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Udupi-Chikmagalur bypoll: Is Yeddyrurappa working for BJP candidate's defeat?

[email protected] (CD Network)
March 14, 2012

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Mangalore, March 14: Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's refusal to campaign for BJP candidate Sunil Kumar in Chikmagalur-Udupi Lok Sabha by-poll has caused jitters in the BJP camp.

The sudden Delhi trip by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who has refused to campaign for BJP candidate Sunil Kumar in Chikmagalur-Udupi Lok Sabha by-poll has caused jitters in the BJP camp.

Next Sunday's crucial bypoll is expected to be an acid test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The bigger question is whether the BJP will be successful in retaining the seat without the services of Mr. Yeddyurappa, who is regarded as responsible for the party's victory in the 2008 Assembly elections as well as the byelections held so far.

Meanwhile, JD(S) has accused the former chief minister of striking a pact with the Congress to defeat the BJP candidate. “Yeddyurappa is determined to settle political scores with chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda by ensuring the BJP candidate's defeat in the by-poll. Yeddyurappa has been sending a message for Veerashaiva voters in the constituency to vote for Congress candidate Jayaprakash Hegde in the by-poll,” said JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti.

Mr. Yeddyurappa's absence from the BJP's campaign is likely to help Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde, who lost the 2009 general elections to Mr. Gowda, the then BJP State unit president, by a margin of nearly 27,000 votes.

Mr. Yeddyurappa is seeking to convey to the party national leadership that the BJP has been triumphant in the elections thanks to his hard work and without him the electorate's response to the party will be poor.

Should the BJP candidate emerge victorious, then Mr. Yeddyurappa stands to be pushed further away from the party mainstream.

The onus is now on the incumbent Chief Minister and president of the State unit of the BJP K.S. Eshwarappa to prove to the BJP national leadership that despite Mr. Yeddyurappa's boycott, they can comfortably hold aloft the BJP flag.

Interestingly, several Cabinet Ministers, who are closely associated with Mr. Yeddyurappa, are on the campaign trail. There are nearly one lakh Lingayat voters in the constituency, which has an electorate of nearly 12 lakh.

Mr. Yeddyurappa's boycott is expected to push Lingayats to vote for the Congress candidate.

The BJP candidate Mr. Kumar who was earlier a member of the Legislative Assembly elected from the Karkala Assembly segment is stated to be putting up a stiff fight against the Congress candidate but deep divisions within the ruling party is expected to damage his chances.

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News Network
May 17,2020

Bengaluru, May 17: Left to itself, Karnataka will look to spring back towards normalcy under Lockdown 4.0 as the state government is on standby to resume public transport services from May 18, if the Centre allows it. 

Though KSRTC and BMTC have been preparing for resumption of services, officials in the two corporations told DH that they cannot make a move till the government makes a decision.

Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar said the department will take a decision based on the state government's orders. "The government will take a call on buses as well as taxi and other transport services," he said.

Senior officials in the state government said Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi has written to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari seeking a nod for resumption of the services. 

Transport Secretary Gaurav Gupta has written a separate letter to his counterpart in the Union government requesting permission to operate public transport. "The state government wants the services to open. The official has listed out the steps the corporations will take to ensure social distancing other steps that will be taken to check spread of Coronavirus," a source said.

The B S Yediyurappa administration has been bullish on easing lockdown restrictions. 

If the Centre empowers the states to define Lockdown 4.0, Karnataka is likely to do away with the red-orange-green zoning of districts and allow public services to resume, except in COVID-19 containment zones. The government is also likely to redefine its containment strategy by micromanaging localities where COVID-19 cases are reported, without letting life in an entire district get affected. 

The government has already shown willingness to allow hotels and gyms to open after May 17 subject to social distancing norms and restrictions. In fact, the government has proposed to allow the resumption of all economic activities in standalone establishments. The government, however, is not keen on opening malls, theatres, diners and establishments that have centralized air conditioning. 

“Everything depends on the Centre,” Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan said. “Our only stand is that the red zone should be treated at par with the other zone when it comes to relaxation.” 

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News Network
April 20,2020

Bengluru, Apr 20: Lockdown restrictions have been extended by a day by the Karnataka government, in an order issued by chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Sunday.

The order directed all heads of departments, district deputy commissioners and superintendent of policies to "continue to implement the measures presently in force" as per Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines dated April 14, "till the midnight of April 21, 2020."

The MHA guidelines had earlier allowed the state government to relax lockdown norms post-April 20.

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News Network
February 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: India on Sunday reported the second case of novel coronavirus with a person from Kerala with a travel history to China testing positive, officials said.

"The patient has tested positive for novel coronavirus and is in isolation in a hospital," the health ministry said.

The patient is stable and is being closely monitored, it said.

India's first novel coronavirus case in India was also reported from Kerala with a student testing positive.

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