Secularism of Cong, Left is euphemism for hating Hindutva, says BJP

Belagavi, Feb 10: In comments that raised eyebrows, Ramesh Jarkiholi, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP and who took oath as minister last week, said his brother Satish has a bright future. The two siblings have rarely seen eye-to-eye — at least in public — in recent times.

He also trained his gun on Congress leader DK Shivakumar, sarcastically thanking the Congress MLA for his meteoric rise. “Had Shivakumar not stood against me, I would not have emerged as a tall leader in the state. I must thank him,” Ramesh said.

The Gokak MLA said Satish of the Congress, the most politically-savvy of the five Jarkiholi siblings, would reach “the top” in his political career. However, he advised him “to inculcate patience and adopt strategies”. “He should make his moves at the right time as timing is very important in politics,” Ramesh said.

He also urged Satish to keep his supporters happy. “Many of his followers are disappointed with his leadership because he does not extend a helping hand to his own people. In the present political climate, people do not endorse a leader who only talks about Buddha and Basava,” Ramesh said.

Ramesh took a dig at Lakan, the youngest sibling, saying, “Lakan speaks ill about me most of the time. He does not understand much. But we brothers are one when it comes to family. We are united when it comes to family matters, but when it comes to politics, we are at loggerheads.”

Mangaluru, May 15: In a shocking development, as many as 20 people from coastal Karnataka, who recently came from United Arab Emirates today tested positive for covid-19.

More than 175 repatriates were brought from Dubai to Mangaluru International Airport on May 12. Among them residents of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts were quarantined in their respective district. 

The throat swabs of all the passengers were sent for covid-19 testing on the following day. 21 of them obtained positive report today. Among those tested covid-19 positive, 15 are residents of Dakshina Kannada and five are from Udupi district. 

They were shifted to covid-19 hospitals in their respective districts today.

A 53-year-old Indian worker in the UAE has missed a special repatriation flight after he dozed off at the Dubai International Airport, a media report said.

P Shajahan, who worked as a storekeeper in Abu Dhabi, was supposed to fly to Thiruvananthapuram on the Emirates jumbo jet chartered by the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) Dubai, Gulf News reported.

It was the first-ever jumbo jet chartered for repatriation.

Shajahan, who had paid 1,100 dirham (USD 300) for the ticket, said that he did not sleep on the previous night as he kept on waiting for the confirmation of his ticket for the jumbo jet flying 427 stranded Indians to Kerala, it said.

He reached the airport early in the morning and after finishing the check-in procedures and rapid test, he reached the waiting area of the boarding gate at Terminal 3 around 2 PM local time, the report said.

“I sat away from most of the others. But I fell asleep after 4.30 PM,” he said.

S Nizamudeen Kollam, who coordinated the charter flight, said that the airline officials could not trace Shajahan when the flight was to take off.

“He woke up and called us after the flight left. It is sad that he missed the flight, which was the first-ever jumbo jet chartered for repatriation. We are now trying to send him on another Emirates flight that we are chartering on Saturday,” Kollam said.

Since Shajahan did not have any money, Jasimkhan Kallambalam, organising secretary of KMCC Thiruvananthapuram, went to the airport to meet him on Friday.

“Since his visa was cancelled, he could not come out of the airport. He had only eaten the snacks in the kit KMCC had given. We managed to give him some cash for buying food through KMCC volunteer Alamsha Latheef,” Kallambalam said.

In March, another Indian expat had fallen asleep in the same terminal and missed the last flight home before flights were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was stranded here for over 50 days before getting repatriated.