Congress enjoys everything when in power, creates riots once they lose: Nalin Kumar Kateel

Davangere, Jan 15: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on January 14 threatened to resign when the seer of 'Panchamasali Guru Peetha' warned that the community will leave him, if a BJP MLA from the community is not made the minister during the upcoming cabinet expansion.

The chief minister, who is awaiting the BJP high command's nod to expand his cabinet, amid intense lobbying by the aspirants, wanted the seer Vachanananda swamiji and the 'Panchamasali' community to understand his "situation." Yediyurappa pointed out that he has come to power because of the Congress-JD(S) legislators who rebelled against the then coalition government.

The incident took place when Vachanananda swamiji, while addressing an event at Harihara, near here, said "chief minister, you are a good person, Murugesh Nirani (BJP MLA)has helped you a lot, he has stood by you..if you leave his hands this time, the united Panchamasali community will leave your hands." As the swamiji was making this statement, Yediyurappa, who was seated next to him, rose and threatened to leave the stage.

"If you speak like this I will go away...what are you speaking...kindly pardon me, I will leave, you should not speak like this, if you speak like this I can't work..you can give me suggestions, you cannot threaten me," he said, as the swamiji tried to convince Yediyurappa and asked him to take his seat.

As Yediyurappa acceded to his request, the seer said he was not threatening him but was putting forward the rights of the community. The chief minister, who was visibly upset, was seen talking to Home minister Basavaraj Bommai next to him, who even tried to convince the seer not to continue with the topic. Nirani, a MLA from Bilgi who was Industries minister in the previous Yediyurappa government, was seated on the stage when the incident occurred.

Later addressing the event, Yediyurappa said he was not "selfish" and was even ready to resign.

"Vachanananda swamiji has spoken, through you I request him to understand my situation also. If 17 legislators (Congress-JDS), few even as ministers, had not resigned and stayed away, Yediyurappa could not have occupied this Chief Minister position.

You (swamiji) need not make people raise their hands on any demand, if you tell me, I'm ready to listen to you," he said.

Stating that he was ready to take suggestions from the swamiji on all issues, including on how to run the administration for the next 3 years, Yediyurappa said "I'm ready to bow my head and listen to it, if you don't want I'm even ready to resign and go home, I'm not someone who wants to stick to the chair."

Further noting that if he says that the financial condition of the state is not good it will become headline in papers tomorrow, he said he will have to wait till March for the situation to improve.

"I dont have selfishness, I'm aware that if the Panchamasali-Lingayat community had not stood by me, I could have not sat on this chair (CM)... but kindly understand my situation also," he added.

Yediyurappa is expected to expand his ministry later this month after discussing with BJP national president Amit Shah during his visit to the state on January 18.

As the chief minister has already made it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on within the party for the remaining ministerial berths.

Currently there are 18 Ministers, including the chief minister in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34.

The cabinet expansion will not be an easy task for the chief minister as he will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators as promised and also make place for the old guard, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise.

He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet and also deal with allocation of key portfolios.

Bengaluru, Feb 27: The Centre has adopted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mantra of "Make in India', for India and the world" to build strong defence and security infrastructure in the country, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh after inaugurating the new Light Combat Helicopter Production Hangar at Helicopter Division in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Complex here on Thursday.

According to an official statement, the Defence Minister said in the last five years, India has made significant progress towards manufacturing military equipment indigenously under the 'Make in India' initiative.

Stressing that the defence industry plays a major role in the economic development of the country, Singh lauded the significant contribution of organisations like HAL.

Highlighting the Rs 35,000 crore exports target set for the coming years, he expressed confidence that HAL, through its various platforms, will contribute significantly to achieve this milestone.

According to the statement, Rajnath Singh commended HAL for being the backbone of the Indian Air Force and meeting the requirements of the Armed Forces.

"The HAL has excelled both in operations and finance in the last five years. It has achieved operational clearance on seven platforms, including Light Combat Aircraft and Light Combat Helicopter, and overhauled platforms like Hawk and SU 30 MKI," he said.

He also appreciated that HAL had a turnover of Rs 19,705 crore till March 2019 and it gave shareholders a healthy dividend of 198 per cent.

HAL also apprised the Defence Minister on the progress of the new design and development programme of indigenous Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH), the statement informed.

The full-scale mock-up was showcased to Rajnath Singh. The IMRH is proposed as a replacement to the existing medium-lift helicopters such as Mi17's, Kamovs and Seakings which will phase out in the next eight to ten years.

LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL. It is powered by two Shakti engines and inherits many technical features of the Advanced Light Helicopter. LCH has the distinction of being the first attack helicopter to land in Forward Bases at Siachen, 4,700 mts above sea level with 500kg load.

New Delhi, Feb 21: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the sedition case registered against a Karnataka school management for allegedly allowing students to stage an anti-CAA, anti-NRC drama that 'portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poor light'.

The petition seeks quashing of the FIR against the principal and other staff of the Shaheen School at Bidar who have been booked under sections 124-A (sedition) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the petition filed on Thursday, social activist Yogita Bhayana has also sought an apex court direction for a proper mechanism to deal with alleged government misuse of the sedition law.

Section 124A of the IPC says that "whoever brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards... the Government shall be punished with imprisonment for life...".

Bhayana, in the plea, has sought a direction to the Centre and the Karnataka government "to quash the FIR registered in connection of seditious charges against the school management, teacher and a widowed parent of a student for staging a play criticizing CAA, NRC, and NPR."

The petition claimed the police "also questioned students, and videos and screenshots of CCTV footage showing them speaking to the students were shared widely on social media, prompting criticism."

It further quoted the school principal, alleging that "on one occasion, police in uniform questioned students, with no child welfare officials present".

The plea said that the "proceedings were violative of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and abuse of process of law."

"Issue an order directing the Centre to constitute a committee to scrutinise complaints under 124-A IPC and adhere to judgments by the apex court before registering the FIR under the section 124-A IPC," the petition said.

The drama was staged on January 21 by students of fourth, fifth and sixth standard.

The sedition case was filed based on a complaint from social worker Neelesh Rakshyal on January 26.

The complainant has alleged that the school authorities "used" the students to perform a drama where they "abused" Modi in the context of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.