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Bengaluru, Apr 19: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday thanked Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa for backing his family regarding his son Nikhil s wedding, which drew flak for allegedly violating lockdown norms.

Asserting that social distancing was maintained during the wedding, the JD(S) leader in a series of tweets hit out at those accusing his family of violating lockdown norms, by stating that they were doing it out of "political hate".

"Despite maintaining social distancing and following rules during Nikhil's marriage, there are discussion that norms were not followed.

Because of political hate, poisonous comments are being made about an auspicious event, but Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa by rejecting all this is standing by the truth," Kumaraswamy said in a tweet in Kannada.

He said, "heartfelt thanks to Yediyurappa for his statement that a big political family in the state has conducted the marriage ceremony in a simple way."

Nikhil, the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, entered wedlock on Friday at a Bidadi farmhouse with Revathi, the grandniece of former Congress minister M Krishnappa.

On the day of the marriage several posts on social media, also media reports had criticised the Gowda family for violating locdown norms and social distancing during the event.

Coming to the defence of Gowda family, Yediyurappa in response to a question on Saturday told reporters "They (family) had all the permissions and the event was held in a simple fashion. There's no need to discuss this.

"Despite having many relatives, they stuck to the limitations. For this, I congratulate them," he had said.

Stating that lockdown rules were followed during Nikhil's marriage, Kumaraswamy said, "By looking for politics in Nikhil's marriage, certain faulty minds on social media are spewing venom that is in their mind."

Gowda family had scaled down Nikhil's wedding, which was earlier planned in a 95-acre land near Ramanagara with a lavish set, with lakhs of party workers and well-wishers in attendance, followed by a grand reception in Bengaluru.

Nikhil has acted in couple of Kannada films in the lead role.

He had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the party bastion of Mandya and had lost against multilingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate supported by BJP, in a bitterly contested polls.

Karwar, Jun 3: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert, predicting thundershowers and heavy rainfall over north interior Karnataka, coastal Dakshina Kannada and Udupi over the next three days.

With Cyclone Nisarga hitting the Uttara Kannada coast on Tuesday,  parts of coastal Karnataka received heavy rainfall. Gusty winds tore through the coastal towns, as the sea too turned violent with rough waves smashing the shore.

The alert was issued with the advancement of Nisarga from east-central Arabian Sea to north Maharashtra, and adjoining south Gujarat coast. “Though it does not cover Karnataka, the range of cyclonic winds is very big and reaches north interior Karnataka also.

So an alert has been called out,” CS Patil, director in-charge, IMD, Bengaluru, said. The weather department has forecast a severe cyclonic storm and then a depression. Patil said formation of systems is a common factor before the onset of the monsoon and they help in its advancement.

“Cyclone Nisarga is helping in the quick advancement of the southwest monsoon to Karnataka, and the monsoon is likely to arrive before the scheduled date as conditions are favourable,” he added.

Mysuru, Jul 19: Residents in the vicinity of the Chamundeshwari temple alleged VVIP racism against the administration for allowing BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje for a special visit there on Friday.

Even though the district collector had ordered the closure of temple visits due to the COVID pandemic, an exception was made for VVIPs.
The BJP leader claimed that she visited the temple on Thursday evening but the temple officials confirmed that she visited the temple on Friday at 7 am. It is her routine every year to visit the temple on the last Friday of Ashada Masa.

Locals, who tried get darshan of Chamundi Devi, were barred by the police leading to an altercation between locals and cops at the entrance to the temple.

Ashada Masa is considered an auspicious occasion and it is a belief among politicians that for the longevity of their political career, they need to visit Chamundeshwari temple every last Friday of Ashada Masa.