Somanna not too happy with Yeddyurappa, may be eyeing Congress

January 19, 2017

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Speculation is rife in political circles that senior leader and BJP MLC V Somanna may join the Congress.

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Sources in the Congress said he is weighing the possibility of returning to the ruling party. The Congress leaders are said to be having an open mind in this regard. Somanna, who is a known party hopper, joined the BJP in 2009 when B S Yeddyurappa was the chief minister.

When contacted by media, he refused to comment. Somanna, who was once a close follower of Yeddyurappa, is said to have fallen foul of the BJP leader of late. One of the reasons is that Somanna did not stand by Yeddyurappa when the latter launched his own political party, the KJP, in 2013. Ever since Yeddyurappa became the state BJP president, Somanna has been uncomfortable in the party and does not see a bright future for himself in the party, sources explained.

Besides, the Congress, too, will stand to gain by taking Somanna back. The party lost a prominent Lingayat leader in the old Mysuru region with the death of H S Mahadeva Prasad recently. Somanna will emerge as the Lingayat face of the Congress in the region if he joins the party, the sources said.

A four-time MLA

Somanna, who is a four-time MLA, had won as the Congress candidate from Govindrajnagar Assembly constituency in 2008. He resigned as MLA to join the BJP in 2009. But he lost in the subsequent by-election against Priya Krishna, son of A Krishnappa, who is now Housing Minister. Hence, he became an MLC. Somanna again lost in the 2013 Assembly elections from Vijayanagar Assembly constituency.

Realising that winning from either Vijayanagar or Govindrajnagar, will be a tough task, he started developing a base in Hanur constituency in Chamarajnagar district. He chose Hanur as an alternative constituency as it has a sizable Lingayat population.

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News Network
March 28,2024

An Indian expatriate, hailing from Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, who was detained in Jeddah jail in an alleged cyber case, was set free recently. He is allowed to continue his work in the same company. 

The 49-year-old Mangalurean, has been working for a Maintenance company in Jeddah for more than 13 years. He is known for his efficiency and sincerity in the company with good experience in his field of work. 

His company usually assigned him on duty in Jeddah sea port to take the delivery of the goods consigned to his company. As a part of his duty, he normally takes pictures of the goods before the transportation. He did the same in February 2023 too. 

The security personnel informed the police about his act that amounts to be a violation of the port security rule. He was unaware of the rule as he was doing it normally in the port during the release of the goods. Since then, he was detained by the police on the charge of photographing inside the port premises. After more than 6 months detention, he was released and allowed to work in the same company. 

The detainee’s brother based in Jeddah was constantly pursuing the case.

P A Hameed Padubidri, a pro-bono NRI lawyer and social worker based in Riyadh, extended his socio-humanitarian help in this case upon the request of his family and relatives. 

He actively involved trying to set him free from the jail on humanitarian grounds with the coordination and help of the Consulate General of India (CGI) Jeddah. The CGI keenly followed up the case with the concerned Saudi authorities. He was released from the jail recently and shared his happiness with his family and thanked good samaritans. 

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News Network
March 25,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 25: Former Karnataka Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy on Monday rejoined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Gangavati MLA, who is an accused in an illegal mining case, had formed the 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha' (KRPP) ahead of the state assembly polls last year, snapping his two-decade-old association with the BJP.

Reddy today merged his KRPP with the BJP as he, along with wife Aruna Lakshmi and some family members, joined the party in the presence of its veteran leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, state President B Y Vijayendra, and others.

Reddy had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

However, in the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls he had extended support to the Congress candidate.

Calling it a "home coming", Reddy explained that the move to merge KRPP with the BJP is to "make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister a third time".

"Amit Shah had invited me to Delhi and told me that -- there is no question of extending outside support (KRPP supporting BJP in LS polls) and instead I should join the BJP and work for it, as I took my political birth in the party. Accepting it, I'm joining the party," he said.

Praising Yediyurappa and the leader's contribution in his political growth, Reddy said he is happy that he will be working in the party now with the veteran leader's son Vijayendra.

"I will work as a common party worker along with other leaders under the leadership of Vijayendra. I have not come with any conditions or expectations. Whatever responsibility the party gives me, I will honestly work.

"BJP was always there in my blood, but due to some reasons I had gone out, but today I feel I have come back to my mother's lap. Looking at my brothers here, I don't feel like I'm coming back to the BJP office after 13 years," he added.

Welcoming Reddy back into the party, Vijayendra said his joining will strengthen BJP in the Kalyana Karnataka region.

"Liking Narendra Modi's leadership and accepting BJP's ideology, Reddy has rejoined the party. Reddy has said that Karnataka should have a larger contribution in making Modi PM once again -- to ensure that BJP and JD(S) alliance win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, he is merging his KRPP with BJP and is joining the party," he said.

Before the assembly polls last year, Reddy had been largely politically inactive for nearly 12 years since his arrest by the CBI for an alleged role in a mining scam. During this period, he had a brief stint ahead of the 2018 assembly polls when he campaigned for his close friend and former Minister B Sriramulu in Molakalmuru Assembly segment.

In the run up to the 2018 assembly polls, the then BJP national president Amit Shah, in response to a reporter's question, had distanced the party from him and stressed that "the BJP has nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy." Accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, he has been out on bail since 2015. Several conditions were imposed by the top court in its order which includes prohibiting him from visiting Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthpur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.

Because of these restrictions, he had to contest the 2023 Assembly polls from Gangavati in Koppal district.

Expressing his displeasure about the way BJP had ignored him, Reddy had announced a new party last year and also took a dig at his brothers -- Karunakara Reddy and Somashekar Reddy -- and Sriramulu, as they remained with the BJP.

The three of them had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls, with Reddy's new party said to have impacted their performance in the election.

Sriramulu, a ST community leader and former Minister is now the BJP's candidate from the Bellary (Ballari) Lok Sabha constituency.

Reddy had played an instrumental role in strengthening the BJP in the Ballari district and is still believed to enjoy a considerable clout there as well as in adjoining districts like Chitradurga, Koppal and Raichur, which could be useful for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, managing director of Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011.

The company is accused of changing mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Ballari Reserve Forest area, spread over Ballari in Karnataka and the Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh.

Reddy first came to political limelight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, when he campaigned for BJP leader, the late Sushma Swaraj, who had contested against Congress' Sonia Gandhi from Ballari.

Former Congress Minister T John's son Thomas John also joined the BJP today.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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At least seven people have been killed when Israeli warplanes bombed an emergency center in southern Lebanon near the border with the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories with air-to-surface missiles, according to Lebanese security sources.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity said early on Wednesday that the strike targeted the Islamic Group’s emergency and relief center in Lebanon’s southern village of Habbariyeh.

Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese group closely linked to the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said in a statement that “a number” of people had been killed, and called the strike a “heinous crime.”

An official from the group said “seven rescuers” were killed in the aerial assault.

Another Jamaa Islamiya official, also requesting anonymity, said a dozen medical staff were in the emergency center at the time of the strike, adding that bodies were being pulled from the rubble.

Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Mrad said “the Israeli aggression on Habbariyeh adds to the long list of Israeli crimes.”

Israel has been launching air strikes against Lebanon since the beginning of its onslaught against the Gaza Strip in early October.

An Israeli strike knocked down part of a building in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on February 14, killing seven members of the same family, including a child, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said. A boy initially reported missing was found alive under the rubble.

In a separate Israeli attack, a woman and her two children were killed in the village of as-Sawana in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli regime launched its devastating hostilities in the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the territory’s Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

Israel's raids have resulted in retaliatory strikes from Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed at least 32,414 people, most of them women and children. Another 74,787 individuals have also been wounded.

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