BJP plans to emulate UP model for social media outreach in Karnataka

Mangaluru, June 28: In his apparent bid to win the hearts of the people of Tulu Nadu while leaving this coastal city, Dr P S Harsha, the outgoing Mangaluru city police commissioner, today took to social media and thanked the people. The language he chose for his prolonged Facebook post and one paragraph tweet was Tulu.

“Loveable people of Kudla! I have received the transfer order after serving as the Commissioner of Police of Mangaluru City for 11 months. (During this period) I worked with utmost honesty and pro-people approach with the complete cooperation of my department. I wholeheartedly thank all those who supported me,” tweeted Dr Harsha, who is now posted in Bengaluru as the Deputy Inspector General and Commissioner of Information and Public Relations.

In his Facebook post, Dr Harsha claimed that thanks to his initiative “My Beat My Pride”, the policing in the coastal city has strengthened. 

“My only intention was to put an end to rowdyism and illegal activities. I had given priority to curb the drug mafia. ‘My Beat My Pride’ became a successful initiative thanks to public support,” he said. 

The IPS officer went on to claim that with the with the co-operation of the senior officers, the police department managed to efficiently handle situations during anti-CAA and pro-CAA agitations in the city, detection of explosives at Mangaluru International Airport and also during the covid-19 pandemic. 

However, he did not mention about the death of two people in random police firing following a baton charge during anti-CAA protests in the city on December 19.

ಕುಡ್ಲದ ಮಾತ ಮೋಕೆದ ಬಂಧುಲೇ, 11 ತಿಂಗೊಳುರ್ದ್ ಕುಡ್ಲದ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಆಯುಕ್ತೆಯಾದ್ ಸೇವೆ ಮಂದಿನ ಎಂಕ್ ಇತ್ತೆ ವರ್ಗಾವಣೆ ಅವೋಂದುಂಡು.ಇಲಾಖೆದ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಸಹಕಾರದೊಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮಸ್ತ್ ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕ ಬೊಕ್ಕ ಜನಪರವಾದು ಎನ್ನ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ಮಲ್ತೊಂದು ಬೈದೆ.ಎಂಕ್ ಸಹಕಾರ ಬೆಂಬಲ ಕೊರ್ನ ಮಾತೆರೆಗ್ಲಾ ಉಡಲ್ ದಿಂಜಿನ‌ ಸೊಲ್ಮೆಲು. pic.twitter.com/y7rgQMoOwm

— Harsha IPS CP Mangaluru City (@compolmlr) June 28, 2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: A 24-year-old who wanted to experience the feeling of death lost his life after consuming pesticide — he recorded it all on TikTok — in Koratagere taluk of Tumakuru district on Saturday evening.

Chided by his mother for not earning money, Dhananjaya, a resident of Gouraganahalli, on Saturday evening bought pesticide from a shop and shot a 15-second TikTok video, saying, “I want to experience the feeling of what death would be like. I will try to kill myself.”

Locals rushed Dhananjaya to a nearby hospital where he breathed his last the next morning. Koratagere police registered a case of unnatural death.

According to police, Dhananjaya had in the past rammed his Bajaj Pulsar bike into a tree to ‘experience’ death but had survived with minor injuries. Villagers and family members had advised him to not to take such risks. But he continued to do so as he was obsessed with death and posted his opinion regularly on TikTok, where he had 431 followers.

He tied the knot four months ago and was running an autorickshaw on rent. However, his earnings reduced to zero during the lockdown and he wasn’t mentally stable, claimed villagers.

Investigators said Dhananjaya wanted to scare his mother with his suicide threat and wanted to ‘experience’ death. He consumed poison near a farm but later panicked thinking he would die. However, he was not in a position to ride back home. He called his friend, who visited the spot and shifted him to hospital on Saturday night, police said.

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.