NEW DELHI:

Siddaramaiah will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and DK Shivakumar his deputy, the Congress announced on May 18, ending five days of suspense after the party’s emphatic election win. The decision was announced after days of internal wrangling by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala at a news conference.

Mr Shivakumar had accepted the deputy CM position following an intervention by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The veteran leader had agreed to make the “sacrifice in the interest of the party”. Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Shivakumar met Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on May 18 morning. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the tussle for the top post began. The two leaders then went to meet Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

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The Congress has called a meeting of its MLAs on May 14 evening to deliberate on the tricky issue of who gets the top job after their thumping victory in the Karnataka assembly elections on May 13. In the meeting, which Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar said is scheduled for 6 pm at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru, the Congress Legislative Party is expected to pass a resolution leaving it to the Congress national president to decide the chief minister pick.

The Congress bagged 136 seats and the BJP 64. In the election.

Shivakumar and former Chief Minister and leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah have both been vocal about their aspirations for the top post, raising fears of an unpleasant stand-off within the party if the matter isn’t resolved.

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, who held a joining press conference with the two top state party leaders last evening dedicating the victory to the people of the state and promising to implement welfare schemes promised in the party manifesto, is headed back to Delhi this afternoon.

The scale of Congress victory is a record in terms of both seats and vote share in over 30 years. The party has won 136 seats — 56 more than in 2018 — with a vote share of 42.9 per cent. The closest the Congress came to this score was in 1999 when it won 132 seats and had a vote share of 40.84 per cent.

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BENGULURU:

Congress is leading in 131 seats out of the 224 Assembly seats as the counting of votes for the high stake Karnataka assembly elections 2023 is underway. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads in 73 seats and the Janata Dal (S) in 18 seats with its leader H.D Kumaraswami trailing in his constituency.

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BENGALURU: 

The Karnataka assembly polls being held on May 10 is a triangular contest with the BJP hoping for another term and the Congress banking on the revolving door trend. The JDS, which dominates over 61 seats, may play spoiler

Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa was among the first to cast his vote in Shivamogga. BS Yediyurappa said he expects 75%-80% voters to support the BJP. “We will get absolute majority and will form the government. We will win 130-135 seats,” the veteran party leader said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he is “very happy” the way his party conducted its campaign and the way people have responded to it. “I appeal to people to come and vote for the development of Karnataka,” Mr Bommai said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged people to vote in large numbers to build a progressive and a “40-per cent-commission-free” state.

Both parties have run a high-profile campaign with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding 19 public meetings and six roadshows, and Rahul Gandhi camping in the state for 12 days.

In the run-up to the election, the ruling BJP – which is facing multiple corruption allegations — covered all its bases, including tweaking the four per cent quota to Muslims, which it hopes will bring in the Lingayat, Vokkaliga, Scheduled Caste, and Scheduled Tribe votes.

The state government in March scrapped the decades-old four per cent quota for Muslims in the 2B category of the ‘Other Backward Castes’ and granted benefits of increased quota to Vokkaligas and Lingayats in admissions and appointments to government jobs. The Supreme Court has, however, froze it till further orders, directing that the Muslim reservation will continue for now. The matter will be heard next in July.

Several senior Lingayat leaders of the BJP – including former Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar – have joined the Congress camp after being denied a party ticket. This has opened up the BJP to a possibility of a division in the Lingayat vote, which can decide the outcome of 90 to 100 seats.

The Congress, which found itself out of power when the alliance government it ran with Janata Dal Secular chief HD Kumaraswamy collapsed, has said it will not need a second tie-up.

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the party’s state unit chief DK Shivakumar have kept up a united front. But their rivalry over distribution of tickets gave a glimpse of the rift within.

For the Janata Dal Secular of H.D. Kumaraswamy, this is a crucial election, with party patriarch HD Deve Gowda, who is in his 90s, planning to hang up his electoral boots. The party, which was hoping to expand its base beyond Hassan and Mandya, is now trying to hold onto its traditional base in the Old Mysuru region.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a massive roadshow on Sunday (May 7) in Bengaluru which passed through several Assembly constituencies. The first part of this roadshow was held on Saturday covering around 13 constituencies and now the second leg is taking place on Sunday as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaigning for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls 2023.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the poll bound state for the final leg of poll campaigning on Friday. The 10-km roadshow was held between 10:00 am and 11:30 am from Kempegowda statue at Thippasandra to Trinity circle. Lakhs of people took part in the roadshow.

Keeping NEET examinations in mind, the Karnataka BJP made changes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day roadshow in Bengaluru, ahead of the Assembly polls in the state, by scheduling an extensive event on May 6 and a shorter one on May 7, Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje said on Friday. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled on May 7 (Sunday).

“Narendra Modi’s road show will be on May 6 and 7, preparations are on for it. We had shared information in that regard to the public through the press. However, you (media) people informed us about the NEET exams on May 7 at 2:00 pm, and the 26 km roadshow will cause inconvenience for (students writing) exams,” Karandlaje said. Speaking to reporters, she said, this was brought it to the notice of the Prime Minister, and Modi who pays special attention to children with initiatives such as ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’, asked us to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to even a single student going to the exam centre at any cost.

So the Prime Minister directed the state BJP to make changes in the programme, she said, as desired by him, certain changes have been made in the programme.

The roadshow, earlier scheduled to be held for eight hours on Saturday alone, was then split into two parts- on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 1. 30 pm to prevent inconvenience to the general public in case the rally is held for a full day.

Accusing the Congress of conspiring to disrupt the roadshow on Saturday, by getting the ambulances linked to their workers and well-wishers or hospitals run by them, at places along the stretch of 26 km which the PM is likely complete in about 3 hours, Karandlaje said, they have conspired to bring a bad name to the Prime Minister’s roadshow.

“We have requested the police to ensure that ambulances with patients reach the hospitals on time without any hindrance, we have also discussed with SPG in this regard. We are following up things,” she said.

Earlier on April 29 (Saturday), Mr. Modi had conducted a 5.3-kilometre long roadshow in Bengaluru that passed through various locations in the city including Magadi Road, Nice Road Junction and Sumanahalli.  On May 7, Mr. Modi will also address four public meetings in different parts of the state. Mr. Modi is also expected to visit Karnataka on the last day of the election campaigning for which preparations are already on.

The Congress party had appealed to the Election Commission not to permit the roadshow of PM Modi. However, the Commission has given a green signal. The ruling BJP is hoping to recover from the anti-incumbency factor with PM Modi’s visit. The Bajrang Dal ban proposal has also helped the BJP to gain grounds at the fag end of election campaigning in Karnataka. The BJP has challenged Congress to ban Bajrang Dal and claimed that it has “insulted” Lord Hanuman. The party also aims to wrestle a major chunk of 28 seats of Bengaluru city with Mr. Modi’s outreach to voters.

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In an attempt to demolish the drug racket in Bengaluru, the city police have seized 1352 kilograms of marijuana. The city police, which is currently in a drug busting spree, also arrested four drug peddlers.

Following a tip-off, the Seshadripuram Police initially nabbed a peddler named Jnanasekhar who was selling marijuana in an autorickshaw near the VV Giri colony. This arrest took place on August 30 and upon interrogation, Jnanasekhar revealed more details about a drug ring responsible for smuggling marijuana in north Karnataka.

Later, police arrested three more people named Siddhunath, Naganath and Chandrakanth. Nagnath and Chandrakanth were arrested as they were trying to transport a shipment near the NH 50 Toll Gate. The huge stock of marijuana was hidden underground in a farm.

Investigation officers revealed that marijuana was being sent from Orissa to Telangana, and from Telangana to Karnataka.

“The drug peddlers used to go in vehicles to buy vegetables but instead transported marijuana in vegetable vans. They had dug a cave to hide the marijuana at a farmhouse in Kalaburgi. A total of 1.2 ton of marijuana from there and we also seized 150 kg of marijuana from the distributor in Vijayapura,” said M N Anucheth, DCP West in a recent statement.

Kamal Pant, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner revealed that the Bengaluru Central Division Police will be rewarded a cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs for their outstanding efforts to demolish the drug racket in the city.

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The total coronavirus cases mounted to 41,13,811, while the death toll climbed to 70,626 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 1,065 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection has further declined to 1.72 per cent. There are 8,62,320 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 20.96 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and it went past 40 lakh on September 5.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 4,88,31,145 samples have been tested up to September 5 with 10,92,654 samples being tested on Saturday.

Of the 1,065 fresh deaths, 312 are from Maharashtra, 128 from Karnataka, 81 from Uttar Pradesh, 71 from Andhra Pradesh, 69 from Punjab, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 58 from West Bengal, 34 from Bihar, 30 from Madhya Pradesh, 25 from Delhi, 22 from Haryana, 19 from Chhattisgarh, 18 each from Puducherry and Uttarakhand, 15 each from Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand.

Fourteen fatalities have been reported from Rajasthan, 11 from Kerala, nine each from Goa and Telangana, eight from Tripura, seven each from Assam and Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh while Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Manipur and Meghalaya have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 70,626 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 26,276 followed by 7,748 in Tamil Nadu, 6,298 in Karnataka, 4,538 in Delhi, 4,347 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,843 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,510 in West Bengal, 3,091 in Gujarat and 1,808 in Punjab.

So far, 1,543 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,122 in Rajasthan, 886 in Telangana, 781 in Haryana, 770 in Jammu and Kashmir, 735 in Bihar, 538 in Odisha, 462 in Jharkhand, 356 in Chhattisgarh, 352 in Assam, 337 in Kerala and 330 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 298 fatalities, Goa 229, Tripura 144, Chandigarh 69, Himachal Pradesh 54, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 50, Manipur 36, Ladakh 35, Meghalaya 15, Nagaland 10, Arunachal Pradesh eight, Sikkim five and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that State-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

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A similar risk has been predicted over the watershed of West Jammu and Kashmir. The Commission cited the India Meterological Department’s (IMD) flash flood guidance as the reason for the warning.

“Flash Flood Guidance for next 24 hours in respect of Karnataka, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir issued by IMD (India Meteorological Department) on September 1 valid till September 2, 2020 at 1130 hours is appended,” the Commission tweeted.

As per the IMD bulletin on September 1, thunderstorm accompanied with lightning very likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Sikkim, Odisha, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Rayalaseema, South Interior Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal and Kerala and Mahe.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places over Chhattisgarh, Odisha, South interior Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal and Kerala on Wednesday.

Whereas for Thursday, the IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over South Interior Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal and Kerala and Mahe and heavy downdpour at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan

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“The work has been hastened to prepare the structure of the command under an Air Force officer. Efforts are being made to put everything together and announce the creation of the air defence command at Prayagraj around the Air Force Day on October 8 this year,” government sources said.

The air defence command is proposed to be set up alongside the Central Command Headquarters of the IAF which controls important air bases including Agra, Gwalior and Bareilly.

The aim of the command is to combine the resources of the three services under one command and activate it to protect the air space of the country.

A study in this regard was done by the IAF’s Vice-Chief Air Marshal HS Arora which also suggested the structure of the proposed command, comprising assets of all the three services.

The Department of Military Affairs under Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has been given the mandate to create joint military commands along with theatre commands.

The CDS is also working on the creation of the combined maritime command which would come up either at Kochi in Kerala or Karwar in Karnataka.

Each service has its individual air defence set-up. The air defence command would integrate the air defence assets of the Army, Air Force and Navy and jointly provide air defence cover to the country.

The CDS has also made it clear to the armed forces that he would not create any additional post at a three-star level for manning any of the new commands and the new formations would be raised from the existing resources only.
Meanwhile, for protecting the air space of the country, a proposal for the acquisition of two new PHALCON Airborne Early Warning ad Control Systems from Israel and Russia has reached the Cabinet Committee on Security and may be taken up for clearance soon.

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As the novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan, China is continuing to spread chaos in all nooks of the globe, India is quickly climbing up the chart, and the country has recorded more than 15 lakh positive cases in August alone. According to the latest updates, India has more than 3.2 million positive cases, and the country stands on the third spot in the global chart just behind the United States and Brazil.

On Tuesday, 1,071 deaths were reported, the second-highest single-day figure recorded so far. It should be noted that fresh cases reported on August 25 zoomed past 66,000, and if it goes like this, India will soon overtake Brazil which has 3.6 million positive cases.

A total of 329 deaths were recorded in Maharashtra on August 25 alone, followed by Karnataka (149), Tamil Nadu (107), and Andhra Pradesh (92). However, the number of fresh cases in Maharashtra dipped from 11,000 to 10,425.

Kerala, the southern state of India which successfully flattened the curve at one point in time, is also facing the wrath of coronavirus since May. On Tuesday, the state recorded 2375 positive cases, the highest single-day spike. However, the state has somehow managed to control the fatality rate associated with COVID-19.

In the initial months of the outbreak, coronavirus cases in the country were primarily confined to the urban areas. However, over the past few months, coronavirus drastically affected people living in rural areas and suburbs, which played a crucial role in the surge in positive cases. Relaxation of lockdown measures in several states to reopen economies also negatively affected the strategies aimed to contain coronavirus spread in the nation.

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Siddaramaiah has been admitted to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru where CM Yediyurappa is currently on treatment for the same.

Taking to Twitter, Siddaramaiah said he has been admitted to the hospital on medical advice.

“I have been tested positive for #Covid19 & also been admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors as a precaution. I request all those who had come in contact with me to check out for symptoms & to quarantine themselves,” his tweet read.

I have been tested positive for #Covid19 & also been admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors as a precaution.

I request all those who had come in contact with me to check out for symptoms & to quarantine themselves.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 4, 2020

The opposition leader didn’t show any symptoms and he was admitted to the hospital as doctors advised him to do so. He is stable and doing well.

On August 2, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram tested positive for covid-19.

Siddaramaiah had requested those who had come in contact with him in the last few days to undergo covid-19 test. He also urged people not to be anxious or panic.

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In his address to the media, Dr Sudhakar said that the state government will bear the cost of the hike in salaries of the doctors and added that ASHA staff will also get a salary hike soon.

He also talked about the COVID-19 management in the state and said that testing will be increased in the containment zones.

During a meeting chaired by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the Education Minister said that it was decided that booth level committees would conduct door to door surveys for early detection of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI).

He also urged private hospitals to admit and treat COVID-19 patients and asked them to not be hesitant in admitting pregnant women. This is in the light of a tragedy happened on July 19, where three hospitals denied medical assistance for a pregnant woman. The pregnant woman gave birth to the baby in an auto-rickshaw. However the baby died.

This is the second infant to die in Bengaluru over the past 10 days after alleged lack of assistance from hospitals.

Karnataka on July 20 registered 3,648 new covid-19 positive cases increasing the tally to 67,420. While 72 more persons succumbed to the virus. There are 42,216 active cases in the state.

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In this regard, the revenue department issued a directive on July 15. This announcement comes days after some members from the Brahmin community complained that they were refused caste and income certificates by the authorities.

“It has come to the notice of the government that tehsildars are refusing to issue the caste and income certificates as per the earlier order. All tehsildars should immediately take action in this regard and issue caste certificates to Brahmins,” said the Karnataka Revenue Department.

The notification also comes a month after the Karataka State Brahmin Development Board appealed to the state government to allow certificates to be issued to Brahmins as well. Brahmins whose gross annual family income is below Rs 8 lakh per annum are eligible for this schemes.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had announced last month that the state government would issue caste and income certificates to Brahmins who constitutes 3% of the state’s population. He said that it would allow the board to implement welfare schemes.

The board has also urged the authorities to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) which is currently applicable for central government jobs and admissions to central government institutions.

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Sisters and Brothers,

Ever since I tested positive for #COVID19, I have received numerous messages wishing me speedy recovery.

I am forever indebted to Your concern & affection towards me.

With the blessings of Guru Dattatreya & Your wishes, I will recover very soon. Thank You

— C T Ravi ?? ಸಿ ಟಿ ರವಿ (@CTRavi_BJP) July 13, 2020

In late June, Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar’s wife and daughter tested positive for COVID-19, a day after his father was confirmed to have been infected with the virus.
In April, the minister was quarantined along with three other ministers for coming in contact with a journalist who was coronavirus positive.
Earlier, Maharashtra’s Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde had tested positive for coronavirus . He is the third minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to have been infected. Public Works Department Minister Ashok Chavan and Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad were infected but recovered later.

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In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, Yediyurappa said that he was healthy and will continue to work from his residence. The Chief Minister will remain in home quarantine till next week as per COVID-19 protocol.  An electrician, a standby driver and a pilot vehicle staffer, have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Since a few staff at my official residence Krishna have tested positive for COVID19, I will be working from my personal residence for the next few days. I will hold meetings, consultations and issue orders and suggestions via video conferencing. There is no need to worry. I am healthy. I appeal to everyone to take all precautionary measures and follow protocols issued by the government. Wear masks and ensure social distancing and help us contain COVID19,” a statement from the Chief Minister said.

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The SSLC Examinations was conducted after a lot of opposition from both public and the students’ parents. Most of the opposition leaders attacked the government over playing with the lives of the students in this pandemic situation. However, the state government was reluctant to postpone the exam and was confident that social distancing, thermal testing and sanitisation during the examinations would help prevent the spread of coronavirus. The state government stuck in its decision and conducted hassle-free examinations.

The report from the government stated that 3,911 students who did not attend the examination were in a containment zone. A total of 863 students did not attended the exams because they were unwell.

The SSLC exams was originally slated between March 27 and April 9. However, due to the pandemic and nationwide lockdown, the exams were postponed.

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Congress leaders and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rode a bicycle from his residence to Minsk Square on June 29 to protest the rising fuel prices in the country.

“We are carrying out our duty today. At the time of the UPA government’s rule, when there was any hike in fuel prices, several BJP leaders had made bold statements. It is ironic that today, at the time of this COVID-19 pandemic, even despite the price of barrels falling, they have increased fuel prices,” said Shivakumar.

“In Delhi, diesel prices have exceeded petrol prices. We must protest against this. The DCP can file whatever case he wants to. Despite several cases against us, we have never been shaken up. They are making citizen’s life difficult and causing them to burn in hell. These people must be protected,” he added.

In Bengaluru, the petrol prices per litre were raised to Rs 83.04 (increase by Rs 0.05), and the diesel prices stand at Rs 76.58/litre (increase by Rs 0.13), according to state oil marketing companies.

The Congress has termed the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel as “unjust” and “thoughtless”. The party advocated the Central government to roll back the increase with immediate effect and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the people.

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According to a report,Justice Krishna noted,“The explanation offered by the complainant that after the perpetration of the act she was tired and fell asleep, is unbecoming of an Indian woman;that is not the way our women react when they are ravished.”

Meanwhile,the court has laid down several conditions for the accused while granting bail.The accused has been restricted from leaving the trial court jurisdiction without permission.He has also been asked by the court to report to the police station every second and fourth Saturday of every month.The rape accused was an employee of the victim for the past two years. The accused is alleged to have developed physical relations with the woman on the pretext of marriage.

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