Rakshana Vedike demands arrest of MLA Reddy for provocative remarks

Bengaluru, Jul 28: Several state Congress leaders, including its President D K Shivakumar, among others, were detained by police as they tried to march towards Raj Bhavan here against the alleged attempts by BJP to topple the party's government in Rajasthan.

Shivakumar, along with Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, state Congress Working President Eshwar Khandre, Salim Ahmed among others were stopped by the police midway as they marched from KPCC office towards Raj Bhavan.

Congress leaders then staged a dharna at the place where they were stopped. Addressing the gathering, Shivakumar accused the BJP of trying to "murder" democracy by destabilizing and removing elected governments.

"We wanted to protest against it and submit a memorandum to the President through the Governor," but the Karnataka government by using police was not letting them proceed towards Raj Bhavan, he said. "Despite our being a peaceful protest, the police stopped us," he said.

Siddaramaiah, echoing similar views, said peaceful protests against injustice was the right of every citizen. Alleging that the BJP was attempting to destabilise and remove the elected government in Rajasthan as it did in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, he said the Governor's office there (Rajasthan) was being 'misused'.

The Governor was working like an agent of the central government, he charged. He said, despite repeated appeals by the Rajasthan cabinet, the Governor there had not convened the assembly session, for the floor test to take place and for Congress to prove its majority. Police subsequently detained Shivakumar and some other Congress leaders and took them to a nearby police station.

They were later released. Meanwhile, as the Congress' protest amid Covid19 pandemic did not follow social distancing norms, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar hit out at that party's leaders. In a tweet Sudhakar said, for Congress leaders getting publicity was more important than social concerns.

Bengaluru, Aug 4: Janata Dal (Secular) leader and MLA Satyanarayana passed away today due to multiple organ failure. He was 67.

Satyanarayana was representing Tumakuru’s Sira constituency in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He is survived by five daughters and one son.

It is learnt that he was suffering from multiple organ ailments from the past few days and was recently admitted to Manipal Hospital in the city. He breathed his last at 12:20 p.m.

He contested from JDS and worked three times as MLA and 2 times as MP. He was the chairman of KSRTC during the coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy.

Former Prime Minister HD Devegowda mourned his death and said, “It is a shock to hear the demise of former minister and my close friend. We are friends from the past 3 decades and I cannot recall the days without him.”

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar said, “Satyanarayana was concerned for the farmers and he was a gentleman. Hearing the news hurts me and this is an irreparable loss to the political field.”