to the company and the government can revoke incentives or facilities given to the company. Information Technology/Biotechnology sector and other sectors that demand technical knowledge will be exempted from this change. The Sarojini Mahishi report prepared in 1986 recommended job reservations for Kannadigas in government jobs, public sector units and even in the private sector. Several of the 58 recommendations made in the report were implemented by the then state government and over the years, local organisations have demanded greater job opportunities for Kannadigas. Earlier in 2017, then Labour Minister Santosh Lad in the Siddaramaiah-government had said 100% reservations for Kannadigas in private companies could not be taken ahead as it violates constitutional provisions for reservations. Recently, the Andhra government became the first state to form such a law in the country wherein 75% jobs are reserved for locals in industrial units as well as factories established under public-private partnership mode. Under this policy, companies are also mandated to train locals with the state government’s support if they are unable to source skilled workers locally.

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