Sangh Parivar’s opposition to Kerala CM’s Mangaluru visit hurts Billavas

Bengaluru, Feb 27: Karnataka Chief Minister and veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa turned 78 on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of leaders greeting him.

Modi hailed Yediyurappa as a "hardworking" chief minister and wished him long life and good health, while several state leaders flocked to his residence and greeted the Lingayat strongman.

"Birthday greetings to Karnataka's hardworking CM @BSYBJP Ji. He is passionately working for the state's progress, especially on farmer welfare and rural development. I pray for his long life and good health," the Prime Minister tweeted.

A large-scale "non-partisan" birthday bash will be held here later in the evening.

The felicitation function will see Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and former chief minister S M Krishna besides Siddaramaiah of Congress and H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) sharing the stage.

Union Ministers D V Sadananda Gowda, also a former chief minister, Pralhad Joshi and Suresh Angadi will be in attendance.

BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh and state party chief Nalin Kumar Kateel are among those who will be gracing the event.

While Santosh will release a felicitation volume in Kannada with 78 articles from a cross-section of people, including politicians, writers, bureaucrats, and spiritual leaders; Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy will unveil a coffee table book and documentary respectively.

Yediyurappa, on the eve of his birthday on Wednesday, had said whatever he has achieved is a result of the people's "blessings and faith" and requested well-wishers not to bring bouquets, flowers, shawls, sweets, turbans or any souvenirs to greet him.

The birthday function organised by "Yediyurappa Abhinandana Samiti" (Yediyurappa Felicitation Committee) is being seen in some quarters as an attempt by Yediyurappa and his loyalists to send a message to the party leadership that he was still "strong".

The BJP's current dispensation under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has retired several senior party leaders who crossed the age of 75.

However, an exception was said to have been made in Yediyurappa's case after the BJP won 25 of 28 seats in the Lok Sabha election under his leadership.

In the 2018 elections, he spearheaded the campaign of the BJP which emerged as the single largest party but fell short of the majority mark following which Congress and JD(S) came to power stitching a post-poll pact.

However, the coalition collapsed in July last year, paving the way for return of Yediyurappa as Chief Minister for the fourth time.

Mangaluru, Jun 21: The first flight chartered by Karnataka Sports and Cultural Club (KSCC) to repatriate stranded UAE Kannadigas today reached Mangaluru from Sharjah.

The Air Arabia flight with 173 passengers took off from Sharjah international airport around 6:00 am (UAE Time) and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at around 11.00 am (IST) on Sunday. 

The flight had 29 pregnant women, 16 children, 5 infants, senior citizens, people with medical emergencies and those who have lost jobs among others.
 
KSCC Manager Mr Shafi said that all the legal procedures were carried out smoothly. Charter flight was arranged only for the stranded Kannadigas.
 
KSCC had set up help desk to finalize list of passengers, given discounted ticket fare for needy passengers who cannot afford the full repatriation cost. Free PPE kits were distributed to all passengers along with snacks.

Meanwhile rapid tests for Covid-19 was conducted before departure and mandatory quarantine for all the passengers was arranged accordingly in 3 hotels in Mangaluru for a period of seven days.
 
KSCC office bearers Shafi, Althaf, Javed, Naseer and volunteers were present at airport during the flight departure. KSCC has expressed gratitude to Consulate General, DC of DK District, Umar U H and Ataullah Jokkate for their support.

Udupi, Jul 21: Sri Sugunendra Teertha Swami, the chief pontiff of Puthige Mutt, has tested positive for coronavirus. 

The pontiff got admitted into KMC Hospital Manipal last night and his treatment is in progress at the said hospital.

He was supposed to initiate his annual Chaturmasa Vruta at Padigaru Mutt on Tuesday.

According to sources, he was suffering from fever and hence he opted to get tested for covid-19. His health condition is said to be stable.