Never asked votes in the name of Islam in Karnataka; BJP’s allegation is baseless: Azad

Agencies
May 3, 2018

Bengaluru, May 3: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday quashed the allegations made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he was seeking consolidation of Muslim votes in favour of his party in poll-bound Karnataka.

Talking to media, the Congress leader said, "I didn't hold any public meeting especially for Muslims, it was just a public meeting. I challenge, if anyone meeting the EC officials has video or audio of mine saying 'vote in name of Islam', then I will resign as Parliament member and leader of the opposition. Or those leaders from the BJP, who had approached the EC, should accept my challenge and resign from their respective posts if proved wrong."

"I have asked secular parties to come together. I have not used 'Musalman ikatha ho jao', 'Islam khatre me hai or Islam ke naam pe vote de do' terms during my speech," he added.

Earlier in the day, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, in a public rally, had openly asked Muslims in Karnataka to vote for the Congress party en masse.

"Is this an agenda of development, or is this a communal agenda? It is starkly clear that this is a communal agenda, we have complained to the Election Commission. Law will, of course, take its course but people of this country and people of Karnataka are extremely intelligent to see through this," he said.

A political slugfest has erupted as the Karnataka assembly elections are slated on May 12 to elect its representatives for the 225-member assembly. The results will be out on May 15.

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A Kannadiga
 - 
Friday, 4 May 2018

BJP to its chamcha Sambid Patra appointed as Director in ONGC, whereas he is not well qualified for this post.  Now he want to become Chairman of ONGC.  To be his party happy, he is passing derogatory remarks against BJP's enemy party INC.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 5,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 5: Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy rain and gusty winds lashed large parts of coastal and malnad districts of Karnataka in last 48 hours. Widespread power outages due to tree fall and minor landslides were reported in last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Indian Meteorological Department has sounded a red alert for Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts 8:30am of August 5.

In Mangaluru city there were several tree falls disrupting power supply in key areas of the city. Four electricity poles were damaged after a tree fell on Boloor Jarandaya road due to rain and heavy winds. In Neermarga too, there were a couple of tree falls in the morning cutting off power supply, which was not restored till this report was sent.

Mescom bore the brunt of the rains in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada District and at the last count as many as 148 electric poles, 23 transformers and 65 kilometer conductor wires were damaged due to poles being damaged in tree fall and landslides.

Traffic was affected on Charmadi Ghat on the Mangaluru-Chikkamagaluru route due to a tree fall on the second hair pin bend. 

On Monday, landslides near Kottigehara, Chikkamagaluru District, left traffic badly affected. Though normalcy has been restored on the route after blocking the road for restoration till Tuesday morning, locals fear more landslides due to continuous downpour.

Kodagu district too received heavy rainfall in past 24 hours which resulted in water logging in low-lying areas.

In the Coast, Uttara Kannada received the highest amount of rainfall at 91mm, followed by Udupi at 75 and DK at 73mm. The highest Rainfall of 241 mm was recorded at Castlerock, Supa Taluk in Uttara Kannada District.

KSNMDC bulletin stated that widespread moderate to heavy rains associated with strong surface winds at times and isolated very heavy to extreme heavy rains was likely over Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts It also stated that wind speeds ranging between 50kmph to 60 kmph was forecast along the coast of Karnataka from Mangaluru to Karwar, warning fishermen not to venture into the sea.

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News Network
June 8,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 8: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday filed his nomination as the party's candidate for the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka.

The former union minister filed his nomination in the presence of KPCC President D K Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and other senior party leaders at the office of Legislative Assembly Secretary M K Vishalakshi, who is the returning officer for the polls.

Ahead of filing of nomination, the Congress Legislature Party meeting was held under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, after which Shivakumar issued "B-form" to Kharge.

The Congress high command on June 5 had announced Kharge as the party's candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.

The election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka represented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad of the Congress, Prabhakar Kore of the BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of the JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement.

June 9 is the last date for filing nominations.

Congress with 68 MLAs in the assembly can win one of the four seats easily on its own, so Kharge's victory is said to be certain.

This will be the first stint in Rajya Sabha for Kharge, who has always got elected directly by the people in his political career spanning over four decades.

The leader, earlier popularly known as "solillada Saradara", (a leader without defeat), faced his first electoral loss in his political life against BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

A nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member, he had served as Congress floor leader in the previous Lok Sabha, and also as Union Railway and Labour Minister during the UPA government.

Kharge, who is 77-years-old, has also served as minister during several Congress governments in the state, and as KPCC President and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly in the past.

His son, Priyank Kharge, is currently MLA representing Chittapur constituency and had served as minister during the previous Congress and coalition governments.

JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is the JD(S) candidate.

The regional party that has 34 seats in the assembly is not in a position to win a seat in Rajya Sabha on its own, and will need the support from the Congress with its surplus votes.

A minimum of 44 votes are required for candidates to win.

BJP with 117 members in the assembly (including Speaker), can ensure easy victory in two seats.

The BJP's central leadership on Monday sprang a surprise by fielding Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha election ignoring the recommendations of the state BJP unit.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 1,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 1: Former member of Karnataka Legislative Council Ivan D’Souza has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. 

The Congress leader took to social media to break the news. “I and my wife Dr Kavitha have been tested positive covid-19 positive. There are no symptoms. We had voluntarily given our throat swabs for testing,” he said in a Facebook post.

He also requested his friends and well-wishers not to visit him until he recovers. 

Mr D’Souza had participated in a party meeting at Congress Bhavan when KPCC chief DK Shivakumar visited city yesterday. He was seen meeting several Congress leaders including U T Khader.

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