Rift in alliance? Sitting Cong MP files nomination from Tumakuru, asks Deve Gowda to step back

Agencies
March 25, 2019

Bengaluru, Mar 25: Rifts in the Congress- Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in Karnataka on Monday seemed to intensify further as the Lok Sabha elections inches closer.

The gaping rift in the alliance was visible when Congress sitting MP, SP Muddahanumegowda on Monday filed his nomination from Tumkur, which under the seat-sharing arrangement announced earlier was ceded to the JD(S) after supremo Deve Gowda said he will fight from the Tumkur seat. Of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, it was agreed that Congress will contest 20 seats and JD(S) on eight.

"I have filed my nomination as a Congress candidate. I request my leader and JD (S) to reconsider their decision and give me the ticket to contest from Tumkur. I am confident that I will get back the seat," Muddahanumegowda told media persons here after filing his nomination.

Muddahanumegowda filed his nomination for Tumkur despite a request made by Deputy Chief Minister G Parmeshwara on Sunday to "obey the coalition dharma".

Congress leader and former MLA K N Rajanna backed Muddahanumegowda and said: "We've requested Gowda to contest from Bengaluru North instead of Tumkur. If Deve Gowda wants to contest from here, let him contest on Congress ticket, we all will vote for him."

Clearing that things are not fine between the Congress and JDS, G Parmeshwara said that it is unfortunate that Tumkur and Deve Gowda has come between the give and take policy in Karnataka.

"It was party high command who decided to give away Tumkur parliamentary constituency to JDS. I have been requesting Gowda ji to contest elections from Tumkur. It is unfortunate that Tumkur and Deve Gowda has come between the give and take policy in the state," Congress leader G Parmeshwara told ANI.

"Tumkur was a sitting seat and it was the only sitting seat out of 10 in Karnataka that we gave away to JDS. We requested JDS to not ask for Tumkur. We told them if Gowda ji is not fighting then they should leave the seat. But now they have decided to field him from that seat. As he has decided to contest, naturally we will support him," he added.

Elaborating about the seat-sharing formula stitched between the Congress and JDS, Parmeshwara said: "In politics, many things happen. We never expected that we will be fighting this election together with JD (S). The question of seat sharing was decided by our party high command. They asked for 12 seats. The high command decided to give away eight seats and now we are fighting with that formula."

Requesting former Prime Minister Gowda not to contest from Tumkur, Parmeshwara stated: "Deve Gowda should not contest as rebel candidate or independent candidate. I made a request to Gowda ji to not go to that extent. We all have a responsibility and we all want Gowda ji to win the seat that he fights from."

He added that we don't want the BJP to come into power. It is not a question of prestige or ego, it's a question of not allowing the BJP to come to the Centre.

Responding to Deve Gowda's offer to Congress to field its candidate from North Bengaluru, Parmeshwara said: "It is not one or another. Rahul ji has said clearly that we will support Deve Gowda. We are just respecting the Congress chief's decision. If I have to fight from Bengaluru against Prime Minister Modi, I'm prepared for it."

Karnataka will go to polls during the second and third phases of Lok Sabha polling on April 18 and April 23, respectively. Results will be announced on May 23.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 17 seats in Karnataka while the Congress bagged nine seats and JDS got two seats.

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News Network
July 19,2020

Davangere, Jul 19: A 9-year-old sniffer dog ran 12 km in the night to trace a murder accused and helped the police arrest him in Karnataka's Davangere rural area, an official said on Sunday.

"Doberman Pincher Tunga ran 12 km non-stop from the crime spot at Basavapattana in the city to a house at Kashipur in the rural where murder accused Chethan, 25, was hiding and helped us arrest him on July 17," Davangere Police Superintendent Hanumantha Rai said on phone.

Davangere is 260 km northwest of Bengaluru.

"Though Chethan allegedly shot dead his friend Chandra Nayak with a stolen service revolver on July 10 over sharing the booty (gold ornaments) of the theft they had committed recently with two others. We took female dog Tunga to the crime spot on July 16. She led the sleuths to the area where Chethan was hiding with two accomplices," Rai recalled.

While trained sniffer dogs normally run 4-5 km from a crime spot, Tunga could track the accused 12 km away.

When Tunga's handler (Head Constable Prakash) took her to the crime scene at 9.30 pm, she sniffed around and ran 12 km non-stop to Kashipur. She halted at a wine shop and went to a food joint later. Then she stopped at a house nearby at 12.30 am.

The prime accused (Chethan) was present in the house of his relative. He was arrested after he confessed to the theft and the murder.

The police are on the hunt to trace Chethan's two accomplices who fled from the house they were hiding in.

Karnataka Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Amar Kumar Pandey felicitated Tunga on July 17 at a function here for cracking the murder case with its exceptional sniffing traits.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 7: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday said the much-awaited cabinet expansion will take place in about a week to 10 days and that he wants to complete the exercise before his proposed visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meet later this month.

"Cabinet expansion has to be done in a week or 8-10 days. There is also information that Amit Shah will be coming to Bengaluru on January 16 or 18. Before that I will go to Delhi and get things cleared and will expand the cabinet at the earliest," Mr Yediyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said he wanted to complete the exercise before his Davos visit.

"I will make all efforts to expand the cabinet before that," he said.

With Mr Yediyurappa making it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the December 5 bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on within the party for the remaining ministerial berths.

Currently, there are 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34.

Cabinet expansion will not be an easy task for the Chief Minister as he will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators as promised and also make space for the old guards, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise.

He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet and also deal with the allocation of key portfolios.

The Chief Minister, who has indicated that the ministry expansion may take place any time after Sankranti, is likely to travel to Davos on January 20, according to sources.

BS Yediyurappa, along with Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya, as well as Chief Ministers Amarinder Singh, Kamal Nath, are expected to join over 100 Indian CEOs at Davos in Switzerland later this month for the WEF's 50th annual meeting, which will be attended by thousands from across the globe.

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News Network
April 2,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 2: In a bid to discourage people from coming out on roads during the lockdown, Bengaluru Traffic Police have inscribed a message that reads, "If you come to road, I'll come to your home."

It was written on the road at Nagenahalli check-post. The message was written by the cops in the regional language.

Meanwhile, nine fresh cases were reported in Karnataka with the count rising to 110 in the state on Wednesday.

Out of the total cases, three persons died due to the virus while nine others have been discharged after recovery.

"COVID-19 cases climb to 110 in Karnataka, with nine fresh cases being reported between 5 pm yesterday and 2 pm today. Out of the total cases, three have died while nine others have been discharged," a bulletin issued by the state health department said.

"Out of 110 cases detected and confirmed in Karnataka so far, seven cases are transit
passengers of Kerala who have landed in our airports and being treated in
Karnataka," it added.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday said that there are 1,834 coronavirus positive cases in India, including 1,649 active cases, 144 cured/discharged/migrated people and 41 deaths.

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