Bajrang Dal activists parade man for converting 3, making them eat beef

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Though he submitted his resignation as leader of the opposition over a month ago, former chief minister Siddaramaiah continues as the face of the Congress in Karnataka.

However, this may change as All India Congress Committee (AICC) interim president Sonia Gandhi has summoned Siddaramaiah to Delhi for a final consultation over change of guard. Over the past month, there has been speculation over the possibility of Congress persisting with Siddaramaiah as opposition leader and either party troubleshooter DK Shivakumar or former ministers MB Patil, HK Patil or Eshwar Khandre replacing incumbent president Dinesh Gundu Rao. Both tendered resignations owing moral responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the 15 bypolls held last month.

In the past 24 hours, there has been talk of Siddaramaiah being asked to be the state unit president and vacating the other post for a young turk or experience legislator including the likes of Shivakumar who could be the face of KPCC by 2023 if he gets a clean chit from the ED in cases of money-laundering, etc. Seniors, including former KPCC president and DyCM G Parameswara and former minister HK Patil, are strong contenders to be leader of the opposition if Siddaramaiah is asked to vacate the post.

However, sources in the Siddaramaiah camp dismissed the possibility of him becoming KPCC president. "He has never aspired for the post and the high command is not inclined to do it," said a member in his camp.

Siddaramaiah may meet Sonia on Tuesday morning. It's still unclear if any other KPCC functionaries have been summoned. Sources said Sonia is scheduled to leave India for medical treatment on January 15 and wanted to complete the consultations about Karnataka. The high command has reportedly gone through reports submitted by party observers Madhusudan Mistry and Parameswara.

New Delhi: BJP leader Yogish Gowda, who was a member of the Dharwad Zilla Panchayath in Karnataka, was killed because of "political reasons", the CBI has alleged in its charge sheet filed against eight accused before a Dharwad court, officials said on Thursday.

Mr Gowda was killed on June 15, 2016 in front of a gym in Dharwad.

The charge sheet was filed before the Judicial Magistrate First Class Court in Dharwad against Santosh Savadatti, Dinesh M, Sunil KS, Harshith, Aswath S, Nazeer Ahamad, Shanawaz and Nutan K. All but one are in judicial custody.

"The accused allegedly came to Dharwad on two occasions in June 2016 and with the support of the other accused, allegedly planned the murder of Yogish Gowda. These accused fled after the crime," CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said.

The agency has alleged that the killing had "political reasons" behind it and was a result of political rivalry, the officials said.

The agency had taken over the case on September 24, 2019, nearly three years after the murder, on the request of the BJP government in Karnataka and a referral from the centre.

The case was earlier probed by the Karnataka Police which had charged six people for allegedly planning and executing the killing.

The CBI has arrested eight accused in the case of which seven are in judicial custody, they said.

"Further investigation into the role of the other accused and larger conspiracy in this case is continuing on a day-to-day basis," Mr Gaur said.

BJP leader murder caseYogish GowdaCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Kalaburagi, May 15: Former Karnataka Minister Dr Sharanprakash Patil and 22 others, including several local Congress leaders, have been booked for violating lockdown guidelines by conducting a meeting at a convention hall in Sulpeth town on May 13.

The FIR was registered on Thursday against 23 persons, including the former MLA and 21 local Congress leaders, under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Congress leader Patil and his followers had conducted a meeting at a convention hall in Sulpeth town on May 13, following which sectoral magistrate Muneer Ahmed lodged a complaint.

This comes as the country of under lockdown and the Centre and states have issued strict social distancing and other norms to be followed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.