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.