Bengaluru, Feb 19: Playing down the simmering discontent among the disgruntled legislators who missed a cabinet berth again, Karnataka BJP on Tuesday denied any revolt brewing against Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
"An unsigned letter in Kannada circulating in the social media is bogus, as it was fabricated in the name of Santosh, a private secretary to Yediyurappa. No revolt is brewing against the Chief Minister," party spokesman G. Madhusudhana told news agency here.
In the second cabinet expansion on February 6, only 10 newly-elected legislators, who defected from the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in July, were inducted, leaving the party's many aspiring lawmakers miffed.
"The talk of about 20 loyal MLAs ganging up against Yediyurappa is a speculation as rumour mills are working overtime. No rebellion is brewing against the Chief Minister," asserted the official.
On the charge that Yediyurappa's younger son B.Y. Vijayandra was acting like a 'super or de facto CM' and medalling in the state administration, Madhusudhana said the latter was only assisting his father in party activities as he was also a party worker.
"As Yediyurappa is 76 years old and ageing, Vijayandra is helping his father in party affairs so that he (Chief Minister) could be free to attend to administration," Madhusudhana said.
Yediyurappa's elder son B.Y. Raghavendra is a three-time BJP Lok Sabha member from Shimoga in the state's Malnad area.
With six cabinet posts vacant in the 34-member ministry, many legislators, including eight-time MLA Umesh Katti, are upset that they have not been rewarded for their loyalty to the party even six months after the BJP returned to power again in the southern state.
On the purported meeting of about 20 BJP MLAs at the residence of state Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar here on Monday, Madhusudhana said it was a "get-together" as they were all in Bengaluru again to attend the budget session of the state legislature which began on Monday.
"There is no crisis in the party. Our government is stable and will complete the remaining three-year term in office till May 2023," he added.
Bengaluru, Mar 9: The BJP government in Karnataka on Monday scrapped the Shaadi Bhagya Scheme that was launched by Congress government in the state in 2013.
Under the scheme, Rs 50,000 was given to Muslim brides for marriage expenses after they submitted their Aadhar and BPL cards.
While the previous coalition government had allocated Rs 60 crore budget for the scheme, the BJP government decided to discontinue the scheme. Congress called the move by the state government as "anti-minority".
"They have launched a scheme for the majority community. I welcome that. But why are you discontinuing one scheme? It is a small scheme where marginalized people get a little help from the government," Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad told reporters.
"He (Karnataka Chief Minister) has wilfully reduced the money allotted to all the schemes," he added.
BJP MLA Basavana Gowda Patil Yantal welcomed the decision of the Karnataka Government to scrap the scheme.
"The minority does not need appeasement because equal citizenship needs to apply to all in this country. I wholeheartedly welcome this move by the Karnataka Government," Yantal told reporters.
"Should we not give the majority people anything in India? India not giving anything to the majority, is that secular? We have already given them Pakistan," he said.
The MLAs from the minority community in the state have demanded a meeting with the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Shivamogga, Feb 6: A youth, who allegedly uploaded pornography and inappropriate videos of children on social media, was arrested by the district CEN police after a tip-off from the CyberTipline.
The accused is a resident of Sorab taluk and is said to be below 18 years. He uploaded the objectionable content during April and May last year. He was traced based on the IP address of his computer and the mobile call records shared by the investigating agencies.
He was arrested in January under the provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000 and sent to judicial custody, said police sources.
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We are already facing lot of problems here without food and money.
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