3 held while trying to sell drugs among students; ganja worth Rs 10 lakah seized

Bengaluru, Jan 2: The Congress leadership in Delhi is expected to start the process of selecting a new party chief for Karnataka next week. There are strong indications the race has narrowed to DK Shivakumar and MB Patil.

Party insiders said the leadership almost finalised Shivakumar’s name as the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), but the decision was put on hold after requests by some senior members.

“It’s not that we are against Shivakumar. We think the party should have a Lingayat at the helm since community strongman and chief minister BS Yediyurappa is at the fag end of his long political career. There’s an opportunity here for a Congressman to occupy that space,” said a senior Congress politician, who didn’t want to be named.

That’s where the candidacy of Patil, a Lingayat, scores high.

The party, however, doesn’t want to compromise on quality and wants an efficient KPCC president who can unite two rival factions within the party, one led by Siddaramaiah and another by former union minister KH Muniyappa.

The need to pick a new state president arose after Dinesh Gundurao resigned from the post last month, taking moral responsibility for Congress’s poor showing in the byelections. Siddaramaiah also stood down as Congress party legislature leader.

The insiders said the new KPCC chief could be announced after January 16. The party might also appoint two working presidents and a new legislature party leader, who will automatically become the opposition’s voice in the assembly.

For the latter position, the name of senior Dalit politician and former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara is doing the rounds. But the party, the sources said, could still ask Siddaramaiah to reconsider his decision and stay on.

Many Congress members had raised questions over his stewardship after the bypoll disappointment. They said on his watch, the party had also fared badly in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections, demanding that he be held accountable.

Siddaramaiah is expected to visit Delhi next week to discuss the leadership issue with party boss Sonia Gandhi. Some other senior Congress members, including BK Hariprasad, are also likely to meet her.

Yadgir, Jan 21: A bag was found abandoned at the Yadgir Bus Stand on Tuesday morning that left the commuters in panic.

After receiving the information, a police team, along with a sniffer dog, rushed to the spot. When the bag was checked, the police found clothes and cash in it.

It is stated that a passenger might have left the bag in a hurry to catch the bus.

Udupi, Mar 24: Four people, including two women, suspected to have infected with Coron were admitted to the hospitals in Udupi district

According to the District Administration, in all, 51 samples were sent to the laboratory for test and 40 samples have been tested negative.

The result of remaining 11 swabs were awaited.

At least 21 people had been admitted to the isolation wards of hospitals in the district. Nine had been discharged from the isolation wards after they recovered from the health complications on Monday, it further said.