Situation worse than emergency; never seen in 60 years of public life: Deve Gowda

Agencies
July 10, 2019

Bengaluru, Jul 10: Slamming the denial of entry to a Congress minister from Karnataka to a Mumbai hotel to meet 12 rebel MLAs, former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda Wednesday said the situation was "worse than Emergency" and he had not seen anything like it in 60 years of public life.

Gowda also urged all political parties to come together, setting aside their differences, to "save democracy", which, he alleged, was under threat.

"I feel that the present situation is worse than the Emergency. DK Shivakumar (Congress minister) went to the hotel but was denied entry despite having booked a room there... I have not seen anything like this in my 60 years of political life," he said.

"All political parties should set aside their differences and come together to save democracy," he added.

Shivakumar was prevented from entering the hotel where rebel MLAs are put up, prompting him to announce that he won't leave the spot till he gets to meet the legislators, in a bid to save the Congress-JD (S) government in Karnataka.

The MLAs-- seven of Congress, three of JD(S) and two Independents-- are in Mumbai since Saturday after resigning from the membership of the Karnataka assembly and withdrawing support to the state's Congress-JD(S) coalition government.

Gowda was speaking prior to a march taken out here by workers of ruling Congress-JD(S) towards Raj Bhavan to protest against BJP's alleged attempts to topple the government.

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah warned that Congress and JD(S) workers would not keep quiet and would stage protests wherever BJP leaders went in Karnataka.

"I tell you that our workers will not let you travel in the state. We will create a situation that you will not be able to meet people," the Congress leader said.

Siddaramaiah alleged that the MLAs who had gone to Mumbai had done so only for the lure of money and had not sought public opinion before tendering their resignations.

"They have gone for money and power. They have sold themselves. I am appealing to all those who have camped in Mumbai, succumbing to the allurement trap laid by BJP, to come back and withdraw your resignation letters," he said.

"Give respect to the peoples verdict, else they will teach you a lesson," Siddaramaiah added.

Earlier, Congress and JD(S) workers, led by senior party leaders including Siddaramaiah, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge courted arrest after they were prevented from marching towards the Raj Bhavan.

Following this the leaders squatted on the road in protest.

All of them were later taken away from the venue in a bus.

The coalition government is teetering on the brink of collapse after 14 MLAs of ruling Congress and the JD(S) tendered their resignations to the office of the speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.

The Congress has sought the intervention of Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in disqualifying its rebel legislators and accused the BJP of using money power to lure its members. The BJP has denied the charge.

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News Network
February 28,2020

The Karnataka BJP, which faced action on Twitter earlier this month over incendiary tweets, this time has passed the blame of Sangh Parivar sponsored Delhi violence to the victims.

In an insensitive tweet on Friday, it dubbed the protests against the notorious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as "fake" and added that the violence that followed was "the most well-planned assault on the Idea of India," in an apparent attempt to portray the victims as villains.

The handle, notorious for tweets targeting Muslims, blamed the clashes that erupted in Delhi between people demonstrating for and against the CAA on "so called 'Peacefuls'" - a known right-wing slur for Muslims.

Many people on social media called out the tweet for misleading people and covering up the role of Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra's provocative speech for triggering the violence or the failure of the Delhi Police, which reports to the former BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in controlling the riots.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka BJP had tweeted a video of Muslim women standing in queue to vote in the Delhi elections, showing their voter ID cards, with the snarky caption: "Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR (National Population Register) exercise."

Soon after, the party unit's Twitter handle was blocked by the social media platform for 24 hours after many accused it of encouraging Islamophobia.

NPR has been widely criticised by opposition parties as a precursor to the government's planned NRC or National Register of Citizens which intends to make Indians prove their citizenship with documents that many poor or illiterate do not possess.

Many fear that combined with the already imposed CAA - which promises citizenship to only non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh - the NRC can be used to make millions of Muslims stateless.

The government has denied the allegation and said the CAA only intends to help those who have faced religious persecution. In recent weeks, it has gone back on its rhetoric on the NRC which was announced by Amit Shah in parliament as "it will certainly happen".

The CAA, which was cleared by parliament in December, has triggered deadly protests in the country which left at least 25 dead till Sunday. Since then, at least 42 more people have been killed as large-scale violence erupted in northeast Delhi and hundreds of homes and shops have been burned to the ground.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Mysuru, Feb 26: Twenty-nine students of the Government Primary School fell sick after consuming milk supplied at the school on Wednesday morning at Kiranguru village, in Hanagodu hobli, in the hunsur taluk in the district.

Police said the students were immediately rushed to the primary health centre in Hanagodu and provided first aid.

Tahsildar and Police personnel visited the health centre and inquired about the health of the students. "All the students are responding to the treatment," sources said.

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News Network
April 22,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 22: City Police Commissioner Dr P S Harsha, on Wednesday, interacted with families of Covid-19 warriors of the Police Department through a special video conference to infuse confidence in them.

He spoke to the family members of the police personnel who, along with ASHA workers, are monitoring the home quarantined people and even assist them in supplying essentials and medicines.

Most of the family member of the police personnel were of North Karnataka origin and the Commissioner asked them to stay safe by staying at home and explained to them the good work done by their family members in the Police Department.

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