Amit Shah calls UB City assault victim a ‘BJP worker’, says cops soft on minority goons

Bengaluru, Mar 10: Congress leader NA Haris on Tuesday said that keeping Jammu and Kashmir leaders under house arrest is not democratic.

Speaking to media persons he said, "It is not done. Keeping the leaders under house arrest in Jammu and Kashmir is not democratic."

Haris said that nobody is talking about it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not talking about it and nothing is happing.

"About Kashmir, it is better to say less as nobody is talking about it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not talking about it and nothing is happening. It does not look good," he told media.

"I think leaders should be brought to the table and discussion on issues should take place. Do whatever has to be done for the country," he added.

The Jammu and Kashmir Administration had on February 5 invoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) against former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah. The duo was detained after the Central government abrogated Article 370 last year.

Bengaluru, Jan 20: The suspense over chief minister BS Yediyurappa expanding his council of ministers is set to continue until after he returns from his trip to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Yediyurappa, who heads a 10-member delegation to the Swiss ski resort, left on Sunday. Prior to his departure, he told reporters cabinet expansion will happen only after his return on January 24. “I discussed the issue with [BJP] national president Amit Shah for 30 minutes or so. He has given a positive response and I will expand the cabinet within two days after my return,” Yediyurappa said.

But sources said Shah, during his visit to Hubballi on Saturday, had indicated the exercise is likely to be delayed further as the central leadership will be busy with the assembly elections in Delhi. “Indications are there is no possibility of expanding the cabinet until February 11 when the electoral process for the Delhi elections ends,” said a source.

The development has obviously left ministerial aspirants, especially defectors from Congress and JD(S) who were re-elected on BJP tickets last month, restive. Moreover, while Yediyurappa has promised ministerial berths to all MLAs who switched to the BJP from Congress and JD(S), sources say Shah is only in favour of inducting six defectors (11 of whom won MLA seats on saffron party tickets in the byelections) into the cabinet.

“Shah’s advice to Yediyurappa is to strike a balance between defectors and loyalists. His concern is loyalists should not be left disappointed, while justice should be served to the defectors as well,” said a BJP functionary.

Meanwhile, KS Eshwarappa, senior party functionary and minister for rural development, said the BJP would never let down the defectors. “The party is indebted to them and I am sure they will all be rewarded,” he said.

BC Patil, one of the defectors, said some of them had met Shah in one-on-one meetings in Hubballi. “It was more a courtesy call and the issue of cabinet expansion didn’t come up during the meeting,” he said.