Hindutva outfit launches campaign to ban Fajr Adhan in India

Mandya: Accusing the opposition BJP of attempting 'Operation Kamala' to destabilise the Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka, a ruling party MLA on Sunday claimed that efforts were on to entice Congress legislators, by offering Rs 100 crore.

Congress MLA from Mandya Ravikumar Gowda (Ravi Ganiga) alleged that though attempts are on by the BJP to destabilise the government by luring MLAs, no legislator will fall for it, and the government was stable and strong.

‘Operation Kamala’ (Operation Lotus) refers to an alleged attempt of the BJP to engineer defection of its opponent party legislators to install its own government and to ensure its stability.

"Even today I'm saying, they (BJP) have now raised the offer to Rs 100 crore from Rs 50 crore, someone had called day-before-yesterday saying hundred (crore) ready, (wanted) to purchase 50 MLAs. BJP people have gone from Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore," Gowda said in response to a reporter's question.

Addressing media here, he said, "Someone had called me, I told him to keep Rs 100 crore with himself, I thought of complaining to ED." "Everyday they (BJP) are planning to dislodge our government, from Rs 50 crore, they have now gone to Rs 100 crore offer, but our government is stable, the Chief Minister is also strong," he added.

Earlier, in October last year too, Gowda had claimed that a team was trying to lure Congress legislators with offers of Rs 50 crore and ministerial positions. He had said that four legislators have been contacted, and there is evidence to support this claim.

Gowda today accused BJP national General Secretary Organisation B L Santhosh, Union Ministers Shobha Karnadlaje, Pralhad Joshi and H D Kumaraswamy (of JDS) of working as a "gang" to destabilise the Congress government in the state.

With 136 MLAs the Congress government is "strong like a rock", there is a popular CM, who is pro-poor, and no one can dislodge it, he further said. "But these people have promised PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and are walking around with an aim to topple the government."

Alleging that BJP's "brokers" are contacting Congress MLAs every day, Gowda said, "none of our MLAs will fall for it... they (BJP)want to dislodge the government, by purchasing MLAs. They want to destabilise, as Congress is strong in Karnataka."

"We are collecting evidence, we will give it to ED, CBI, we want to catch them with the bag of cash...I have the audio of the person who had called me, he should be feeling his heart beat now, we will release it at the right time," he added.

Bengaluru: Warning that inequality will increase as society is being divided in the name of religion and caste, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said it is a tragedy that educated people are increasingly becoming casteist.

The Chief Minister was speaking after inaugurating an international symposium "Mahatma Gandhi for the 21st Century" organised at Gandhi Bhavan to commemorate the 75th year of the Gandhi Memorial Fund.

"Due to the caste system, many people were deprived of education, leading to increased inequality. It is a tragedy that educated people are increasingly becoming casteist," Siddaramaiah said.

He alleged that "the nurturers of caste inequality killed Mahatma Gandhi." "Gandhi's ideas and guidance given to society are not limited to the 20th century, they remain relevant even today. Gandhiji celebrated peace, truth, justice, and brotherhood throughout his life. He believed that if the whole world adopts the quality of loving each other, the whole society can be at ease," the CM was quoted as saying by his office in a release.

Pointing out that Gandhi believed that nature fulfills our needs but not our greed, Siddaramaiah said as he attributed human "greed" as the reason for environmental disasters happening in Kerala's Wayanad and other parts of the state.

Noting that many educated people follow superstition and "Karma Siddhanta" due to lack of proper scientific education, he said, 850 years ago Basavanna (12th century spiritual leader and also a social reformer) and his followers outrightly rejected the theory of "Karma" (fate).

The CM lamented that today's educated people still believe in the theory of "Karma".

Jawaharlal Nehru led the country by preparing society in a scientific and rational way, while inclusiveness and non-violence were Gandhi's ways, Siddaramaiah further said and added that work needs to be done to take this to the youth.

Mangaluru, Sept 2: Arun Kumar Puthila, a prominent Hindutva figure from coastal Karnataka and a BJP leader, is facing serious allegations of sexual assault and blackmail.

A 47-year-old woman has filed a complaint claiming that Puthila invited her to a Bengaluru hotel in June of the previous year. There, she alleges he threatened to commit suicide and assaulted her sexually against her will. 

The woman further accuses Puthila of making false promises to care for her and her daughter, while using compromising selfies, photographs, and audio and video recordings to blackmail her.

She also reported a decline in Puthila’s communication following the recent Lok Sabha elections.

In response to her allegations, the Women’s Police Station has filed a case under IPC Sections 354(A) (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Dakshina Kannada SP Yathish N has confirmed that an investigation is currently underway.

It is noteworthy that Puthila, who unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate against the BJP from the Puttur assembly constituency in the last elections, rejoined the party in March this year. He had previously contested the elections after being denied a BJP ticket, ultimately losing to Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai by a margin of 4,149 votes.

Puthila, who established the Puthila Parivar—later merged with the BJP—has reportedly caused dissatisfaction among some members of both the Parivar and the BJP.