Congress camp worried as 20 upset MLAs team up

DHNS
June 9, 2018

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Disgruntlement in the Congress went a notch up on Friday as at least 20 estranged legislators who were not picked to become ministers, ganged up against the party’s leadership in an almost rebellious fashion, even as top leaders made all efforts to pacify them.

Chief among them is former minister M B Patil, who declared as if to send out a strong message, that he was not alone. “Just because the Congress has dumped me, I cannot dump the Congress. But I’m not alone,” Patil said, even as Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief G Parameshwara tried to pacify him. “I’m no senior or junior. All 20 of us are equals. We will soon sit together and decide what’s next,” he said. Patil clarified that they were not considering quitting the party. The disgruntled MLAs may knock on Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s doors for a way out.

M B Patil has been called to Delhi on Saturday, where he is likely to meet Rahul Gandhi. The disgruntled camp also includes veteran leader H K Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, M T B Nagaraju, R Roshan Baig, H M Revanna, B C Patil, N A Haris, Eshwar Khandre among others.

Yamkanamaradi MLA Satish Jarkiholi said he was contemplating resignation. “I’ve been unable to become a minister myself, or help others to become one. I’m not confined to my constituency. I have supporters all over the state,” he said.

“I will hold more consultations and I’m thinking of resigning (as AICC secretary),” he said in Belagavi.

“All of us have the same grievance,” Haris, who represents Shantinagar, told DH. “As far as I’m concerned, the party should have given me an opportunity. The leadership should have taken a clear stand that those who were ministers before will not be made ministers this time. But then, you have included those you want.”

Revanna, who belongs to Kuruba community, trained his guns on former chief minister Siddaramaiah, also a Kuruba, who has camped in his Badami constituency away from all the action. “The community demands answers. When Vokkaligas and Lingayats could be accommodated, why not us (Kurubas)?” Revanna asked. “Siddaramaiah is the leader of the Congress Legislature Party and the coalition coordination and monitoring committee. He has a role to play, but he isn’t here.”

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who personally reached out to M B Patil by visiting his residence, said his coalition partner should act fast to quell disgruntlement.

“I heard Patil out and listened to his anger. But there’s nothing I can do. Only the Congress can fix this. I came to pacify him because we share a personal relationship. My work is limited to conveying to the Congress high command that they need to take remedial steps immediately,” Kumaraswamy said.

Comments

Danish
 - 
Saturday, 9 Jun 2018

I doubt that this govt can complete its 5 year term

Danish
 - 
Saturday, 9 Jun 2018

I doubt that this govt can complete its 5 year term

Kumar
 - 
Saturday, 9 Jun 2018

From the first itself ministers and leaders showing their dissatisfaction. I dont know how these people can give good administration

 

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Abu Muhammad | coastaldigest.com
January 16,2020

Even as the Muslims of undivided Dakshina Kannada district broke out of the “spiral of silence” and made history by leading an unprecedented protest against CAA, NPR and NRC as well as the categorial mistreatment of non-saffronites at the hands of the police across the country, mainstream media turned a blind eye to the spectacle at the Shah Garden Maidan in Mangaluru’s Adyar where about two lakh patriots with tricolor in their hands converged to assert themselves on January 15th, 2020, a date which will be remembered by the people of coastal Karnataka forever.

The largest gathering in the history of Mangaluru was absolutely peaceful, law-abiding and respectful. While the slogans of ‘Azaadi’ were reverberating in the atmosphere, the protesters were seen making way for vehicles and passersby, taking care of women and helping elderly citizens on the highway adjacent to the ground. Though the organisers and most of the participants were Muslims, they collectively identified themselves as “We, the people of India”.

The district administration and the police department hadn’t imagined or even dreamt of such a mammoth gathering after blocking the highway and banning public transport from 9 am to 9 pm. Many opine that this action was taken only to discourage the concerned from participating in the protest and to create fear in the hearts of the people who are yet to process the unjustifiable deaths of two innocent citizens in an unwarranted police firing a few weeks ago.

What has since surprised the protesters most is the mainstream media’s blatant attempt to downplay the significance of this largest ever gathering. Shockingly, it could not make it to the front pages of any of the state-level Kannada daily newspapers except city-based Vaartha Bharathi. In the absence of The Hindu, which had announced a holiday on account of Makar Sankranti, most of the English newspapers too pitilessly buried the historic event in their inner pagers. National TV channels too were evidently reluctant to cover the event until NDTV started telecasting the news of the protest.

This uneasy relationship between the media and minorities in coastal Karnataka has long existed, but the non-coverage of the huge protest of Jan 15 marks a quantum leap beyond the media’s traditional pro-Sangh Parivar stance and biases –– which in the past had often demonised non-saffronites –– to now completely ignore and suppress the people’s voice. This media bias has naturally evoked a sharp response from netizens, who took to social media to issue clarion calls to boycott the mainstream media forever.

Cleanliness Drive

Most major protest meets and rallies –– both religious and political –– leave behind tonnes of garbage, especially water bottles, placards and buntings. However, the organisers of the Jan 15 protest meet led by example by launching a cleanliness drive in the area soon after the protesters left the venue peacefully. The drive continued on Jan 16 too. (Ironically, amidst this ongoing cleanliness drive, a local news portal captured photos of a few plastic bottles scattered along the road at Adyar and published a report accusing the event organisers and participants of polluting the area!)

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 8,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 8: The Department of Religious Endowments in Karnataka will undertake 'Ratha Yatras' in 110 major temples of the state, in order to inform the public about mass marriages, scheduled to be held on April 26.

The publicity campaign through Rath Yatra will be flagged off from Mookambika temple in Kollur of Udupi district from February 13.

The mass marriage programme 'Saptapadi,' would be held in 100 major temples of Muzrai department. The second phase would be held on May 24, Minister for Ports, Fisheries and Muzrai Kota Srinivas Poojary told newspersons here on Friday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has plenty on his plate ahead of the 2020-21 state budget to be presented on March 5 what with the economic slowdown and a sizeable shortfall in revenue, but the biggest worry is the uncertainty surrounding Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation from the Centre.

There is also uncertainty over the state’s share under devolution of funds as per the 14th Finance Commission recommendation.

Finance department officials say that while Rs 3,500 crore is expected as GST compensation for every two months, the devolution of funds would have yielded about Rs 7,000 crore for the current fiscal. But the economic slowdown appears to have hit the Centre’s finances and is likely to impact the state’s share of funds.

“The GST payment for August-September came only in December and we are unsure how much we will get for October-November and December-January,” an official said. Estimates suggest the state’s share under devolution of funds could be reduced by half.

At a meeting of finance department officials last week, Yediyurappa is said to have admitted that unlike those states where non-BJP parties are in power — they have threatened agitations and court cases — the government cannot go “against” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime.

Instead, Yediyurappa has urged senior IAS finance department officials to lobby for funds with their counterparts in New Delhi. On his part, Yediyurappa is said to have already written to Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to at least release the state’s share of GST compensation for the current calendar year of 2019. He is planning to personally meet the PM in Delhi to push the state’s case.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.