Mahendra Kumar joins JD-S, apologizes to Christians

February 21, 2011

MAHENDRA_KUMAR

Mangalore, February 21: Close on the heels of sharing power with BJP in Mysore Zilla Panchayat, opposition JDS today admitted into its fold a sangh parivar leader, reportedly involved in church attacks in Karnataka to "weaken communal forces and strengthen secular forces".

Former convenor of Bajrang Dal Mahendra Kumar today joined JDS led by former Prime Minister H D Devegowda along with his supporters from coastal and Malnad districts of Karnataka in the presence of state unit JDS president H D Kumaraswamy.

Mahendra Kumar who was divested as the convenor of Bajdrang Dal after he owned responsibility for the 2008 church attack in parts of Mangalore and Chikmagalur and even jailed for some time, lashed out at BJP which he accused as a "party that is creating wedge between castes and communities for its survival".

"I am today shedding the shackles of communalism to strive for communal harmony, for which the JDS is working," Mahendra Kumar said defending his cross over to JDS.

He tendered his apologies to Christians for his role in attacks on churches and described Muslims as patriots.

Mahendra Kumar, training his guns on the BJP government in the state, said corruption had reached unprecedented heights.

Kumaraswamy dubbed the Congress as a "directionless party". He said he had chosen to admit Mahendra Kumar into the party fold despite reservations expressed by Muslims and Christian leaders.

Kumaraswamy said he was "keen on promoting the welfare of downtrodden sections of the society".

JDS Spokesman Y S V Datta launched a blistering attack on today's BJP rally remarking "it is not for celebrating 1000 days in office, but to celebrate 1000 scams that have surfaced in the BJP government".

The BJP has put on display its ugly wealth power in the rally, he alleged.


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News Network
July 1,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka registered a record 1,272 Covid positive cases to breach the 16,000- mark to take the states tally to 16,514, while seven people succumbed to the dreaded virus, an official said on Wednesday.

"New cases reported from Tuesday 5 p.m. to Wednesday 5 p.m. 1,272," said a health official.

In the past 24 hours, seven people have succumbed to the virus, two each in Bengaluru Urban and Bidar and one each in Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi and Hassan, taking the state''s death toll to 253.

Of the record number of cases in the last 24 hours, Bengaluru Urban bore the brunt with 735 infections, taking the city''s tally rise to 5,290, out of which 4,649 are active cases.

Among the new cases, excluding Bengaluru, Ballari accounted for 85, followed by Dakshina Kannada (84), Dharwad (35), Bengaluru Rural (29), Vijayapura and Hassan (28 each), Uttara Kannada (23) and Udupi (22).

Chamarajanagar witnessed 21 cases, followed by Bagalkote (20), Tumkur (19), Davangere (16), Chikkaballapura (15), Kalaburagi and Ramanagara (14 each), Koppal (13), Raichur and Chitradurga (12 each), Yadgir, Bidar and Belagavi (8 each), Kodagu (7), Mandya and Kolar (5 each), Shivamogga (3), Gadag (2) and Chikkamagaluru (1).

Of the 1,272 new cases, 1,068 or 84 per cent are contacts of earlier cases while domestic returnees accounted for 42 cases or 3 per cent.

On Wednesday, 145 people got discharged from different hospitals, elevating the total number discharges to 8,063.

Of the 16,514 cases in Karnataka, 8,194 are active cases.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 20: Continuing with the easing of restrictions under 'Unlock 1.0', the Karnataka government on Saturday authorised local bodies to fix timing for opening of public parks other than those in the containment zones between 5 am to 9 pm.

It has also mandated adhering to all the national directives issued to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the guidelines issued by the state government in this connection.

Noting that the government has been relaxing conditions under unlock 1.0, Principal Secretary Revenue N Manjunath Prasad, who is also the member secretary of the state disaster management authority in an order said, local bodies have been asked to set the timing between 5 am to 9 pm to open all parks that come under them and the government.

It said this would be applicable to only those parks that come outside the containment zones. Earlier in May, while relaxing the lockdown norms, the government had set 7 am to 9 am and from 5 pm to 7 pm for the opening of parks.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Bengaluru, May 10: Amid the coronavirus lockdown, two police inspectors were suspended for their alleged involvement in the illegal sale of cigarettes.

"Two police inspectors suspended after an enquiry found their involvement in illegal sale of cigarettes during the lockdown in Bengaluru," informed Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil while speaking to news agency.

More details in this regard are awaited.

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