SDPI’s Ilyas Mohammad Thumbay files nomination papers from Dakshina Kannada

Bengaluru, Jun 10: Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said on Tuesday that he filed his nomination for the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka in response to a collective call from national leaders to be back in the Parliament.

"Though I was not personally interested to contest, national leaders from Congress President Sonia Gandhi, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, TMC and Left parties want me back in Parliament," he told reporters here.

Gowda, 87, filed his nomination in the Vidhana Soudha, submitting the papers to Assembly Secretary and Returning Officer M.K. Vishalakshi, a party official told IANS.

Gowda''s second son and former minister H.D. Revanna and third son and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy were present on the occasion.

"Our party''s all 34 legislators also urged me to contest as my presence is necessary in Parliament at a time when the country was grappling with multiple crises in the aftermath of coronavirus," said Gowda.

Claiming that there was no pressure from his two sons as they are more concerned with his health, Gowda said he was touched by the requests of the national leaders, especially Gandhi who personally called him and asked him to contest as the country needed his presence in Parliament.

Gowda agreed to contest in the bypoll as his party''s candidate after the Congress state unit assured him of its support with its surplus votes, as the JD-S with 34 legislators is short of 10 votes of the required 44 votes.

It will be second time Gowda will enter the Rajya Sabha, 24 years after he was its member as the Prime Minster from June 1996 to April 1997 of the United Front government.

"Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal informed Kumaraswamy on June 6 that the party was fielding only its senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge from Karnataka and had surplus votes to ensure my victory as our party is 10 votes short of the required 44 votes to win," Gowda said.

Kharge filed his nomination on Monday.

Party''s outgoing member Kupendra Reddy, whose 6-year term ends on June 25, told Gowda that he was not interested for a second term as he did not get enough time in the upper house to raise issues.

"As our party does not have numbers in Parliament to get more time allotted to raise issues and participate in debates, Reddy wanted me to be in the Rajya Sabha in his place so that I could serve the nation better," Gowda said.

Gowda lost in the May 2019 general elections from Tumkur to G.S. Basvaraj of the BJP.

With the term of the four members -- Congress'' B.K. Hariprasad and Rajeev Gowda, BJP''s Prabhakar Kore and JD-S''s Reddy ending on June 25, the Election Commission notified the poll on June 1.

According to the poll panel, the nominations will be scrutinised on Wednesday and last date for withdrawal by candidates is June 12. Polling and vote count is on June 19.

From the ruling BJP, its grassroot cadres Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti filed their nominations after Gowda.

By fielding Gowda for the fourth seat, the Congress and JD-S, who had post-poll and pre-poll alliances for the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in May 2019 and May 2018, queered the pitch for the BJP, denying it the chance to win a third seat.

Udupi, Jul 26: Two persons including a lady doctor have been arrested by the Kaup police in Udupi district for trying to use fake salary documents to avail loan from a bank to buy a car. 

According to police, on July 24, the doctor had visited Bank of Baroda's branch office at Kaup Moodabettu. She had approached the branch manager for a car loan for herself and her brother. She claimed that her monthly salary is Rs 2.66 lakh.

The bank verified the details furnished along with the loan application. The bank found that even though the doctor had furnished salary slips of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, she was presently not employed there.

The bank manager has filed a complaint at Kaup police station, accusing the doctor of trying to cheat the bank by availing loan on the basis of fake documents.

The police registered a case and nabbed her when she visited the Katapady branch of the same bank today. The police also arrested a man, who according to the doctor, created fake documents for her.

Dubai, Apr 18: A 47-year-old Indian worker has allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the third floor of a building here, according to a media report.

Ashokan Purushotaman, a native of Kollam in Kerala, cut the arteries in his legs and jumped from the third floor of a building in the city's Jebel Ali area on Friday, the Gulf News reported.

Purushotaman succumbed to his injuries in Rashid Hospital.

Meanwhile, Dubai Police has rejected reports that Purushotaman killed himself because he had coronavirus. Personal reasons were cited as the cause for suicide.

“His suicide is not related to COVID-19. The building is clean and there are no infection cases there. He committed suicide due to personal reasons,” director of Jebel Ali police station Brigaider Adel Al Suwaidi told the Gulf News.

Consul-General of India Vipul confirmed Purushotaman's death. “We are yet to get more information. Considering the death was of unnatural circumstances, authorities will conduct due forensic tests and provide us with more details," Vipul told the daily.