IMD issues red alert for several districts in Kerala

Bengaluru, Jan 2: The Congress leadership in Delhi is expected to start the process of selecting a new party chief for Karnataka next week. There are strong indications the race has narrowed to DK Shivakumar and MB Patil.

Party insiders said the leadership almost finalised Shivakumar’s name as the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), but the decision was put on hold after requests by some senior members.

“It’s not that we are against Shivakumar. We think the party should have a Lingayat at the helm since community strongman and chief minister BS Yediyurappa is at the fag end of his long political career. There’s an opportunity here for a Congressman to occupy that space,” said a senior Congress politician, who didn’t want to be named.

That’s where the candidacy of Patil, a Lingayat, scores high.

The party, however, doesn’t want to compromise on quality and wants an efficient KPCC president who can unite two rival factions within the party, one led by Siddaramaiah and another by former union minister KH Muniyappa.

The need to pick a new state president arose after Dinesh Gundurao resigned from the post last month, taking moral responsibility for Congress’s poor showing in the byelections. Siddaramaiah also stood down as Congress party legislature leader.

The insiders said the new KPCC chief could be announced after January 16. The party might also appoint two working presidents and a new legislature party leader, who will automatically become the opposition’s voice in the assembly.

For the latter position, the name of senior Dalit politician and former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara is doing the rounds. But the party, the sources said, could still ask Siddaramaiah to reconsider his decision and stay on.

Many Congress members had raised questions over his stewardship after the bypoll disappointment. They said on his watch, the party had also fared badly in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections, demanding that he be held accountable.

Siddaramaiah is expected to visit Delhi next week to discuss the leadership issue with party boss Sonia Gandhi. Some other senior Congress members, including BK Hariprasad, are also likely to meet her.

Bengaluru, July 13: As Bengaluru prepares for a seven-day lockdown from Tuesday following the spike in COVID- 19 cases, opposition parties in Karnataka have urged the government to enforce the measure in the entire state.

JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and Congress working president Eshwar Khandre have demanded that the entire state be placed under lockdown.

Welcoming the government's decision to implement the lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural, Gowda said, "I urge the government through the media to enforce lockdown in the entire state."

The former Prime Minister in a statement appealed to people of the state and the entire country to wear masks while venturing out, maintain social distancing, clean hands with sanitizer regularly, and to come out only if there is necessary work.

Stating that allegations of misappropriation have been made by several leaders against the government in implementing measures and packages to control spread of the virus and its impact, Gowda said, "whatever it is let's discuss about it in the next legislature session, at present health of the people is important and let's focus on it."

The government should work in this direction, we are all with the government, let's not play with the health of the people, he said, adding that "I appeal that at least from here on work actively."

With a spike in Covid-19 cases, the Karnataka government on Saturday announced complete lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural from July 14 to 22.

The lockdown is from 8 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 22.

Congress leader Khandre, meanwhile reminded Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa that COVID cases and related fatalities were not only increasing in Bengaluru but also in the border districts of the state.

The situation was getting out of hand in Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari districts, he alleged.

"So implement strict lockdown once again in the state at least for fifteen days."

"Bring the situation under control. I appeal to the government that in this lockdown period at least to correct its past shortcomings and take all measures to face the pandemic efficiently in the future," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will be chairing video conference with Deputy Commissioners, Zilla Panchayat CEOs and Superintendents of Police of various districts regarding the COVID situation and the rains.

As of July 12 evening, cumulatively 38,843 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 684 deaths and 15,409 discharges.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 18,387 infections. Of the 2,627 fresh cases reported in the state on Sunday, a whopping 1,525 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone.

Udupi, Jan 25: Mangalore International Airport (MIA) culprit Aditya Rao has revealed that after placing the explosive device he went to Malpe and made threat call of placing bomb in the Indigo flight.

Rao, who is in police custody, on Saturday, was brought to Malpe under tight security by the investigating officer ACP Belliyappa for spot investigation. On January 20, Aditya had come to the Mangaluru airport and planted an explosive device before going to Malpe and made a threat call about placing a bomb in the Indigo flight. He was just a couple of kilometers away from the Malpe police station while making the call.

Sitting outside an egg selling shop which opens only after 6:00 pm, Aditya had called the Airport and informed that a bomb was placed in the Indigo flight. Later he destroyed the sim card and left to Bengaluru to surrender.