Krishna's move a big jolt to Cong as polls near; high command concerned

[email protected] (CD Network)
January 29, 2017

Bengaluru, Jan 29: With Assembly elections in Karnataka just a year away, former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna's decision to quit active politics has come as yet another jolt.krishna2

The decision of Mr Krishna, who served as Chief Minister of Karnataka (1999-2004), Governor of Maharashtra (2004-08), and External Affairs Minister, to stay away from the activities of Congress has taken the party's image to a new low at a time when another senior leader, V. Srinivas Prasad, quit the Congress and joined the BJP recently.

Surprised by the 85-year-old leader's move, the Congress high command has swung into action and directed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka unit chief G Parameshwara to get in touch with him.

“I have asked the chief minister and the state Congress president to get in touch with Krishna,” Digvijaya Singh, Congress general secretary in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka, said.

Singh said he had unsuccessfully tried to reach out to Krishna and maintained that he got the news through the media. In response to a query, however, he said he didn't know if Krishna had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently. Another Congress leader in Delhi said, “It's unfortunate. We are totally surprised by the announcement.”

Powerful leader

Though Krishna has maintained a distance from the functioning of the present government and has often expressed dissatisfaction over the “old guard” being sidelined, his image as a Congress Chief Minister, who nurtured Karnataka as anIT hub' and its capital asBrand Bengaluru' has not waned. He continues to wield considerable clout in the Old Mysore belt.

Mr. Krishna is learnt to have sent a letter detailing reasons for his “disillusionment” to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi.

Mr. Krishna, who belongs to the dominant Vokkaliga community, has been a vocal critic of the functioning of leaders who have come from the Janata Parivar, including Mr. Siddaramaiah. Mr. Krishna, who belongs to the “old school” of the Congress, was resentful of being “sidelined” by the party. The last time Mr. Siddarmaiah met Mr. Krishna was when the Supreme Court directed the State to release Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu in September 2016.

Legislators, who were dropped from the State Cabinet, and other disgruntled senior leaders plan to rally behind Mr. Krishna. Several Congress leaders and Ministers have sought the blessings of the veteran leader and have urged him to give suggestions to the party, which faces a tough poll in 2018.

Comments

Think Tank
 - 
Sunday, 29 Jan 2017

Yavaglo hogbekithhu e nan maga....Brahminism yavaglu onde...adu conReSS irli athva Barathiya KJanwaru Party irli .....adu banna bidalla......

his EXIT willbe a Big gain to congress......will improve in Shaa Allah

A. Mangalore
 - 
Sunday, 29 Jan 2017

The person who's age is 85 years. He enjoyed from Chief Minister to the Central External Minister and then Governor and now in his totally retire age he should not quit that party that gave him all his power and respect throughout his life. This is the age to enjoy his remaining days with his family and friends and not to make any tamasha. This is really unfortunate.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 20: Karnataka on Monday reported 3,648 COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 67,420, informed the state health department.

According to a bulletin issued by the department, the state recorded 72 more deaths due to COVID-19 with the toll at 1,403 while six patients who tested positive for the infection have died due to non-COVID causes, as of Monday.

There are 42,216 active cases in the state.
As many as 730 patients were discharged today, taking the total discharged patients to 23,795.
Bengaluru recorded the highest number of cases and deaths today at 1,452 and 31, respectively, informed the state health department.

India's COVID-19 case tally crossed the 11-lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 40,425 new cases and 681 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Monday.

The total cases in the country now stand at 1,118,043 while the death toll is 27,497.

The ministry said the total number of cases include 390,459 active cases and 700,087 cured/discharged/migrated.

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coastaldigest.com news network
February 20,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 20: Leaving the organisers of an event to protest against the CAA, NRC and NRP here red-faced, a young woman on Thursday reportedly raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogan in the presence of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who denounced her action and asserted "we are for India".

The woman, identified as Amulya, allegedly asked people to shout with her "Pakistan Zindabad" after the organisers of the event under the banner of "Save Constitution" invited her to address the gathering soon after Owaisi came on the stage.

Soon Owaisi rushed to snatch the mike from her hands and was joined by others who tried to remove her from the state.

But the woman was adamant and raised the slogan again repeatedly. Later, the police stepped in and removed her from the dais.

Owaisi then addressed the gathering, saying he did not agree with the woman.

"Neither me nor my party has any link with her. We denounce her. The organisers should not have invited her here. If I knew this, I would not have come here. We are for India and we no way support our enemy nation Pakistan. Our entire drive is to save India," the AIMIM MP said.

JD(S) corporator Imran Pasha claimed she was planted by some rival group to disrupt the event.

The woman, he said, was not in the list of speakers and demanded that the police investigate the matter seriously.

Sources say Amulya hails from Chikkamagaluru and her parents have always been in the forefront of taking on government and its policies for well over a decade. 

As per local TV reports, the student was taken to Upparpet police station, but later shifted to an undisclosed destination for more questioning.

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News Network
July 31,2020

Bengaluru, July 31: Denying irregularities in covid-19 equipment purchase by the Karnataka government, the state unit of the BJP has issued legal notices to Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar demanding that they apologize or face a defamation suit. 

The notices seek a public apology for the allegations levelled against the government on irregularities in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment and supplies. 

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress president, have been doggedly pursuing allegations of corruption against the BJP government and have demanded a judicial inquiry. 

BJP general secretary N Ravi Kumar said that while the Congress leaders claimed that Rs 4,157 crore was spent during Covid-19, they also allege that the government has not responded to any of the 20 letters written by them. "If the government has not provided any answer to the Opposition, where did they get the figures from," he said.

None of the allegations of corruption is specific and the statements made are factually incorrect. "These statements, without any basis, have been issued calculatedly to lower the image and damage the reputation of the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, representatives of the party and the ministers in the government," the notice issued on behalf of Ravi Kumar read.

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