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Congress flounders again as 7 MLAs stay away from CLP meet

TNN
May 31, 2019

Bengaluru, May 31: The Congress appears in deep trouble as seven MLAs, including two associate members, skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting that extended well past midnight on Wednesday-Thursday. Significant among the absentees were former ministers R Roshan Baig and Ramesh Jarkiholi, who continued to adopt a tough posture against the party leadership.

While Ramesh has absented himself from party meetings ever since he resigned as minister, Baig, whose anger has been simmering, recently unleashed an outburst against the party leadership. He accused state leaders of overlooking Muslims and senior leaders of the community.

However, there was some relief for the ruling dispensation as other disgruntled MLAs, including K Sudhakar, Mahesh Kumathalli, B Nagendra and BC Patil were present. Kampli MLA JN Ganesh, who was accused of assaulting fellow legislator Anand Singh during a brawl at a resort last year, also attended the meeting after his suspension was revoked to keep Congress numbers intact.

Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, CLP leader Siddaramaiah said 72 of 79 MLAs attended. Five MLAs had sought leave of absence, but there was no communication from either Baig or Jarkiholi.

Of the other five who stayed away, former minister R Ramalinga Reddy is on a foreign tour, Byrathi Basavaraj cited ill-health, while Rahim Khan, Subba Reddy and Rajashekhar Patil cited urban local body polls as reason for their absence. Siddaramaiah, however, exuded confidence that Baig and Jarkiholi will not leave the party.

Baig told reporters that that he stayed away since he has been critical of senior leaders including AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, KC Venugopal and he had “no face” to attend. However, he dismissed reports that he was in talks with senior BJP leaders and was intending to jump ship, saying, “I am a disciplined soldier of the Congress.”

The CLP meeting was convened by Venugopal, who arrived from New Delhi on Wednesday to execute damage control measures in the wake of the BJP’s efforts to topple the government.

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News Network
March 19,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 19: Karnataka High Court on Wednesday rejected the plea by Congress leader Digvijay Singh seeking directions to the police to allow him to meet rebel Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs who are lodged in Bengaluru.

Earlier in the day, Singh said at a press conference, "I have filed a plea in the Karnataka High Court, seeking permission to meet Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs who are putting up at Bengaluru. I have decided to be on fast and shall take a call on that after the decision of the Supreme Court and the High Court," Singh said at a press conference here earlier.

Singh said, "The BJP is busy in toppling duly-elected governments. We had successfully thwarted their plans to destabilise the MP government but we were let down by Jyotiraditya Scindia who had a very successful career in Congress."

"We never expected that he would ditch us and join hands with the BJP," he added.

The Congress leader also said that the BJP government had become insecure since the Kamal Nath-led government started tightening the laws on mining.

"Chief Minister Kamal Nath drafted a new mining policy for the sand under which the mines were allotted through auction. All this was unpalatable to the BJP and from Day 1 they started offering money to our Congress legislators," he said.

"In BJP, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's kind of leadership no longer exists. The leadership which controls the BJP now includes people who have joined hands to do all kinds of unscrupulous things which has led to a stage in India where the banks are collapsing, non-performing assets and unemployment are growing," he added.

Earlier today, he was put under preventive arrest after he sat on a dharna near Ramada Hotel here allegedly for not being allowed to meet the 21 rebel Congress MLAs lodged in the hotel.

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News Network
January 4,2020

Madikeri, Jan 4: Two girls were seriously injured after a wild elephant attacked them on their way back to home near Injilagere here, Forest officials said on Saturday.

The officials said that Nityashree of class four, along with her younger sister Yuvashree of class two, were on their way back home from Government Primary School. The students are the daughters of Mani, resident of School estate line house in Puliyeri village.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 7: The Karnataka government would provide Rs 10,000 immediate relief to families affected by heavy rains and flooding in districts across coastal, central and southern areas of the state, an official said on Thursday.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has directed all the Deputy Commissioners in the rain-cum-flood-hit districts to provide Rs 10,000 interim relief to the affected families and Rs 5 lakh to those whose houses were completely damaged in the natural disaster," a Revenue Department official told media persons here.

As the south-west monsoon advanced and intensified, heavy and widespread rains with gusty winds have been lashing 12 of the 30 districts across the state, wreaking havoc and disrupting normal life due to flooding, landslides, lakes and ponds overflowing, and rivers and their tributaries in the spate.

"The Chief Minister also instructed the officials to make use schools, colleges and public places as relief centres to shelter the rain-cum-flood-hit families, as hostels and community halls have been converted into Covid care centres in the affected districts," said the official.

The affected districts have also been advised to conduct a survey of crop loss suffered by farmers for compensation under the centrally-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the Weather Based Crop Insurance Schemes.

Deputy Commissioners have been told to take preventive measures to protect and provide relief to the people from heavy rains, floods and landslides in the affected districts.

"Yediyurappa also directed ministers in-charge of the districts to remain in their constituency and visit the affected areas to assess damage caused by the rains and flash floods for compensation and relief aid," noted the official.

The Chief Minister on Wednesday announced Rs 50 crore for rescue and relief operations in the affected districts across the state.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological department has issued a red alert on heavy rains in the affected districts of Kodagu, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttar Kannada in the coastal region and in Shivamoga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Haveri in the Malnad region.

"Bagamandala in Kodagu district where Cauvery river springs near Talakaveri received a whopping 486 mm rain during the last 24 hours, causing flash floods and disrupting normal life as offices, shops and eateries remained shut and public transport was affected," added the official.

The water-level in Cauvery and Lakshmanatheertha is flowing at high level while the Sayi layout and Kuvempu layout Kushalnagar is inundated and the affected residents were shifted to safer location.

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