Leftists protest killing of BJP worker by gau rakshaks'; saffron party in shock

Bengaluru, May 25: Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds that lashed Bengaluru last evening left hundreds of trees uprooted near the BTM layout and other areas.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a thunderstorm accompanied with lightning in Karnataka for the next five days.

"Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning at will prevail at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, South Interior Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe and Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal," the IMD said its All Indian Weather Forecast Bulletin.

According to the forecasting agency, due to strong southerly wind from the Bay of Bengal to northeast India at lower tropospheric levels, heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls likely at isolated places over parts of northeastern states.

In addition to that heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over adjoining parts of east India during 24th-28th. "Heavy rainfall at isolated places over parts south peninsular India from May 26th-28th, 2020," the IMD said its All Indian Weather Forecast Bulletin.

Bengaluru, Jan 10: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa said on Thursday he might not attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and would most likely visit Delhi this weekend for discussions on the pending cabinet expansion.

He was expected to join Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya, chief ministers Amarinder Singh (Punjab) and Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh) and over 100 Indian CEOs at WEF’s 50th annual gathering on January 21-24.

“Mostly, I may not go for Davos (meet),” he told reporters on Thursday. Last week, he had said he was not keen on travelling to the Swiss town but was considering it as some chief ministers’ attendance was required at the high-profile event.

Eleven Congress-JD(S) turncoats, who contested the bypolls on BJP tickets and won, reportedly pressured Yediyurappa to take a decision on cabinet expansion before the now-uncertain Davos trip; it was even suggested that he should simply cancel the trip. The newly elected BJP MLAs are widely expected to be inducted as ministers. But officials in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said his disinclination to travel had nothing to do with the cabinet exercise.

“It’s mainly because of his health. That place (Davos) has got temperature of minus 4-6 degrees and it will be quite tedious for Yediyurappa at the age of 76,” one official said. BJP functionaries, however, claimed that he was wary of taking a trip amid tensions in the party. “The new MLAs have been breathing down Yediyurappa’s neck. They have pushed him into a corner, demanding that he complete cabinet expansion before going anywhere,” a senior functionary said.

On Thursday, the chief minister said he had sought a meeting with party bosses in Delhi. “To discuss cabinet expansion and other important issues, I plan to travel to New Delhi on January 11 or 12. However, I am still waiting for an appointment with the BJP national president and prime minister,” he said.

While Yediyurappa, his additional chief secretary P Ravi Kumar and political adviser MB Maramkal may not visit Davos, a 10-member delegation from Karnataka, including Jagadish Shettar, is expected to travel. There are reports ministers’ family members might join the delegation.

Bhopal, Mar 7: Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera on Saturday said that he was not in any kind of captivity in Bengaluru and he will meet Chief Minister Kamal Nath soon.

"I was in Bengaluru for my daughter's medical treatment. I was not in any kind of captivity. I will meet CM Kamal Nath soon," Shera told reporters here upon returning to Bhopal from Bengaluru.

Earlier, Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that the BJP had escorted four Madhya Pradesh MLAs, including three from his party, to Bengaluru.

"Last night, two charter planes were booked by BJP to take MLAs to Bengaluru. One was a 9-seater plane while the other was 12-seater. In the 12-seater plane, four MLAs were taken to Bengaluru. Out of them, three Congress MLAs Bisahulal Singh, Raghuraj Kansana and Hardeep Dang and one Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera," Singh had said.

He has accused BJP of resorting to horse-trading in order to bring down the Kamal Nath government.