Communal tension in DK is creation of BJP; not failure of police: Param

Mangaluru/Udupi: A total 237 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Dakshina Kannada (DK) and Udupi on Sunday, a day that DK scaled yet another peak with 196 cases and Udupi tallied 41. 

The grim reaper came calling on patients with co-morbidities, harvesting five souls, to take the total tally of deaths in DK to 46. The spurt also saw DK’s tally of positive cases rise to 2,230 and Udupi’s to 1,608.

The 196 fresh cases in DK included 91 cases of influenza like illness (ILI), the cause of infection in 57 people is yet to be known, 20 are primary contacts, 16 are those with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), 10 are those with international travel history and two are pre-surgery samples, said deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh. The five deceased include three men and two women, the youngest victim being a 50-year-old man and oldest a 72-year-old man.

A total 94 patients were discharged from the designated Covid-19 and private hospitals in the city, taking the total number those discharged to 876, and paring down the number of active cases to 1,309. The commissioner of Mangaluru City Corporation, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Sunda. Deputy Commissioner (revenue), MCC, a primary contact, has home quarantined himself in the wake of this development.

In neighbouring Udupi, the double-digit blip on the Covid-19 radar included 32 primary contacts, six with inter-district travel history, two with inter-state travel history and one patient with international travel history, said district health officer Sudhir Chandra Sooda. The fresh cases also included four children. The discharge of 28 patients took the total numbers of those discharged to 1,273, and there are 332 active cases now. The district has recorded three deaths due to the pandemic thus far. 

Mumbai, Feb 26: Targetting Shiv Sena's silence over the recent controversial remark by AIMIM leader Waris Pathan, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the Uddhav Thackeray-led party might be "wearing bangles" but the BJP was not and knew how to retaliate in the same manner.

"Shiv Sena might be wearing bangles but we are not. If someone says something then he will be given an answer in the same way. BJP has this much power," said Fadnavis while launching a scathing attack on ruling-Shiv Sena in Maharashtra for not taking strict action against Pathan.

Fadnavis was addressing protestors at Azad Maidan where BJP launched a protest against Maharashtra government over issues related to farmers and women.

On February 20, while addressing an anti-CAA rally, at Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Pathan had said, "time has now come for us to unite and achieve freedom. Remember we are 15 crore but can dominate over 100 crores."

"They tell us that we have kept our women in the front - only the lionesses have come out and you are already sweating. You can understand what would happen if all of us come together," he had said.

Facing flak over his remarks Pathan later took back his words and had said he had not targeted any community but had spoken against members of some organisations.

"If any of my words have hurt someone, I take them back as I am a true Indian," Pathan said at a press conference here.

The AIMIM leader said that he was being portrayed as being anti-Indian and anti-Hindu for the past couple of days.

"I want to say that my earlier statement was basically against people who are members of organisations like RSS, BJP, Bajrang Dal, etc. These 100 are those people who want to divide this beautiful nation," he added.