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Former Karnataka minister who joined Cong last year now ready to jump back to BJP

News Network
October 25, 2019

Mysuru, Oct 25: Former minister and Congress leader C H Vijayashankar is likely to return to his former party, the BJP, ahead of bypolls in Karnataka.

Vijayashankar met BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday, a day after Kateel and chief minister BS Yediyurappa discussed bringing him back into the party fold during a meeting on Wednesday.

During the meeting in Bengaluru, local leaders from Hunsur had told party brass that they had no objection to Vijayashankar’s return.

A two-time MP and former MLC, Vijayashankar was a minister in Yediyurappa’s earlier government, but switched to the Congress last year. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah had pushed Vijayashankar’s case hard with the Congress high command and fielded him in the Lok Sabha polls from Mysuru, but he lost. Now, he is set to return to the saffron party.

Former minister and Mysuru district BJP president M Shivanna, said: “Some leaders from Mysuru asked party leaders to re-induct Vijayashankar. They are open to the idea. I contacted the former minister and sought his opinion. He said he will consider it seriously.”

With the inclusion of Vijayashankar, a Kuruba, the BJP is looking to strengthen its base in Hunsur ahead of the December 5 bypoll. Vijayashankar, who represented Hunsur and Periyapatna assembly segments, has indicated that he wants to return to state politics.

With Congress leaders having previously represented Hunsur and Periyapatna assembly segments, he is unlikely to get the Congress ticket to contest the assembly polls. It is this which has pushed him back to the BJP.

However, it’s unclear whether he would get the BJP ticket either since Yediyurappa has insisted disqualified MLAs would be given preference. The Hunsur seat feel vacant as AH Vishwanath resigned, paving the way for the BJP to form the government.

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News Network
March 30,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 30: Army personnel on Sunday distributed food packets and other essential items to the needy and sprayed Calcium Hypochlorite solution in Koramangala and Vanarpet areas amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The Central government had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly virus that has left several thousand dead globally.

A total of 979 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

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News Network
July 29,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 29: A day after Congress staged a nationwide 'Save Democracy' protest, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy slammed Congress for "dividing" the political parties and "buying MLAs" and questioned their "democratic behaviour" to lure Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs who supported them.

Kumaraswamy, in a media statement, said, "Is it a democratic behaviour to lure MLAs of other parties through political shenanigans and later merging with them?"

"Congress is an expert in dividing political parties and purchase of MLAs," said Kumaraswamy adding, "If you are dividing the like-minded party MLAs through deceit, who would support you?"

He alleged that the term "horse trade" in politics came to be used because of Congress.

Congress had tied to divide the Janata Dal (Secular) in 2004. To this, he added, "To avoid the party being hijacked by the Congress, I had to oust the Congress-JD(S) coalition government through a political coup."

Kumaraswamy further accused, "Haven't the Congress who is making a big noise about the purchase of MLAs divided the JD(S) in the past? Is it not a fact that for the sake of one Rajya Sabha seat, the Congress government in Karnataka purchased eight JD(S) MLAs?"

Both -- Congress and BJP -- are "criminals" in purchase matter, he added.

Rajasthan Congress is in turmoil after simmering differences between Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was removed as the Deputy Chief Minister and the state unit chief of Congress.

The Congress has accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading to bring down the Gehlot government. The BJP has rejected the allegations.

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News Network
July 4,2020

A 53-year-old Indian worker in the UAE has missed a special repatriation flight after he dozed off at the Dubai International Airport, a media report said.

P Shajahan, who worked as a storekeeper in Abu Dhabi, was supposed to fly to Thiruvananthapuram on the Emirates jumbo jet chartered by the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) Dubai, Gulf News reported.

It was the first-ever jumbo jet chartered for repatriation.

Shajahan, who had paid 1,100 dirham (USD 300) for the ticket, said that he did not sleep on the previous night as he kept on waiting for the confirmation of his ticket for the jumbo jet flying 427 stranded Indians to Kerala, it said.

He reached the airport early in the morning and after finishing the check-in procedures and rapid test, he reached the waiting area of the boarding gate at Terminal 3 around 2 PM local time, the report said.

“I sat away from most of the others. But I fell asleep after 4.30 PM,” he said.

S Nizamudeen Kollam, who coordinated the charter flight, said that the airline officials could not trace Shajahan when the flight was to take off.

“He woke up and called us after the flight left. It is sad that he missed the flight, which was the first-ever jumbo jet chartered for repatriation. We are now trying to send him on another Emirates flight that we are chartering on Saturday,” Kollam said.

Since Shajahan did not have any money, Jasimkhan Kallambalam, organising secretary of KMCC Thiruvananthapuram, went to the airport to meet him on Friday.

“Since his visa was cancelled, he could not come out of the airport. He had only eaten the snacks in the kit KMCC had given. We managed to give him some cash for buying food through KMCC volunteer Alamsha Latheef,” Kallambalam said.

In March, another Indian expat had fallen asleep in the same terminal and missed the last flight home before flights were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was stranded here for over 50 days before getting repatriated.

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