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Krishna's move a big jolt to Cong as polls near; high command concerned

[email protected] (CD Network)
January 29, 2017

Bengaluru, Jan 29: With Assembly elections in Karnataka just a year away, former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna's decision to quit active politics has come as yet another jolt.krishna2

The decision of Mr Krishna, who served as Chief Minister of Karnataka (1999-2004), Governor of Maharashtra (2004-08), and External Affairs Minister, to stay away from the activities of Congress has taken the party's image to a new low at a time when another senior leader, V. Srinivas Prasad, quit the Congress and joined the BJP recently.

Surprised by the 85-year-old leader's move, the Congress high command has swung into action and directed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka unit chief G Parameshwara to get in touch with him.

“I have asked the chief minister and the state Congress president to get in touch with Krishna,” Digvijaya Singh, Congress general secretary in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka, said.

Singh said he had unsuccessfully tried to reach out to Krishna and maintained that he got the news through the media. In response to a query, however, he said he didn't know if Krishna had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently. Another Congress leader in Delhi said, “It's unfortunate. We are totally surprised by the announcement.”

Powerful leader

Though Krishna has maintained a distance from the functioning of the present government and has often expressed dissatisfaction over the “old guard” being sidelined, his image as a Congress Chief Minister, who nurtured Karnataka as anIT hub' and its capital asBrand Bengaluru' has not waned. He continues to wield considerable clout in the Old Mysore belt.

Mr. Krishna is learnt to have sent a letter detailing reasons for his “disillusionment” to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi.

Mr. Krishna, who belongs to the dominant Vokkaliga community, has been a vocal critic of the functioning of leaders who have come from the Janata Parivar, including Mr. Siddaramaiah. Mr. Krishna, who belongs to the “old school” of the Congress, was resentful of being “sidelined” by the party. The last time Mr. Siddarmaiah met Mr. Krishna was when the Supreme Court directed the State to release Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu in September 2016.

Legislators, who were dropped from the State Cabinet, and other disgruntled senior leaders plan to rally behind Mr. Krishna. Several Congress leaders and Ministers have sought the blessings of the veteran leader and have urged him to give suggestions to the party, which faces a tough poll in 2018.

Comments

Think Tank
 - 
Sunday, 29 Jan 2017

Yavaglo hogbekithhu e nan maga....Brahminism yavaglu onde...adu conReSS irli athva Barathiya KJanwaru Party irli .....adu banna bidalla......

his EXIT willbe a Big gain to congress......will improve in Shaa Allah

A. Mangalore
 - 
Sunday, 29 Jan 2017

The person who's age is 85 years. He enjoyed from Chief Minister to the Central External Minister and then Governor and now in his totally retire age he should not quit that party that gave him all his power and respect throughout his life. This is the age to enjoy his remaining days with his family and friends and not to make any tamasha. This is really unfortunate.

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News Network
April 25,2020

Udupi, Apr 25: Senior RSS leader H Somashekhar Bhatt received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday enquiring about his health.

Bhatt got emotional hearing the Prime Minister's voice at the other end, family sources said.

The Prime Minister called at 8.30 AM and began the conversation with 'Somashekharji' and spoke for about six minutes.

The 85-year-old veteran recalled how the Jana Sangh came to power in Udupi municipality under the leadership of V S Acharya in 1968 and about his association with the Sangh Parivar through the decades and his imprisonment during the Emergency.

Bhatt, former Udupi municipality president, later said it was a rare honour for him.

"I am very glad that PM Modi called and spoke to me. I shared the experience of meeting him at the Jaipur session.

Asked to take care of health and expressed concern," he said.

The Prime Minister has been calling senior functionaries of the party who worked for the Sangh Parivar in the time of adversities to build up the BJP in its present form and seeking advice from them.

He had also called in recent days former MLA Ram Bhat who was elected from Puttur in Dakshina Kannada and D H Shankar Murthy, who was former chairman of the state legislative council, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel tweeted.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Udupi, Jul 20: Five COVID Day Care Centres have been opened here on Monday with combined 870 bed for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.

The Centres are set up at Karkala (1), Udupi (3) and Kundapura (1). Presently more than 100 patients are being treated in these Centres.

These Centres have been opened in the wake of high incidences of Covid-19 cases in the district. They are set up for asymptomatic patients who do not wish to be treated at home.

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News Network
June 18,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 18: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominated Prathap Simha Nayak, M.T.B. Nagaraj, R. Shankar and Sunil Valyapure to contest in the June 29 biennial elections for 4 of the 7 Karnataka legislative Council seats, an official said.

"Our high command selected 3 of the 4 candidates the state core committee recommended on Tuesday, excluding H.R. Vishwanath, a former Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) rebel, who lost in the December 5 Assembly by-elections from Hunsur in Mysuru district on a BJP ticket," a party official said.

Nagaraj, a former Congress rebel, who also lost in the Assembly by-election from Hoskote in Bengaluru Rural district on a BJP ticket, was the state housing minister in the 14-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government, which fell on July 23, 2019 after 17 of their rebels resigned then.

Shankar, who was an Independent and a minister in the former coalition government, was not given the BJP ticket to contest in the December Assembly bypolls though he too resigned from the Ranebennur assembly seat in Haveri district, about 340km northwest of Bengaluru, along with former Congress and JD-S rebels.

Valyapure is the party's grass-root leader from Chincholi in Gulbarga district in the state's northern region, about 586km from Bengaluru.

Valyapure extensively campaigned in the May 2019 general elections and ensured the victory of BJP candidate Umesh Yadav from the reserved Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat, defeating Congress senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Nayak is also the party's grassroot cadre who rose from the ranks to become its Dakshina Kannada district president in the state's coastal region.

As the ruling party has 116 legislators in the 225-member Assembly, all its 4 candidates will need 28 votes each to win the contest.

Of the 7 outgoing Council members, 5 are from the Congress and one each from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and an Independent.

With 68 lawmakers, the Congress will be able to retain 2 seats and the JD-S one as it has only 34 legislators in the lower house.

The Congress has nominated its outgoing Rajya Sabha member B.K. Hariprasad and outgoing Council member Naseer Ahmed to contest for 2 Council seats.

Of the 75-member Council, the opposition Congress has 37, BJP 19, JD-S 16, two Independents and one Chairman.

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