Cong unable to digest rising Dalit support for BJP, says Yeddyurappa

DHNS
July 3, 2017

Bengaluru, Jul 3: BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday said the Congress leaders are issuing irresponsible statements on his Dalit outreach programme as they are unable to digest its success.dalithbsy

Speaking after inducting former minister S N Krishnaiah Setty into the party fold, he claimed that the recently concluded Janasamparka Abhiyana (Dalit outreach programme) was a grand success. The party received overwhelming response from people. The Congress leaders are finding it difficult to accept the fact that Dalits are swaying towards the BJP and hence, they are issuing irresponsible statements, he charged.

The state Congress had accused Yeddyurappa of having hotel-made food at a Dalit’s house during Janasamparka Abhiyana in Chitradurga district. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had even charged him with practicing untouchability for not eating food cooked by Dalits.

Yeddyurappa said many leaders in the Congress are upset with the misrule of the state government. They are all eager to join the BJP. The BJP workers should focus on strengthening the party. The target is to win 150 seats in the next Assembly elections. The party has recently launched Vistaarak programme in order to strengthen the party at the booth level, he added.

Setty said he did a mistake by quitting the party and assured the BJP leaders that he will strive to strengthen the party in Kolar district. Setty was a BJP MLA from Malur Assembly constituency in Kolar district. He was minister for Muzrai and Housing in the BJP government headed by Yeddyurappa. He was dropped from the Cabinet following a controversy related to land acquisition by the Karnataka Housing Board.

Setty had rebelled against the BJP in 2013 as the party denied him the ticket to contest the Assembly polls from Malur. He unsuccessfully contested as an Independent candidate. Later, he joined the Congress in 2014.

Besides, the state BJP appointed K P Nanjundi as the party vice-president. Nanjundi, a businessman and leader of the Vishwakarma community, recently joined the BJP after quitting the Congress.

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Zahoor Ahmed
 - 
Friday, 7 Jul 2017

D.K. Police kindly inform us how these people gathered at BC Road while IPC 144 Section imposed. Why double standard maintained by CongRSS and State Police.

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News Network
April 11,2020

Chitradurga, Apr 11: Akhila Bharata Hindu Mahasabha district president M Kumaraswamy has been arrested by Police on charges of posting provocative posts on Facebook.

Police said on Saturday that Syed Sadath who is the Popular Front of India District Secretary, in Chitradurga filed a complaint stating that Mr Kumaraswamy had posted ''Godhra riots will be repeated by Karsevaks'' on his Facebook page on April 7.

Mr Sadath said that Kumaraswamy was spreading communal hatred and targeting one community, at a time when the world was struggling to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 5: An FIR has been filed against former journalist and human rights activist Aakar Anil Patel in Bengaluru here over his comments on social media under charges pertaining to provocation with intent to cause riots.

The FIR was registered under Section 117 (abetting commission of an offence by the public or by more than ten persons), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), and 505-1-B (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the JC Nagar police station.

According to the FIR filed on June 2, Patel had tweeted that protests like the ones in the US over George Floyd's death are needed in India by the marginalised communities.

Patel, former chief of Amnesty International India, had on May 31 posted from his Twitter account, which is not verified.

On May 25, Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following which protests against police brutality and racism erupted in various cities in the United States. The protests were later replaced by incidents of violence across the country.

India also has witnessed several cases of mob lynchings and custodial deaths in recent years. In most cases victims belong to down trodden communities such as Muslims and Dalits.

Responding to the development, Amnesty International India has said that FIR against Patel is another example of how the right to dissent is being "increasingly" criminalised.

"The Bengaluru police must stop abusing its authority and put an end to the intimidation and harassment of Aakar Patel for exercising his constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression. People of this country have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests - without fear or unlawful interference," Amnesty International India Executive Director Avinash Kumar said.

He said that peacefully protesting against the government is not a crime and added that not agreeing with the policies of those in power does not make you a traitor.

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News Network
June 8,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 8: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday filed his nomination as the party's candidate for the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka.

The former union minister filed his nomination in the presence of KPCC President D K Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and other senior party leaders at the office of Legislative Assembly Secretary M K Vishalakshi, who is the returning officer for the polls.

Ahead of filing of nomination, the Congress Legislature Party meeting was held under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, after which Shivakumar issued "B-form" to Kharge.

The Congress high command on June 5 had announced Kharge as the party's candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.

The election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka represented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad of the Congress, Prabhakar Kore of the BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of the JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement.

June 9 is the last date for filing nominations.

Congress with 68 MLAs in the assembly can win one of the four seats easily on its own, so Kharge's victory is said to be certain.

This will be the first stint in Rajya Sabha for Kharge, who has always got elected directly by the people in his political career spanning over four decades.

The leader, earlier popularly known as "solillada Saradara", (a leader without defeat), faced his first electoral loss in his political life against BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

A nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member, he had served as Congress floor leader in the previous Lok Sabha, and also as Union Railway and Labour Minister during the UPA government.

Kharge, who is 77-years-old, has also served as minister during several Congress governments in the state, and as KPCC President and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly in the past.

His son, Priyank Kharge, is currently MLA representing Chittapur constituency and had served as minister during the previous Congress and coalition governments.

JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is the JD(S) candidate.

The regional party that has 34 seats in the assembly is not in a position to win a seat in Rajya Sabha on its own, and will need the support from the Congress with its surplus votes.

A minimum of 44 votes are required for candidates to win.

BJP with 117 members in the assembly (including Speaker), can ensure easy victory in two seats.

The BJP's central leadership on Monday sprang a surprise by fielding Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha election ignoring the recommendations of the state BJP unit.

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