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Bengaluru, Jan 10: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa said on Thursday he might not attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and would most likely visit Delhi this weekend for discussions on the pending cabinet expansion.

He was expected to join Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya, chief ministers Amarinder Singh (Punjab) and Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh) and over 100 Indian CEOs at WEF’s 50th annual gathering on January 21-24.

“Mostly, I may not go for Davos (meet),” he told reporters on Thursday. Last week, he had said he was not keen on travelling to the Swiss town but was considering it as some chief ministers’ attendance was required at the high-profile event.

Eleven Congress-JD(S) turncoats, who contested the bypolls on BJP tickets and won, reportedly pressured Yediyurappa to take a decision on cabinet expansion before the now-uncertain Davos trip; it was even suggested that he should simply cancel the trip. The newly elected BJP MLAs are widely expected to be inducted as ministers. But officials in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said his disinclination to travel had nothing to do with the cabinet exercise.

“It’s mainly because of his health. That place (Davos) has got temperature of minus 4-6 degrees and it will be quite tedious for Yediyurappa at the age of 76,” one official said. BJP functionaries, however, claimed that he was wary of taking a trip amid tensions in the party. “The new MLAs have been breathing down Yediyurappa’s neck. They have pushed him into a corner, demanding that he complete cabinet expansion before going anywhere,” a senior functionary said.

On Thursday, the chief minister said he had sought a meeting with party bosses in Delhi. “To discuss cabinet expansion and other important issues, I plan to travel to New Delhi on January 11 or 12. However, I am still waiting for an appointment with the BJP national president and prime minister,” he said.

While Yediyurappa, his additional chief secretary P Ravi Kumar and political adviser MB Maramkal may not visit Davos, a 10-member delegation from Karnataka, including Jagadish Shettar, is expected to travel. There are reports ministers’ family members might join the delegation.

Mangaluru, Jan 20: A suspicious unattended laptop bag with the suspicion of containing “something harmful” was found abandoned at the Mangaluru International Airport on Monday.

The bag was found kept in the rest area meant for the passengers outside the airport. According to reports, two men came in auto and left the bag near the ticket counter, which is near the VIP vehicles parking area.

The bag, which was lying unattended near the entrance of the airport was removed from the spot by the airport security personnel at 8.45 am.

Bomb detection squad personnel has rushed to the spot and shifted the bag to a safe zone, said Mangaluru Commissioner of Police P S Harsha.

Bengaluru, Jan 23: An alleged low-intensity blast on Wednesday late evening in Shanthinagar left three-time Congress MLA NA Harris and six others with burn injuries. The blast reported at around 8:30 pm during a cultural programme gripped the central parts of Bengaluru in a panic especially after the incident of police recovering a live bomb in Mangaluru airport. 

According to sources in Shanthinagar, MLA Harris was attending the birthday celebrations of MGR organized by the locals close to his residence in Shanthinagar. Following the blast, Harris and a few others who standing close to the MLA sustained burn injuries and rushed to the nearby Philomena Hospital immediately and police officials from both the Ashok Nagar and Vivek Nagar visited the spot. The police officials are yet to confirm whether it was a bomb blast or due to the bursting of loud and powerful crackers. 

Chethan Singh Rathore, DCP (Central) visited the hospital and the blast site. A team of forensic science lab experts have also been summoned to the spot to collect samples for ascertaining the nature of the blast. MLA Harris’s son Mohammed Nalapad who rushed to the hospital along with supporters told media persons that they are completely shocked by the incident. 

“He was sitting on a chair and suddenly something that was hurled at him exploded beneath the chair. He sustained injuries to his leg and brought to the hospital. He is being treated by a team of doctors and other injured supporters are also being attended to by the doctors,” Nalapad said. 

Expressing shock over the incident, he said, “My father has been an MLA for 12-years and nothing of this sort had happened before in the constituency. We have no rivals and my father never had any gunmen. We are all shocked and have complained to the jurisdictional police.” 

Meantime, Dr Shankar Prasad, Medical Director, St Philomena’s Hospital explained that Harris and others are currently being treated for minor injuries. “None of them have any open cut injuries and they are being examined further,” Dr Prasad told DH. 

According to Dr Prasad, Harris had a minor blood clot in his left leg which was possibly due to a hard object hitting him during the blast. “We have taken X-Ray and examining further. At the look of it, it seems like a very minor injury,” he added.