Congress' Rizwan Arshad wins Shivajinagar, becomes MLA for the first time

Rizwan Arshad had lost twice in the parliamentary elections in Bengaluru Central. This is the first time he has contested Assembly bye-elections.

Soumya Chatterjee

Third time's the charm for 40-year-old Rizwan Arshad. An MLC since 2016, Rizwan is tasting his first success in electoral politics after being unsuccessful in his two previous attempts to win a Parliamentary seat from the Bangalore Central constituency. Soon after the victory, Rizwan Arshan tweeted a thank you to his constituents.  ಧನ್ಯವಾದ ಶಿವಾಜಿನಗರ! Thank you Shivajinagar! pic.twitter.com/aiBbWC5yIN — Rizwan Arshad (@ArshadRizwan) December 9, 2019 Rizwan who was formerly Youth Congress President of Karnataka, contested from the Shivajinagar assembly constituency vacated by former minister and veteran politician Roshan Baig.  "I had not expected the Congress to lose in so many segments. We had expectd to win in 6 to 7 segments. But the BJP has power and money and we all know how they go about with elections. We never expected this kind of defeat," Chamarajpet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan said.  With the BJP not willing to accommodate Roshan Baig, tained in the IMA ponzi scam, Rizwan faced A Saravana, a former corporator of the BJP and Tanveer Ahmed of the JD(S) as his prime competitors. At 1 pm, Rizwan aced past his nearest rival from the BJP by 15,924 votes. With this Rizwan became the only Congress candidate in Bengaluru to win the bye-polls.  In an interview with TNM in the run-up to the polls, Rizwan was upbeat about his prospects this time around stating that even though he lost in the Lok Sabha elections, he has always maintained a lead from the Shivajinagar areas. Prior to securing a Lok Sabha ticket, Rizwan was active in student politics. From being the General Secretary of the Karnataka unit of Congress-affiliated NSUI in 1998 to become the first elected president of Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress in 2011. In between, Rizwan had also held the position of National Secretary of the Indian Youth Congress before joining the electoral battle in 2014.    

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2rjUYpY
via IFTTT

JD(S) and Congress taught a lesson: PM Modi reacts to K'taka bye-polls

Election

"These parties will now have to bite the dust," the PM asserted.

PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the Congress of stealing people's mandate in Karnataka through back door, contending that the party has been taught a lesson in the just-concluded bypolls.   Addressing a poll meeting here, he said those that said the BJP has limited influence in southern part of the country were punished by the people in a democratic way.   "The Congress and its allies subverted the mandate in Karnataka, stabbed it in the back These parties will now have to bite the dust," he asserted.   The Congress, during its tenure in Karnataka, had no development agenda, he claimed.   "The bypolls results today showed that the voters have ensured that the Congress and the JD(S) don't get to stab them in the back again," he added.   The BJP has so far bagged four seats in Karnataka and was leading in eight others, as the B S Yediyurappa-led government appeared on course to sweep the bypolls in 15 constituencies.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2qxKsuE
via IFTTT

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.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2P2qEsL
via IFTTT

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.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2s5SETo
via IFTTT

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      

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2E1flLf
via IFTTT

‘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?”

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2RAuxGX
via IFTTT

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.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2P16FKY
via IFTTT