Militants from Manipur nabbed in Mysore

Six members of the outlawed People’s United Liberation Front (PULF) of Manipur were nabbed in Mysore when they were holding secret meeting.

A team of policemen from Manipur, which was hot in the trail of these militants, tracked them down in a lodge in Mysore before carrying out a surprise raid on Sunday with the assistance of local police.

Imphal’s Superintendent of Police T H Radheshyam told reporters in Mysore on Monday that the arrested include the top leaders of PULF including its general secretary M I Khan, 43, deputy commander in chief M D Nasir Khan, 38, chief of army Mohammed Noor Zaman, 40, and Publicity Secretary Mohammed Jabbar, 55.

Two others arrested by the police were identified Noor Shariff and Mohammed Mustafa, both “foot soldiers” of PULF.

Radheshyam said PULF was waging a war against the state in the guise of safeguarding interests of Muslims. The arrested members of the organization were wanted in several cases of abduction and extortion, besides murder and hurling of explosives in public places, he said.

The Manipur police produced the arrested PULF members before a court in Mysore and secured their transit remand. “We will be flying them to Imphal from Bangalore via Kolkata. We are awaiting a clearance from Bureau of Civil Aviation to fly them”, Radheshyam said.

However, Karnataka police said preliminary investigations show that the suspected ultras from north east had no plans to carry out any attacks in Karnataka. “The had chosen Mysore as a destination to hold their meeting as they felt it would be safer here than any other place in north east, where they were under constant surveillance”, said Deputy Commissioner of Mysore City Police V S D Souza.

Election officials seize Deve Gowda’s car in Karnataka

After BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa, it was the turn of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda to have his car seized by the Election Commission officials in Nanjangud, about 160 kms from here.

After touring Chamaraja assembly constituency in Mysore for which his car had secured the necessary permission from the Election Commission officials, the former Prime Minister decided to drive down to neighbouring Nanjangud town on Monday.

The Election Commission officials cleared his car to visit Nanjangud as he had apparently told them that he would be visiting the famous Srikanteshwara Temple in the town. But, when Gowda drove straight to the party office in the temple town for its inauguration, the elections decided to crack the whip.

While Gowda was addressing the workers after inaugurating the party office, election commission officials arrived on the scene, confiscated the car and drove it away, leaving the former Prime Minister red-faced.

“The car was cleared for Nanjangud visit as it did not involve electioneering. We decided to seize it as the vehicle was used for election campaign without securing the mandatory permission”, an election official explained.

However, an enraged Gowda trained his guns on election officials and questioned why the car in which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi travelled during his visit to the region recently was not seized. “Did Rahul Gandhi have the requisite permits when he visited here? Don’t laws apply to him?”, the former Prime Minister queried while speaking to reporters later.

He also sought to caution the election officials that the car they had confiscated was carrying the former Prime Minister of the country. “I am a former Prime Minister and my job is to tour the nation. Do I have to take permission from the officials wherever I go? In the name of curbing electoral malpractices, the officials are doing injustice”, he said.

Gowda also refused to secure the release of his car. “I don’t want the vehicle. Let the officials have it”, Gowda muttered before leaving the venue.

Before confiscating the car of the former Prime Minister, the officials allowed Gowda’s aides to remove his belongings, including a box of medicine. Gowda left the venue in a different car.

Bangarappa to take on Yeddyurappa in Karnataka polls

BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa will have to contend with former Chief Minister and Samajwadi party’s state unit President S Bangarappa in Shimoga’s Shikaripura constituency during the ensuing assembly elections in Karnataka.

Bangarappa, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Shimoga comprising Shikaripura assembly seat, enjoys the sobriquet of “Solillada Sardara”, which means a “leader, who never loses”, given his successful track record in fighting elections.

After filing his nomination papers from Shikaripura assembly constituency on Monday, the last date for filing nominations, Bangarappa has set up an epic electoral battle in the coming elections against Yeddyurappa, who is looking forward to his sixth win in assembly elections. The BJP leader has already filed his nomination papers from Shikaripura assembly constituency.

“I am confident of ending Yeddyurappa’s dominance in the constituency. The people of the constituency will decide his fate”, said Bangarappa after filing his nomination papers along with hundreds of supporters.

The tough electoral battle facing the BJP leader assumes significance in the light of BJP’s claims that the party will secure a majority in the coming elections and Yeddyurappa will become the next Chief Minister of the State.

Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa said Bangarappa’s decision to enter the fray from Shikaripura instead of Sagar in Shimoga district from where he usually contests was “part of a conspiracy hatched by the Congress and JD (S) to finish him”.

Yeddyurappa said the Congress and JD (S) were apprehensive that BJP would secure a majority if he were to tour the entire state. “Hence, they have planned to confine me to Shikaripura by fielding Bangarappa against me”, he said. “But, I will go ahead with my statewide tour and bring the BJP to power. I will campaign in Shikaripura only for three days as I know the people of the constituency very well. They know that they will be electing a Chief Minister this time and not just an MLA”, he said.
However, former Chief Minister S M Krishna denied that Congress party had entered into any understanding with Bangarappa in Shikaripura assembly constituency. However, he said he has to check up with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee why the Congress party has not fielded any candidate in Shikaripura

Sharief withdraws resignation, to stay in Congress

Former Federal Minister C K Jaffer Sharief, who had resigned from the Congress party, withdrew his resignation after a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysore near here yesterday that the crisis gripping the Congress party in the wake of Sharief’s resignation has been blown over after the Congress President assured to resolve his grievances.

According to information reaching here, Sharief spent an hour with Sonia Gandhi at her residence in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday. After the meeting, Sharief said he was “satisfied” with the meeting.

Sharief, who is also the Chairman of the Congress party’s Manifesto Committee, had tendered his resignation from the Congress party on Friday apparently in protest against the denial of party tickets to his grandsons to contest the assembly elections scheduled to be held in May.

After the meeting, the 71-year-old veteran Congressman had announced his decision to withdraw the resignation. “I have withdrawn my resignation. I am in full agreement with Ms Sonia Gandhi’s view that securalism and unity in the party is of paramount importance in the elections. We need to prevent the communal forces from coming to power” he said.

Meanwhile, according to sources close to Sharief, the Congress President sought to remind Sharief that the country would be facing Lok Sabha polls in about a year’s time and it was necessary for all partymen to remain united to defeat the “communal forces”.

Sources also pointed out that the Congress President had assured to consider his grandson for a nomination to the State Legislative Council as he was unsuccessful in securing a party ticket. Though Sharief’s grandson Abdul Wahab had incidentally gone inside Gandhi’s residence, he was apparently not called in along with Sharief to meet the Congress President.

However, before meeting Sonia Gandhi had denied that he had sent his resignation in protest against the denial of a party ticket to his grandson to contest the elections. “It is a propaganda to malign me. I was upset with the party for ignoring minorities in the state”, Sharief had said.

Chopper carrying Karnataka Congress chief seized

The police has seized a private helicopter carrying Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President M Mallikarjun Kharge for landing at the Police Parade Grounds helipad in Gulbarga without obtaining permission from appropriate authorities.

The police also arrested the pilot of the helicopter and booked a case of criminal trespass. However, he was let off on bail later.

Though the helicopter, owned by Faridabad-based Escorts Ltd., was seized late on Friday night, the matter came to light only on Saturday as Kharge, who was scheduled to fly in the same chopper to Hyderabad to catch a flight to New Delhi, was forced to proceed by road.

Earlier on Friday, Kharge in the midst of hectic electioneering, had to rush from Bangalore to his native Gulbarga to quell the unrest among Congress workers over allocation of party tickets to contest the assembly polls scheduled to be held next month.

Accompanied by his son and Secretary of Karnataka Youth Congress Committee Priyank Kharge and Gulbarga MP Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi landed at the Police Parade Grounds in Gulbarga in the helicopter and left to Chittapur to address a party meeting.

The district administration was taken by surprise as they had neither received any prior intimation nor issued approval for landing of the helicopter. Late on Friday night, Deputy Commissioner of Gulbarga Pankaj Kumar Pandey and Superintendent of Police Manish Kharbikar visited the Police Parade Grounds and recorded the presence of the helicopter.

Pandey said he had reported the matter to the Chief Electoral Officer M N Vidyashankar and was awaiting instructions from him whether the incident amounted to violation of poll code.

BJP MP to quit party for ignoring minorities

BJP MP from Karnataka and former top cop H T Sangliana has threatened to resign from the party in protest against the saffron party’s failure to field even a single candidate from the minority communities during the ensuing elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

Warning the BJP that its decision to completely ignore the minorities during the allocation of party tickets would prove costly, Sangliana, who belongs to the Christian community, said he was actively considering a move to resign from the party.

“But, I will wait and watch for the results of the elections. I want to prove that the BJP paid a heavy price for ignoring the minorities”, he told reporters in Bangalore.

Sangliana, who represents Bangalore North Parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha, said the BJP leaders neither approached him nor consulted him before finalizing the candidates for various constituencies in the state. The MP said he had sought for two tickets to candidates from the Muslim community and one ticket to a candidate from the Christian community. “But, they were not even ready to consider this demand”, he said.

“It is the most embarrassing situation for me. I blame the BJP’s state leadership for ignoring the minority community. This could prove suicidal in the elections. Members of the minority community have already started deserting the BJP”, he said.

Though the thought of resigning from the BJP is “definitely on my mind”, Sangliana said he would wait for the results of the assembly elections before announcing his decision.

Congress tries to retain Jaffer Sharief in party

A day after he reportedly faxed his resignation letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, veteran Congressman and former Federal Minister C K Jaffer Sharief yesterday flew to New Delhi on an invitation from the party High Command, which has begun efforts to retain him in the party.

Senior Congress leader Jagadish Tytler told reporters in Bangalore that the Congress party would not allow Sharief to quit the party. “He is a senior leader of the party and I am sure he will not take any hasty decisions”, Tytler said.

Earlier, Sharief flew to New Delhi after receiving a call from Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel. The former Federal Minister, who is also a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), is scheduled to meet Sonia Gandhi on Saturday evening.

Former Chief Minister S M Krishna told reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence in Bangalore that the Congress party was trying to convince Sharief against quitting the party.

Sharief, who is also the Chairman of the Congress party’s Manifesto Committee for the ensuing assembly elections, is understood to have resigned from the primary membership of the party after the leadership denied a party ticket his grandson from an assembly constituency in Bangalore.

Sharief’s reported resignation on Friday had plunged the Congress party into a crisis forcing several senior leaders of the party including All India Congress General Secretaries Digvijay Singh and Prithviraj Chavan to call on the former Federal Minister at his residence in Bangalore.

Sharief had told senior Congress leaders that he was upset with the “raw deal” given to him during the allocation of party tickets for the polls. He is reported to be unhappy over the poor representation given to religious and linguistic minorities in the distribution of party tickets.

Though Sharief’s son in law and former MLC Syed Yasin has been given a party ticket from a constituency in Raichur in north Karnataka, the party refused to field his grandson by introducing a criterion that relatives of senior leaders will not be given party tickets in the elections.

Though Sharief had not come on record on his resignation, his aides told reporters that the veteran Congressman had faxed his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi explaining the reasons for his resignation.

Jaffer Sharief threatens to quit Congress

Veteran Congressman and former Federal Minister C K Jaffer Sharief has reportedly threatened to resign from the Congress party in protest against the denial of party ticket to his grandson in the coming Assembly elections in Karnataka.

Speculation was rife in the Congress circles in the State that Jaffer Sharief, who is also the Chairman of the Congress party’s Manifesto Committee for the Assembly polls, was planning to join either Bahujan Samaj Party or the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Sharief’s aides told reporters in Bangalore on Friday that the former Federal Minister was upset with the party leadership for denying a ticket to his grandson from a constituency in Bangalore.

After his return from New Delhi soon after the party announced its first list of candidates for the ensuing polls, Sharief had convened a meeting of his supporters to discuss his future course of action. During the meeting Sharief had lashed out at the Congress leadership’s decision against fielding relatives of senior party leaders as its candidates.

Taking serious exception to the leadership’s decision to reject party tickets to relatives of senior leaders, Sharief had said that the Congress party must follow the yardstick across the country.

Apart from Jaffer Sharief, several senior Congress leaders in Karnataka had sought party tickets for their relatives. Senior leaders like Margaret Alva, R L Jalappa and B K Hariprasad had lobbied with the High Command for party tickets for their close ones, but in vain.

Anti corruption raids in Karnataka yield Rs 400 million

Surprise raids carried out by the Lokayukta, the anti-corruption wing of the Karnataka police, on the houses of eight senior Government officials across the State on Tuesday have unearthed properties and assets worth a staggering Rs 400 million, which were disproportionate to their known sources of income.

A Motor Vehicles Inspector in Belgaum Mahesh Shankar Hanumashetty turned out to be a big catch as the official, who has been working with the Road Transport Authority for the last seventeen years, was sitting on a pile of Rs 220 million that included two palatial commercial complexes in Belgaum.

Giving details of the raids, Lokayukta Justice (Retd) Santosh Hegde said the Motor Vehicles Inspector also owned a company called Popular Earth Movers in which his mother and other relatives are directors.

The other officials, whose houses were raided by the Lokayukta police included Additional Superintendent of Police, Bangalore, Kumar Karning, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Davangere, H Anjaneya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Security), Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore, Laxman Singh, Municipal Commissioner of Ramanagaram Shivanna, Executive Engineer of Koppal Zilla Panchayat, besides Assistant Commissioners of Police, Bangalore, Pratap Singh and H K Venkataswamy.

Stunned by the details of the properties amassed by the Government officials, Hegde said some of the officials had assets worth a thousand times more than their known sources of income. During the raid, Hegde said the officials had tried to hoodwink the Lokayukta sleuths by hiding the documents, throwing away the keys and trying to send documents out in bags.

Hegde said the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Davangere Kumar Karning has been service since 1977. “But, the police official is worth Rs 31.2 million now”, he said.

Hegde also sought to brush aside allegations that the Lokayukta was targeting only police and Road Traffic Authority officials. “We are not targeting any particular class of officials, but only corrupt officials”, he said.

Police seize Rs 100 million in cash in poll-bound Bellary

The police have seized a staggering Rs 100 million in cash, which was being transported in two cars to poll-bound Bellary in Karnataka.

Superintendent of Bellary district police Amrit Paul told reporters that both the cash-laden vehicles were coming from Kurnool in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and headed towards Bellary.

While one vehicle bore a registration number plate of Karnataka the other had a registration number allotted by Andhra Pradesh. The two drivers of the vehicles and five others in the two vehicles have been arrested.

The occupants of the seized vehicles claim that the cash had been withdrawn from a bank and inquiries were underway to ascertain the purpose of transporting such a large quantity of money across the border into a poll-bound state.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee B Janardhan Poojary has urged the Election Commission to institute an inquiry into the seizure of Rs 100 million in Bellary.

“There is a need to establish to whom the cash belonged to and who was the recipient”, Poojary said.

It may be mentioned here that the ensuing polls to Bellary will witness a fierce battle between BJP and Congress, who leaders run highly profitable mining activities in the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh borders.

JD (S) leader placed under house arrest as workers revolt

After BJP and Congress leaders, it was the turn of JD (S) leaders to face the wrath of unsuccessful ticket aspirants, whose supporters not only raised the banner of revolt, but also locked up the residence of party’s state unit President Merajuddin Patel in Bangalore.

Hundreds of supporters of prominent JD (S) ticket aspirants from Bangalore swarmed the residence of Patel in Jayamahal extension after learning that the party had refused to field their leaders. They not only pelted stones at his house, but also locked the main entrance of the house.

Patel, who was at home when the siege took place, was put under virtual house arrest for most part of the day. The protestors refused to open the lock unless their leaders were issued the “B form” that enables then to contest as party’s official candidate.

Patel was confined to his house and forced to miss a meeting convened by JD (S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in the evening. The siege also took a violent turn when the supporters of ticket aspirants pelted stones, damaging a television set. A protester even tried to consume poison. Police rushed to the spot to control the crowd.

Unsuccessful ticket aspirants including Marimuthu, Venkatesh Murthy, Ravi Prakash and Veeresh Kumar, whose supporters had mobbed Patel’s residence, have meanwhile declared that they would be contesting the elections as rebels. Most of them contended that the party had preferred migrants from the Congress party over them while issuing JD (S) tickets to contest the polls.

Marimuthu claimed that Patel had taken Rs 50,000 from her, promising to field her as the party candidate from Pulakeshinagar in Bangalore. “I personally handed over the money to Patel at his residence. I have now been cheated”, she said accused Gowda and his sons H D Kumaraswamy and H D Revanna of ditching her.

The protests broke out after JD (S) leadership announced its first list of 69 candidates for the assembly polls scheduled to be held next month.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his brother and former Minister H D Revanna filed their nomination papers from Ramanagaram and Holenarsipur assembly constituencies respectively as JD (S) candidates.

Rebellion brews in Congress over allotment of party tickets for polls

The prospect of a rebellion loomed large over the Congress party Karnataka in the wake of the release of first list of candidates for 84 assembly constituencies scheduled to go polls in the first phase of assembly polls next month.

Former Federal Minister C K Jaffer Sharief, who returned to Bangalore from New Delhi on Sunday, convened a meeting of his supporters at a resort on the outskirts of the City after the party leadership denied a ticket to his grandson Rahman Sharief from a constituency in Bangalore.

Reacting to Congress leadership’s decision against providing party tickets to the kin of senior Congress leaders, Sharief said the party should follow the same yardstick across the country.

Sharief, who has been named as the Chairman of the Congress party’s manifesto committee for the ensuing assembly polls in Karnataka, has expressed deep sense of hurt and dissatisfaction over the party’s decision to deny his grandson a party ticket.

Sharief, who has convened a meeting of his followers, is understood to be under tremendous pressure to quit the Congress and join other parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) or the JD (S).

Similiarly, hundreds of Congress workers went on a rampage in Turuvekere in Tumkur district, stoning vehicles and setting fire to party flags in protest against the denial of ticket to cine star Jaggesh.

Jaggesh, who lost the 2004 polls as a Congress candidate, was hopeful of winning the polls during the ensuing polls. In the wake of the Congress party’s decision to deny him a ticket, Jaggesh threatened to resign from the party and contest as an independent.

Similiarly, former Federal Minister Ambareesh, who is also upset over the selection of candidates, has threatened to enter the fray from Srirangapatna assembly constituency though the Congress has already named Ravindra Srikantaiah as its official nominee.

Meanwhile, trouble is also brewing for the Congress in S M Krishna’s native Mandya district, where several unsuccessful aspirants have threatened to quit the party and join hands with the BJP

Former MLAs L R Shivarame Gowda, M S Athmananda, Kempe Gowda and Prakash, besides Madhu Made Gowda, all of whom were denied Congress tickets, met in a hotel in Bangalore and decided to explore possibilities of joining hands with the BJP.

BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said the party leadership will discuss the matter as the BJP does not have good candidates to field in Mandya district.

27-year-old software engineer drowns in swimming pool

A 27-year-old software engineer died three days after he was found drowned in fifteen feet deep water at a swimming pool in Bangalore.

Police said Smruthi Ranjan Sharma, a senior design engineer with a software company in Bangalore, had enrolled himself for a summer camp in swimming to overcome his aquaphobia.

A resident of J P Nagar in Bangalore, Sharma was regular at the swimming camp being held at Jayanagar pool from 8.45 pm every night. On Wednesday, Sharma was last seen practicing strokes at the shallow end of the pool.

But, minutes later, a doctor, who was at the pool, noticed that he had drowned in the deep end of the pool. Immediately, he was pulled out of the pool and given a Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation before rushing him to a private hospital.

But, the hospital authorities said Sharma was brought brain dead. After battling for nearly three days, the techie sufferred a massive cardiac arrest and died on Saturday, police said.

The police have registered a case of negligence against the swimming coach Nataraj and arrested him.

Congress announces first list of candidates for assembly polls

The Congress party announced its much-awaited first list of candidates for 84 out of the 89 assembly constituencies in Karnataka that will go to polls in the first phase on May 10.

The list includes the names of 20 former Ministers including the JD (S) MLAs of the dissolved assembly, who had joined the Congress party along with former Deputy Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and M P Prakash.

However, contrary to expectations, the name of former Chief Minister S M Krishna does not figure in the list of Congress candidates. Krishna was expected to contest from his native Maddur, which is scheduled to go to polls on May 10. The Congress has name D C Thammanna Gowda as the party candidate for Maddur assembly constituency.

Siddaramaiah’s name has been cleared as the Congress candidate for the newly carved out Varuna assembly constituency in Mysore. Former Ministers R Roshan Baig and K J George will contest from Shivajinagar and Sarvagnanagar assembly constituencies in Bangalore City.

The Congress, however, has not announced its candidate for the prestigious Ramanagara assembly constituency on the outskirts of Bangalore from where former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is expected to enter the fray.

The announcement of the list of Congress candidates for first phase of polls has triggerred discontentment among a number of aspirants.

Film artiste Jaggesh, who was planning to contest from Turuvakere in Tumkur district, has decided to quit the Congress party and enter the fray as an independent. Similiarly, former Chairman of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) L R Shivarame Gowda has also raised the banner of rebellion by threatening to contest in his native of Nagamangala against the official candidate Suresh Gowda.

Meanwhile, the JD (S) leadership will be releasing its first list of candidates for the coming polls on Sunday evening. Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy told reporters that the party’s election committee has finalized the list of candidates, which will be released by Sunday evening.

Former Minister arrested on charges of criminal intimidation

BJP leader and former Minister B Sriramulu was arrested by the police for threatening Congress leader Anil Lad with dire circumstances if the contested from Bellary assembly constituency in Karnataka in the coming polls.

Sriramulu’s arrest came after Lad lodged a complaint with the police that his house was attacked and his vehicles were burnt by a group of BJP supporters, minutes after the former Minister came to his house and asked him to leave Bellary on Friday.

Superintendent of Bellary district police Amrit Paul told reporters that Sriramulu himself surrendered before the Cowl Bazar police station on Saturday after learning about the complaint lodged by Lad. “The offence being bailable, Sriramulu was immediately arrested and later released on bail”, Paul said.

The police had also arrested about 20 persons in connection with the attack on the house of Lad, a mine owner, who had recently quit the BJP and joined the Congress party. “All the 20 were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody till May 2”, Paul said.

Earlier, Lad had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that about 30 to 40 persons, shouting pro-BJP slogans hurled stones at his residence, damaging the windowpanes, and later torched three cars parked outside the house.

Lad told reporters that Sriramulu, who was the Tourism Minister in the JD (S)-BJP coalition, came to the house on Friday evening minutes before the attack. “Though I went outside to receive him, Sriramulu began threatening me without any provocation. He asked me to leave Bellary or face the consequences. But, within minutes after his departure, a group of people, shouting pro-BJP slogans, attacked my house and set fire to three cars parked in front of my house”, Lad said.

BJP supporters attack Congress leaders’ house in Bellary, set fire to cars

In the first instance of serious pre-poll violence in Karnataka, the house of a former BJP MLA, who joined the Congress recently, was attacked by a mob of BJP supporters in Bellary on Friday evening.

About 30 to 40 persons shouting pro-BJP slogans hurled stones at the residence of Anil Lad, a prospective Congress candidate from Bellary assembly constituency, damaging the windowpanes before torching three cars parked outside the house.

The attack on Anil Lad’s residence comes barely three days after he quit the BJP and joined the Congress party. In his complaint to the police, Anil Lad, a leading mining contractor in iron ore-rich Bellary, has blamed former Minister B Sriramulu, a BJP leader from Bellary, for engineering the attack on his house.

Lad told reporters that Sriramulu, who was the Tourism Minister in the JD (S)-BJP coalition, came to the house on Friday evening minutes before the attack. “Though I went outside to receive him, Sriramulu began threatening me without any provocation. He asked me to leave Bellary or face the consequences. But, within minutes after his departure, a group of people, shouting pro-BJP slogans, attacked my house and set fire to three cars parked in front of my house”, Lad said.

Based on Lad’s complaint, the Cowl Bazar police station in Bellary has registered a case against Sriramulu and 40 others on charges of threatening and arson. By Saturday afternoon, the police had rounded up 20 persons in the connection.

But, Congress leaders are demanding the immediate arrest of Sriramulu, who is roaming freely after the attack.

Meanwhile, Sriramulu has denied his role in the attack and accused Lad of leveling false allegations against him to gain publicity. “I never threatened him. For the sake of publicity, he may himself torched his cars and is putting the blame on me”, Sriramulu said.

JD (U) to field candidates against ally BJP in Karnataka

The alliance between two National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners – BJP and JD (U) – is all but over in Karnataka with the JD (U) announcing its list of 25 candidates for the coming assembly elections in the State.

The release of JD (U) candidates’ list came after talks between the NDA partners remained deadlocked over the issue of sharing of seats.

The first list of 25 candidates released by JD (U) covers its nominees for 18 seats, where the BJP has already fielded its candidates.

According to the JD (U) list, party’s state unit President and former Minister B Somashekar will be contesting from Malavalli reserved assembly segment while MLA in the dissolved Assembly J C Madhuswamy will enter the fray from Chikkanayakanahalli segement. The JD (U) has fielded trade Union leader Michael Fernandes, who is also the brother of former Federal Minister George Fernandes, from Sarvajna Nagar constituency in Bangalore.

The JD (U) has criticized the BJP for “unilaterally” declaring its candidates for the coming elections without consulting the party, which was a key NDA ally. The BJP has already announced its candidates for 185 seats out of the 224 assembly constituencies in the state.

The JD (U), which shares power with the BJP in Bihar, had sought 25 seats, the same number it had contested during the 2004 polls. But, the BJP leadership was unwilling to spare its ally more than 10 seats.

Another grouse of the JD (U) was that in most of the 10 seats, which the BJP was willing to cede, there was little or no presence of JD (U) or BJP.

Eunuchs and sex workers in Bangalore seek voter cards

Eunuchs and sex workers in Bangalore appear to be making a determined bid to exercise their franchise.

A group of eunuchs or transgenders and sex workers in Bangalore recently went to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bangalore and put forward a strong claim for their inclusion in the electoral rolls for the ensuing elections to Karnataka Assembly.

“I have been living in Bangalore for the last 20 years, but I still don’t have a voter’s identity card. When I apply for the card, they ask me which category they should add me in – man or woman?”, a transgender activist Sahana told reporters.

But, the Election Commission officials contend that it was not the gender issue that prevents them from issuing them voter identity cards, but their address. For, the transgenders are known to keep shifting their residences very often.

The Karnataka Sex Workers’ Union told the Election Commission that there are more than 1,000 transgenders and sex workers in Bangalore, who have not received their voter cards.
But, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka M N Vidyashankar has assured the transgenders and sex workers that their names will be on electoral rolls if they fill up the forms with all the relevant details before the deadline for issuing voters cards lapses

BJP asks rebels to pull out of poll fray

The BJP has threatened to initiate disciplinary action against party rebels, who have filed their nominations for the ensuing assembly elections, if they do not withdraw from the fray by April 23.

Stung by the entry of a large number of rebels into the poll fray, BJP’s Karnataka unit President D V Sadananda Gowda said the party had given the rebels time till April 23, the last date for filing nominations, to withdrawn from the fray. “If they do not retract, the party will initiate disciplinary action against them”, he said.

Several BJP leaders, who were disappointed with the party leadership for denying them a party ticket, had filed their nomination papers against the official candidates in several constituencies in the state, much to the discomfiture of the party leadership.

These BJP leaders had raised a banner of revolt soon after the party leadership announced the list of officials candidates chosen to contest the ensuing assembly poll from various constituencies in the state.

“The BJP is a disciplined party and the party workers should maintain it”, Gowda told reporters.

Meanwhile, the BJP will release its election manifesto on April 21. “We will make promises that can be fulfilled and not ones like distributing colour television sets”, the BJP leader said.

The BJP manifesto apart from dwelling on programmes the party promises to implement if voted to power will also dwell on the reasons that brought down the B S Yedyurappa-led Government in November last year and the hardship caused to people by soaring prices of essential commodities, he said.

The BJP has already announced that it would provide free power supply for irrigation pumpsets, besides agricultural loans at an interest rate of Rs 3 per cent to farmers.

Returning officer assaulted by BJP leader in Karnataka

A BJP leader from Tumkur in poll-bound Karnataka was arrested yesterday after he reportedly assaulted the Returning Officer of Gubbi assembly constituency.

Police said former President of Gubbi taluk BJP unit S Vijaykumar went to the office of Returning Officer K G Thimmareddy along with a large number of supporters to file his nomination papers as a rebel BJP candidate on Wednesday.

When the Returning Officer made them wait for a while as it was lunch time, an angry Vijaykumar and his followers were angry as it was an auspicious time to file the nomination papers.

Later, when the Returning Officer refused to allow more than five persons inside the office as per the Election Commission’s rule, an annoyed Vijaykumar and his supporters entered into an altercation with the Returning Officer. Subsequently, the BJP leader allegedly assaulted the Returning Officer.

The BJP leaders’ supporters prevented the office staff from coming out. The situation was brought under control after police rushed reinforcements to the spot and shifted the Returning Officer to the Government hospital.

The BJP leader, who went absconding soon after the incident, was arrested by the police yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has registered more than 300 criminal cases for violation of election code of conduct in poll-bound Karnataka ever since elections to the 224-member state assembly were announced on April 2.

Chief Electoral officer of Karnataka M N Vidyashankar told reporters that a criminal case had also been filed against former minister K Srinivas Gowda, a Congressman, for addressing a political gathering inside a temple in Kolar district.

Vidyashankar said the election officials had recovered Rs 32 million in cash from a house in Mandya, besides seizing 12,000 sarees meant for lure women voters during the ensuing elections in Chennapatna in Bangalore rural district and Honnali in Davangri district.

Also, a case has been slapped against former IPS officer K C Ramamurthy, who is aspiring to contest from an assembly constituency in Bangalore, for distributing free rice among people.

Poll process kicks off in Karnataka

The process of elections to Karnataka Assembly scheduled to be held next month was kicked off yesterday with the Election Commission issuing a notification for the first phase of polls covering 89 out of the 224 assembly constituencies in the state.

The issue of notification also signalled the start of filing of nomination papers for the 89 assembly segments spread across eight districts of Karnataka viz Bangalore urban, Bangalore rural, Tumkur, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Ramanagaram, Mandya, Hassan, Mysore , Chamarajanagar and Kodagu, which will go to polls on May 10.

During the second phase of elections, scheduled for May 16, a total of 66 assembly constituencies in ten districts will face the ballot while the remaining 69 assembly seats in eight districts will go to polls on May 22.

Counting of votes from all the 224 constituencies will be taken up on May 25.

HIV-infected man pierces kids with blood-soaked needle

In a bizarre incident, a 26-year-old AIDS patient reportedly pricked a needle soaked with his infected blood into the bodies of two children in Gokak in Karnataka’s Belgaum district.

Police said the accused Parusharam Naik had a dispute with his co-worker Lingappa Naik, who resided in the same neighbourhood. Recently, Parashuram entered Lingappa’s house when no elders were present, took out a sewing needle and pricked himself before stabbing Lingappa’s four-year-old son Shivanand and six-year-old daughter Lakshmi with it.

When Lingappa returned home and learned about the matter, he immediately rushed his children to the Government District Hospital for necessary medical examination.

Meanwhile, the accused Parusharam is reported to be absconding after he was beaten up by Lingappa and others in the locality.

According to a complaint lodged by Lingappa, Parashuram was an AIDS patients and he apprehended that his children could contract the dreaded HIV disease because of his “cruel act”.

Doctors attending on Lingappa’s children said the children would be kept under observation as the time taken to know whether the children had been infected with HIV would range between six weeks to six months.

However, doctors said the needle used by the accused was a sewing needle, which is not the same as the hollow needle used for injecting medicine. “We have to see whether pricking the body with such a needle could have transferred sufficient quantity of the HIV tissues into the body to cause AIDS”, said a doctor at Belgaum district hospital.

JD (U) may spoil BJP’s party in Karnataka

The JD (U), a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), could well spoil the BJP’s party in poll-bound Karnataka by fielding its candidates against the saffron party in more than 100 seats.

With talks over sharing of seats between BJP and JD (U) for the ensuing assembly polls in Karnataka remaining deadlocked, JD (U) National General Secretary Shambhu Srivatsav told reporters in Bangalore that his party will field its own candidates in at least 100 out of the 224 assembly seats in Karnataka if the BJP does not leave 25 seats for his party.

Shambhu Srivatsav said the party leadership disappointed with the BJP’s decision to cede only six seats for the JD (U) in Karnataka. “We are seeking our share of 25 seats, which is the same number given to us during the 2004 polls. But, they are giving us only six seats. Initially, they offered us only four seats. Later, they gave us two more seats, where neither the BJP nor the JD (U) has any presence”, the disappointed JD (U) leader said.

Shambhu Srivatsav, however, said his party would wait for three more days for a final word from the BJP. “If we don’t receive a positive response, we will be finalise our own candidates for atleast 100 seats”, he said.

He also warned the BJP that it would have to face serious repercussions on account of its reluctance to offer the JD (U) more seats under the proposed seat sharing arrangement for the coming elections.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa told reporters that his party was keen to have a tie-up with JD (U) and rejected suggestions that negotiations between the partners had broken down. “We are in touch with JD (U) leaders, trying to work out a mutually agreeable seat-sharing formula”, Yeddyurappa said.

BJP fields 80 new faces amid riding dissension in party

Amid a rising threat of dissidence by unsuccessful party ticket aspirants, the BJP in Karnataka dropped nine MLA’s of the recently dissolved assembly and fielded 80 new faces in its first list of 163 candidates cleared for the coming Assembly polls.

The list cleared by the BJP’s Central Election Committee in New Delhi does include the names of nine former MLAs, who were openly hobnobbing with rival political parties.

The new faces, whose names were cleared for nomination by the party, includes new entrants like former Ministers Bachche Gowda and M Mahadev, retired Director General of Police L Revanasiddaiah, former MLC Basavaraj Bommai, who is also the son of former Chief Minister S R Bommai, son in law of former Chief Minister Veerendra Patil B J Jawali, besides Sanjay Kheny, a close relative of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ashok Kheny.

The BJP has also decided to field sitting MLCs Shobha Karandlaje and Aravind Limbavali from assembly segments in Bangalore, much to the disgruntlement of other party hopefuls.

The ticket aspirants, who were upset with the party’s choice in several constituencies, staged a demonstration in front of BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa’s residence in Bangalore.

Meanwhile, speculation was rife in the BJP that the list cleared in New Delhi had underwent several changes from the one prepared in Bangalore. Several candidates recommended by Yeddyurappa are rumoured to have been dropped by the party’s national leadership at the behest of Yeddyurappa’s bete-noire and former Federal Minister Ananthkumar.

Elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly are scheduled to be held in three phases on May 10, 16 and 22. The BJP has not announced its candidates for the remaining seats as it was anticipating a tie-up with JD (U).
Ananthkumar said the BJP was hopeful of a tie-up with the JD (U). “We have not fielded candidates in constituencies, where the JD (U) is strong”, he said.

Colour TV figures among Congress’s poll-eve promise in Karnataka

The Congress party came out with a tempting list of freebies including a colour television set for each family below poverty line to woo the electorate ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka.

The seven-point populist agenda announced by former Federal Minister and Chairman of the Congress party’s manifesto committee C K Jaffer Sharief in Bangalore includes 25 kilograms of rice every month at Rs 2 per kilogram and loans at a maximum interest rate of 3 per cent per annum to farmers, weavers, fishermen, shepherds, potters and self help groups.

Also, the Congress party has promised to extend the Yashaswini health insurance scheme, hitherto restricted to members of co-operative societies, to all persons below poverty line.

Seeking to address the issue of joblessness, Sharief said that all unemployed youth, who had passed tenth standard will be given a stipend of Rs 1,200 linked to a skill training programme. If voted to power, the Congress party also promised to waive the arrears due from beneficiaries of Ashraya and Indira Awaz housing scheme, besides constructing 1.5 million houses to the poor.

The Congress leaders have described the list of seven poll-eve promises as just “sneak preview”. The complete manifesto will be released at a mammoth farmers’ rally planned to be held in Davangere on April 13, said former Chief Minister S M Krishna, who was also present on the occasion.

But, the bouquet of promises so far announced by the Congress has been enough to rattle the rival BJP and the JD (S), who have sought to dismiss them as “gimmicks”.

The Congress leaders have rejected the apprehensions expressed by the rival parties that the populist schemes like giving colour television sets would drain the Government’s resources. “The purpose is to empower beneficiaries with knowledge so that they could make use of the Right to Information Act. Each colour television set would cost Rs 5,000 and the total number of television sets required will be 6 million”, former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.

Krishna said the Congress party had the political will and the ability to mobilize the resources to implement the programmes that would be announced in the manifesto.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chauhan and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge were also present when the seven-point agenda was announced by the Congress party in Bangalore.

American tries to rape English woman in Bangalore

Close on the heels of the alleged molestation of a Filipino woman in a serviced apartment in Bangalore, an American reportedly tried to rape an English woman in a luxury hotel in the City late on Tuesday night.

In her complaint to the police, the 32-year-old woman said she was returning to her room on the third floor of the hotel after dinner when 52-year-old Alfred Lary, who was staying in the adjacent room, staggered out of his room, dragged her inside, locked the door and tried to rape her.

When the woman screamed for help, the lounge manager Pratap and housekeeping staff member Yellappa broke open the door and rescued her.

The English woman was staying at the hotel since March 29 as she was working on an assignment with Bharat Petroleum. The accused Alfred Lary, who was also in Bangalore in connection with project, had checked into a room adjacent to the English woman.

After the hotel management reported the matter to the police, sleuths from the High Grounds police station arrived and took Alfred into custody. The accused was subjected to a medical examination and it was found that he was in a drunken state.

“The man was completely drunk. This was proved by the medical reports”, said the High Grounds police inspector.

The police have booked Alfred for trespass, outraging the modesty of a woman and attempting to rape.

The attempt to rape an English woman follows the alleged molestation of a woman tourist from Philippines by the attendant of a serviced apartment on Millers Road in Bangalore on April 3.

IAS officer’s wife wants husband suspended to save his life

The wife of a senior IAS officer in Karnataka has appealed to Governor Rameshwar Thakur to suspend her husband and save his life.

J N Jayashree, wife of IAS officer M N Vijaykumar, perceives a threat to the life of her husband, who is presently posted as Administrator of Command Area Development Authority (CADA) in the border district of Belgaum.

After her repeated requests to the state chief secretary Sudhakar Rao were rejected on the grounds that the election code of conduct did not permit transfers of Government officials after announcement of polls, Jayashree was forced to write to the Governor seeking her husband’s suspension.

“My husband’s life is in danger and he is changing locations thrice every week. There is a need to shift him to Bangalore immediately if his life is to be safe. Hence, I am forced to put forward such an extremely odd request”, Jayashree told reporters in Bangalore.

Jayashree said her husband’s life was in danger as he has been attempting to introduce transparency in the system and help fight corruption. “Though I had tried to meet the Chief Secretary and convey my anxiety to him, I was not given an appointment”, she said.

In her letter to the Governor, Jayashree claimed that her husband is the only IAS officer from India to find a place in the Transparency International website for courage shown to fight corruption. “Also, he is the only IAS officer from the country, whose name figures in the Wikepedia under world famous whistleblowers”, she added.

Jayashree revealed that her husband was one of the finalists to receive the Shanmugam Manjunath Trust Integrity Award given in memory of Manjunath, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) officer, who was murdered on the line of duty. “He received the intimation to participate in the award function in New Delhi on March 28. Though he sought permission from the Government to participate in the function, the chief secretary told him that he cannot even attend the function, let alone participating in it”, Jayashree said.

Gowda predicts hung assembly in Karnataka

Predicting a hung assembly in Karnataka, former Prime Minister and JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has challenged the Congress and BJP to form a Government without his support.

“I will see who can form a Government without the JD (S) support”, Gowda said after chairing a parliamentary board meeting of his party in Bangalore.

Gowda said the JD (S) had almost finalized the list of candidates to be fielded in the coming assembly polls scheduled to be held next month. “The list of candidates will be released during this week”, he said.

Gowda, however, did not indicate whether he would align with the Congress or the BJP in the case of a fractured verdict in the assembly polls.

It may be mentioned here that Gowda had aligned with the Congress to form a coalition Government when the previous assembly elections held in 2004 threw up a hung assembly. But, mid-way through the term, the Dharam Singh-led coalition Government of JD (S) and Congress collapsed, leading to the installation of Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy as the new Chief Minister with the support of BJP.

Gowda trained his guns on his friend-turned-foe former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for misusing the official machinery to target JD (S) workers. After Siddaramaiah and Gowda fell apart three years ago, the former Deputy Chief Minister has now joined the Congress.

“We will wait till the elections are over. After that we will see the fate of these leaders, who are trying to destroy our party”, Gowda said.

Rs 30 million worth opium seized from textile businessman in Bangalore

The Bangalore police has arrested a small time textile businessman, who was possessing almost 9 kilograms of opium worth Rs 30 million in the market.

Acting on a tip-off, the Bangalore police nabbed 46-year-old Prabhuram while he was trying to sell opium near Tulasi Park in Upparpet police station limits on Tuesday.

“He was caught trying to sell one kilogram of opium, which he was carrying in a bag. The remaining contraband was recovered from his house in Arakere on Bannerghatta Road in the City. We have seized a total of 8.7 kilograms of opium worth Rs 30 million from him”, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bangalore West, P Harishekaran told reporters.

Prabhuram, who is a native of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, resides at Arakere in Bangalore along with his family. He runs a textile shop in the same area.

During interrogation, Prabhuram confessed that the contraband was meant for wholesale dealers, who regularly bought the drug from him. He also revealed that he obtained the consignment from his contacts in Madhya Pradesh and that he has been engaged in the illegal trade of drugs for the last two years.

“He used to get the contraband from one Ramesh in Madhya Pradesh once a year. Their meeting place was Santhoshi Mata temple in Arakere. Prabhuram would call Ramesh on the phone and place the order before collecting the consignment at the designated place and time”, said a police officer investigating the matter.

Apart from wholesale dealers of drugs, Prabhuram’s clients also included students, particularly the ones studying in professional colleges. Police is also on the lookout for Ramesh from whom he received the contraband. The Bangalore police had stumbled upon this drug racket after nabbing one of Prabhuram’s wholesale dealers in the City recently.

Meanwhile, S Davidson, Director of Narcotics Control Bureau, South Zone, has said that the opium would in all probability have been smuggled to extract heroin – a far more potent drug than opium. According to Davidson, one kilogram of heroin is extracted from 10 kilograms of opium.

Foreigner molested in Bangalore

A 38-year-old lady tourist from Phillipines was allegedly molested by the employee of a serviced apartment in Bangalore, where she was staying.

Police said Klondy Ramrez, who works as a nurse in a private hospital in London, arrived in Bangalore as a tourist on April 3 and checked into a serviced apartment on Millers Road in the City.

On the night of April 4, an attendant of the serviced apartment Srikant knocked on her door around 11.30 pm saying there was a phone call from her friend. When the lady tourist opened the door, Srikant barged in and locked the door before attempting to rape her.

The victim managed to wriggle out from his embrace and ran out to the lobby. “When he tried to kiss her, she slapped him and pushed him away”, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bangalore Central, B N S Reddy.

After the incident, the victim contacted the Phillipines Embassy, which advised her to lodge a police complaint.

“Though the incident occurred on April 4, Ramrez chose to lodge a complaint on Monday. We have filed a case of molestation under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code”, Reddy said.

Meanwhile, the management of the serviced apartment has dismissed Srikant from service. The High Grounds police station, which has registered the case, is trying to locate Srikant, who is absconding.

Bird-hit grounds flight at Bangalore airport

More than 160 passengers on board a Coimbatore-bound flight had a providential escape after their aircraft sufferred a bird-hit during its take-off run at the HAL airport in Bangalore on Sunday.

Airport officials said the Jet Lite’s Boeing 737 flight to Coimbatore from Bangalore had to be aborted seconds before take-off due to the bird-hit. The pilot brought the aircraft, which was already on its take-off run, to a halt immediately after sensing a bird-hit.

A thick cloud of smoke came out of the wheels due the sudden application of brakes. The aircraft was immediately towed away to the parking bay and the passengers were evacuated. Nobody was injured in the incident, officials said.

According to Jet Lite spokesperson, the flight was at full throttle when the pilot noticed a pair of kites on the runway and aborted the take-off. The sudden application of brakes resulted in the tyres getting deflated, the spokesperson said.

A team of aircraft engineers from Delhi was flown down to Bangalore to assess the extent of damage to the aircraft. The team found that the landing gear of the aircraft including the tyres were slightly damaged, but there was no problem with the engine.

After the checks were completed, the flight took off to Coimbatore later in the evening and reached the destination safely in 40 minutes, airport officials said.

Airport authorities, however, made light of the incident and said that the time schedules of other flights were not disrupted due to the incident. “There was no impact on the air traffic due to the incident”, officials said.

However, Jet Lite’s bird-hit comes close on the heels of an incident in which a Kingfisher aircraft had to abort its flight after a dog strayed on the runway at Bangalore airport last week.

Airport officials have expressed concern over the area around the airport being infested with large number of dogs and birds due to uncovered drains. The airport authorities frequent reminders to the municipal authorities to keep the area around the airport clean have fallen on deaf ears.

Kannada groups ban Rajnikanth’s films in Karnataka

Though the Karnataka shutdown scheduled for April 10 has been called off following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s decision to put the controversial Hogenakal scheme on hold till a popular Government is installed in the state, pro-Kannada groups continued to target Tamil superstar Rajnikanth for the latter’s “insulting” remarks against Kannadigas.

The Kannada outfits declared that they will not allow films of Ranjikanth to be screened anywhere in Karnataka till the Tamil superstar tendered an unconditional apology for his comments made in Chennai.

“He has insulted us. Not only will we prevent his films from being screened in Karnataka, we will not allow him to enter the state”, President of Karnataka Border Protection Committee and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj said.

“The Tamil superstar fights only on the screen. Let him come to Karnataka, we will tell him how a real fight is fought. Unless he begs pardon for his insulting words, we will not let him land in Karnataka”, Vatal Nagaraj said.

Protests against Rajnikanth continued in various parts of the state, particularly in Bangalore, Mandya and Mysore. Kannada activists set fire to rolls of Rajnikanth’s films in Mysore to give vent to their ire over the Tamil superstar’s remarks against Kannadigas.

A group of Kannada activists staged a protest in Mysore yesterday against Kannada film actors Ambarish and Vishnuvardhan for their failure to participate in a film artistes rally organized in Bangalore.

Earlier, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, which was spearheading the agitation against the Hogenakkal drinking water project, said the April 10 shutdown had been called off following Karunanidhi’s assurance to suspend the work on the project.

“The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has given an assurance that works on Hogenakkal project would be suspended till an elected Government comes to power in Karnataka. He has also agreed to hold discussions on Hogenakkal project with the new Government. Following his assurance, we are calling off the state-wide shutdown”, Vedike President T A Narayana Gowda told reporters.

BSP leader joins Congress in Karnataka

The Congress party has managed to rope in a prominent Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader in Karnataka ahead of the assembly polls scheduled to be held in the state next month.

Former President of BSP’s Karnataka unit B Gopal joined the Congress in the presence of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Prithviraj Chauhan in Bangalore on Sunday.

Gopal, who had built a base for the BSP in Karnataka since 1984, was removed from the party by BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati earlier this year. “I wished to remain in politics and the Congress with its commitment to Dalits and other weaker sections was the best party to join”, Gopal said.

Welcoming Gopal and his supporters into the party fold, Chauhan told reporters that the Congress party will be further strengthened by the entry of the BSP leaders. Gopal’s decision to join the Congress is expected to hit the BSP’s prospects hard in Karnataka as the Mayawati-led party was planning to contest all the 224 seats in the election-bound state.

Gopal’s entry into the Congress assumes significance in view of the Congress party’s rout in the 2004 assembly polls when BSP cut into its votes.

Former Federal Minister T K Taradevi, a four-time MP, who had quit the JD (S) and former MP S B Sidnal were also welcomed into the party fold by the Congress leaders at the same function.

Speaking to reporters, Chauhan said Congress President Sonia Gandhi had also cleared the entry of former Federal Minister C M Ibrahim into the party. “He will be joining the Congress in the next few days”, Chauhan said.

Ibrahim, who was once a close aide of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, has fallen out with the JD (S) supremo after former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was removed from the party.

Chauhan described the entry of new leaders into the party as “realignment and consolidation of secular forces”.

Karnataka shutdown over Hogenakkal called off

Pro-Kannada outfits have withdrawn the call for a Karnataka shutdown on April 10 against the Hogenakkal drinking water project in the wake of Tamil Nadu’s decision to put the scheme on hold till a popular Government is installed in Karnataka.

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, which was spearheading the agitation against the Hogenakkal project, yesterday said that the call for a state-wide shutdown had been withdrawn following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s announcement to put the project on hold.

It may be mentioned here that pro-Kannada organizations under the aegis of Karnataka Border Protection Committee had called for a state-wide shutdown on April 10 after Karunanidhi declared that Tamil Nadu was determined to go ahead with the project.

The controversial project had triggerred widespread protests in Karnataka with pro-Kannada activists attacking film theatres screening Tamil films and stoning vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration number plates.

Though the call for Karnataka shutdown on April 10 had been withdrawn, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists said they would not allow the screening of Tamil films in Karnataka till the issue is resolved.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna thanked Karunanidhi for his decision to put the project on the hold and helping avert a crisis.

Krishna also appealed to various organizations in Karnataka that had launched an agitation over the project to maintain peace. “Now that Karunanidhi has come out with a statement putting the project on hold, I request all those who agitated against the project to counsel among themselves and maintain peace. No agitation is warranted”, he told reporters.

Krishna sought to clarify that Hogenakkal will not feature as part of the Karnataka Congress party’s election campaign. “It is not going to be an election issue. Certainly people are trying to make it an emotional issue. But, the people of Karnataka have innate wisdom to see through and look at it in the right perspective”, he said.

Kannada activists stone Tamil Nadu buses

The agitation against the execution of controversial Hogenakkal drinking water project by Tamil Nadu has taken a violent turn in Karnataka with pro-Kannada activists stoning and damaging buses bearing registration number plates of Tamil Nadu.

Protestors gathered on the Bangalore-Hosur highway stoned eight buses of Tamil Nadu State Express Transport Corporation (TNSETC) while Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists damaged four vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration number plates at Maddur about 80 kms from here.

One of the vehicles targetted by pro-Kannada activists at Maddur included van carrying the crew for the shooting of a Tamil film in Mysore.

In a separate incident, four passengers were injured when protestors smashed the windscreens of a private bus owned by a person of Tamil Nadu origin on the outskirts of Gulbarga.

Pro-Kannada activists also stopped a TNSETC bus on Mysore Road in Bangalore and daubed black paint on the windscreens.

With protestors targeting TNSETC buses, police have heightened security at Kempe Gowda bus stand and the Satellite bus station on Mysore road.

The activists also targetted their ire at the office of a cable television network in Bangalore for continuing to telecast Tamil channels.

When the activists hurtle stones at the office of the cable television network situated on Double Road in a bid to stop it relaying Tamil channels, the police stepped in and stopped the protestors from barging into the office, situated on the third floor of a commercial complex.

The police also resorted to mild caning before taking 50 protestors into custody for attacking the cable television office. They protestors were later let off.

Several activists of pro-Kannada outfits also turned up at the office of a Tamil daily published from Bangalore and asked the staff to stop printing and circulating the newspaper in Karnataka.
Amid heavy police security, a delegation of the protestors was allowed to meet the senior editorial staff, who assured them that the matter will be conveyed to the management.

SSLC student commits suicide

A 15-year-old student of SSLC committed suicide after she was disallowed to write her exams as she had forgotten her hall ticket.

Police said Shantala, a student of Government High School in Jeevan Bhima Nagar in Bangalore ended her life at her residence in Murugeshapalya in HAL Police station limits in the City after she was denied denied entry into the examination centre without the hall ticket.

Her distraught mother Umadevi told reporters that her daughter had left the hall ticket in her mathematics text book, which she did not carry for the examination. When the examination authorities refused to allow her to write the examination, she returned home and ended her life.

The deceased Shantala is the daughter of Umadevi, a garment factory worker, and T S Ravi, a security guard. Residents of Murugeshapalya staged a demonstration in front of the examination centre seeking an explanation from the authorities. Later, Education department officials and police pacified the agitated crowd.

Pro Kannada groups call for Karnataka shutdown on April 10

Various pro-Kannada outfits have given a call for a Karnataka shutdown on April 10 in protest against the Hogenakkal drinking water project taken up by neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

A meeting of various pro-Kannada organizations held in Bangalore under the aegis of Karnataka Border Protection Committee resolved to appeal to all political parties to support the state-wide agitation on April 10 and ensure a complete shutdown.

The pro-Kannada groups are up in arms against Tamil Nadu for taking up a drinking water project at Hogenakkal waterfalls across river Cauvery, a tourist destination on the border of the two riparian states. With Tamil Nadu as well as Karnataka laying claim over Hogenakkal, the drinking water project finds itself caught in a major controversy between the two states.

The pro-Kannada groups have decided to stall screening of Tamil films and black out Tamil television channels all over the state. “Tamil films and television programmes will not be shown anywhere in Karnataka till the issue is resolved”, said Kannada protagonist and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, who presided over the meeting of Kannada organizations.

The agitation chalked out by the pro-Kannada groups also includes demonstrations at Bangalore City Railway station and on the highway leading to Chennai from Bangalore on April 4.

Vatal Nagaraj has urged President Pratibha Patil to take serious note of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s recent remarks against Karnataka, which he claimed had created unrest in both the states, and urged the Federal Government to immediately step in and put the project on the hold.

Representatives of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce and Kannada Sene, besides film personalities and Kannada writers, attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike has threatened to cut off rail and road transport between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also close down industries and trade establishments owned by persons belonging to Tamil Nadu.

Activsts of the Vedike stopped an Ooty-bound bus belonging to Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation at Mandya, about 100 kms from Bangalore, and deflated its tyres on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed in Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka in view of the agitation. “We will not tolerate any violence. We have taken all the precautionary measures to maintain law and order. Security has been provided in Tamil colonies, theatres and Tamil organizations”, Commissioner of Bangalore City Police Neelam Achuta Rao told reporters.

The police has also stepped up security at the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s daughter Selvi, who stays in Bangalore along with her husband. “Security has been strengthened at her residence”, Rao said.

Tamil Sangam in Bangalore, which came under attack from Kannada activists on Monday, has decided to take out a counter rally seeking protection of Tamils in Bangalore.

Sangam President Shanmugasundaram, who has lodged a complaint against Kannada activists for ransacking the Tamil Sangam office, said Tamils living in Bangalore will take out a procession to Raj Bhavan to bring to the notice of Governor Rameshwar Thakur the need to protection fundamental rights of Tamils residing in Karnataka.

Watching porn films in private not a crime: High Court

Karnataka High Court has ruled that watching porn films in private does not constitute an offence under Indian Penal Code.

A single-judge bench of Justice K Bhaktavatsalam of Karnataka High Court delivered this verdict while hearing a petition filed by three engineering students of Bangalore challenging the criminal proceedings initiated against them for watching porn films on their personal computer.

The judge observed that screening porn films and viewing them in public is prohibited under the Indian Penal Code. Similiarly, making a porn film and selling them is also a crime. But, viewing them in private does not constitute a crime, the judge noted and quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against them.

Three students of an engineering college in Bangalore caught by the police while they were watching porn films in a rented room in MEI layout in Bangalore during November 2005. The police seized the computer and compact discs, arrested the students and filed cases against them.

The lower court had taken cognizance of the case and had initiated criminal proceedings on the three students.

But, when the students moved the High Court, Justice Bhaktavatsalam observed that it was not the prosecution’s case that the students possessed compact discs with obscene content for the purpose of sale, distribution or circulation.

Hence, the lower court’s judgement was set aside and the criminal proceedings against the students were quashed.

Kannada activists threaten to disrupt bus and train services to TN

The execution of the Hogenakal drinking water project by neighbouring Tamil Nadu is threatening to snowball into a major controversy with pro-Kannada groups planning to disrupt bus and train services between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

A day after targeting film theatres screening Tamil movies in Bangalore and warning cable operators to stop telecasting Tamil programmes, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike has threatened to stop bus and train services to Tamil Nadu if the controversial drinking water project is not stalled.

“As a first step we will ban Tamil movies and television channels. We have asked the cable operators to stop telecasting Tamil programmes. If Tamil Nadu goes ahead with the project, we will stop bus and train services between the two states”, President of the Vedike K Narayana Gowda told reporters.

The Vedike’s threat to disrupt bus and train services to Tamil Nadu comes a day after hundreds of pro-Kannada activists stormed nine film theatres across Bangalore demanding a halt to screening of Tamil films in protest against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s remarks over the Hogenakal project.

Karunanidhi was reported to have come down heavily on pro-Kannada organizations for protesting against the project and declared that Tamil Nadu will execute the project at all costs.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s remarks saw Kannada activists come out on motorcycles in large numbers and attacked the film theatres screening Tamil movies. After evacuating the audience, the angry protestors tore down the banners and warned the theatre owners against screening Tamil movies. Many theatres in Bangalore voluntarily stopped screening Tamil movies.

Meanwhile, security has been heightened at vulnerable places in Bangalore, which has a sizable Tamil population. “Security will be intensified. We will not allow anybody to take law into their hands”, said Bipin Gopalakrishna, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Bangalore.

Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka Sudhakar Rao told reporters that the State Government had written to the Federal Water Resources Ministry seeking its intervention to resolve the dispute between the two states.

He also said that Karnataka and written to Tamil Nadu Government requesting it to stop all development projects at Hogenakal till the issue is resolved.
The Rs 13.34 billion Hogenakal project taken up at Hogenakal falls on Karnataka’s border with Tamil Nadu envisages supply of 160 million litres of water per day to 4 million people in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu.