Plane blame: Coalition parties, BJP trade charges on funding flights

TNN
July 9, 2019

Bengaluru, Jul 9: As resort politics and private jets grabbed the headlines amid the political crisis in Karnataka, coalition parties and the BJP on Monday traded charges over who “sponsored” the flight of the rebel MLAs to Mumbai on Saturday and the aircraft that brought chief minister HD Kumaraswamy to Bengaluru from Delhi a day later.

After a Saturday evening special flight ferried the rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs to Mumbai, another flight took minister H Nagesh to join them on Monday morning. The fact that the independent MLA was met at the airport by BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa’s personal assistant NH Santosh provided the ruling coalition with more ammunition to attack the opposition party.

The coalition government accused the BJP of “hypocrisy” for distancing itself from the resignations after a chartered aircraft owned by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar was used to fly the 10 rebel MLAs to Mumbai.

Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara immediately hit out at Chandrasekhar on social media. “Traces of BJP’s role in destabilising the govt are all over the place. It is disgraceful that the party is attempting to topple a democratically elected govt & grab power through the backdoor, when the state is reeling under one of the worst droughts,” Parameshwara tweeted, tagging a report on Chandrasekhar’s plane being used to ferry the rebels to the financial capital.

Chandrasekhar responded by asking Parameshwara not to blame him or the aircraft, stating that the plane was listed for commercial use and had been used by Congress ministers too.

“Dear @DrParameshwara — this ‘aircraft’ is a commercial charter - tht has been chartered by many ppl incldg ur own ministers in past! So don’t blame me or an ‘aircraft’ or @BJP4India for the problems in yr crooked corrupt opprtunistic ‘alliance’ [sic],” he tweeted.

BJP sympathisers even took the opportunity to charge chief minister HD Kumaraswamy with hiring a chartered plane of a company “allied” to the JSW Group to return to Bengaluru from New Delhi on Sunday night.

Kumaraswamy did use the plane, registered to Monnet, a joint venture company between JSW and AION, to fly from New Delhi to Bengaluru, CMO officials confirmed, but said the CM did not “specifically” seek the use of that aircraft.

“The plane was taken on rent, when the CM was leaving New York. There was no intent to pick a JSW plane,” a CMO spokesperson said. “The CMO used a contractor to hire the chartered plane.”

According to officials, Kumaraswamy was billed Rs 12 lakh for the special plane, which will be personally paid for by the chief minister.

The BJP reportedly has kept on a couple of special flights on standby to take more ruling party MLAs from Bengaluru to Mumbai.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 22: A total of 4,764 new COVID-19 cases and 55 deaths were reported in Karnataka in the last 24 hours.

Out of the new cases, 2,050 cases were reported in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The total number of active cases stands at 47,069, said the state Health Department.

Death toll rises to 1,519 in the state.

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News Network
May 14,2020

Bengaluru, May 14: Three youths died of "asphyxiation" when they fell into a pit in the abandoned Kolar gold field mines, where they had gone to allegedly steal iron material early on Thursday, police said.

On Wednesday night, the trio had entered the gold mine in Kolar district, about 100 km from Bengaluru, and fell in the pit after losing balance.

After inhaling the poisonous gas in the pit, they were asphyxiated to death, they said.

"It was a seven hour exercise after which we could bring out two bodies. Work is on to retrieve the third," a police officer told .

Police reached the spot after they were alerted by the accomplices of the deceased.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Bengaluru, May 1: The Karnataka government on Friday issued a show cause notice to an IAS officer over his recent tweet about coronavirus-cured Tablighi Jamaat members donating plasma for treatment of other patients.

The officer, Mohammad Mohsin, was in the news last year after the Election Commission suspended him for trying to inspect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter during his visit to Odisha in April. He was deployed as a poll observer.

"More than 300 Tablighi Heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about? #Godi Media? They will not show the works of humanity done by these heroes," Mohsin said in a tweet on April 27.

A 1996 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre hailing from Bihar, Mohsin is currently serving as a secretary in the Backward Class Welfare Department.

The state government said the show cause notice has been issued to the officer in connection with his tweet.

"The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note of seriously by the government, given the serious nature of COVID-19 and the sensitivities involved," the notice, which was accessed by PTI, stated.

The government has sought a written explanation from the officer within five days for violating the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.

It warned of action against Mohsin as per the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 if he fails to submit his reply before the deadline.

"The Karnataka government has made it clear that it would not hesitate to act even against powerful functionaries if their actions are damaging to the harmony in the state at a time when all are united in fighting COVID-19," a senior state bureaucrat said.

The Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary group, shot into the limelight early this year after thousands of its members who attended a congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin in March tested positive for coronavirus.

After attending the event, the group's members travelled to various parts of the country, with many of them carrying the virus.

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