A setback for CM Bommai despite bypoll gave BJP something to cheer about

News Network
November 2, 2021

In a setback to the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government, the saffron party lost the Hangal assembly constituency bypoll to the Congress on Tuesday, a seat located in the chief minister’s home district of Haveri. However, a thumping victory in the Sindagi assembly bypoll gave the BJP something to cheer about.

They were the first assembly constituencies that faced elections after Bommai took charge as chief minister late July. He will soon celebrate 100 days in office.

In Hangal, Congress’ Srinivas Mane won by 7,373 votes against BJP’s Shivaraj Sajjanar, a non-Lingayat winning a Lingayat-dominated seat.  BJP’s Ramesh Bhusanur registered a convincing victory in Sindgi, gaining a lead of 31,185 votes against Congress’ Ashok Managuli.

A win in Hangal was important for Bommai to assert himself: the seat neighbours Shiggaon, which he represents. Also, Bommai campaigned in Hangal for 8-10 days and several ministers were deployed to ensure the BJP’s victory. BJP's CM Udasi, who died in June, had won Hangal in 2018.

"I've taken this setback seriously. And, we will make corrections," Bommai said on the Hangal defeat. According to him, the BJP lost because it did not get votes from Udasi's support base. "Also, the Congress candidate Mane spent 2-3 years and worked during Covid-19 and other occasions. So, people supported him."

BJP’s poll managers conceded that it was a tough election from the get-go. According to sources, there was some split in Lingayat votes because of initial confusion on the candidature of BJP's CR Ballari - he was convinced not to rebel - and consolidation of Muslim votes that helped the Congress. Sajjanar, the defeated candidate, was seen as former chief minister BS Yediyurappa's pick.

In Sindagi, everything seems to have gone as per the BJP’s plan. It banked on two-time MLA Bhusanur, a Ganiga Lingayat, whereas discontentment in the Congress on fielding Ashok Managuli also added to it. Ashok, the son of late JD(S) MLA MC Managuli whose death necessitated the bypoll, was poached by the Congress.

The JD(S) strategy of fielding Muslims in both Hangal and Sindgi did not work and they lost their deposits.

The Congress sees this as a precursor to the 2023 Assembly polls. “It’s not a face-loss just for Bommai, but the entire BJP government,” KPCC president DK Shivakumar said.

"The BJP's downfall has begun. Modi's popularity is waning. It's certain that the Congress will come to power in 2023," Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said. He mockingly said the BJP lost a seat in Bommai's backyard. "He said he's the son of that soil, the son-in-law, he'd get buried there and all such emotional talk. Still, people in Hangal voted for our candidate," Siddaramaiah said.

Bommai reminded Siddaramaiah that when he was the CM the Congress won the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls, going on to lose them later. "These elections are at a particular time and on an issue."

Even Yediyurappa maintained that this was not a referendum on Bommai's leadership. "It's always a collective effort and we can't blame one individual. The Congress needn't fly high. The BJP will return to power with 140+ seats," he said.

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News Network
November 18,2024

boylighting.jpg

Mangaluru: A 14-year-old boy, Subodh, tragically lost his life after being struck by lightning while sitting outside his home in Kedila village, Bantwal taluk, on Sunday evening.

The incident occurred around 5:30 PM while Subodh, an 8th-grade student at Kalladka Shriram High School, was seated outside his house. Lightning struck him, leaving him unconscious. 

Family members rushed him to a nearby clinic and later to a private hospital in Puttur, where doctors confirmed his death upon arrival.

The boy's body was sent to Puttur Government Hospital for a post-mortem.

Tahsildar Archana Bhat has directed revenue officials to assist the grieving family. Vitla Revenue Inspector Prashanth Shetty, Village Administrative Officer Anil Kumar, Kedila Panchayat President Harish Valtaje, and panchayat members visited the family to offer their condolences and support.

This heartbreaking incident highlights the unpredictability of nature’s fury, leaving a community mourning the untimely loss of a young life.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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News Network
November 17,2024

ullalpool.jpg

Mangaluru: A tragic incident unfolded on Sunday, November 17, at Vazco Resort (VAZCO), situated at Battappadi Cross Road in Someshwara on the outskirts of the city, when three young women drowned in the resort’s swimming pool. 

Disturbingly, an iPhone recording and CCTV footage captured their final moments, providing insights into the heartbreaking accident.

According to City Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal, the tragedy occurred at approximately 10:05 AM. The victims were identified as:

Keerthana N (21) from Devaraj Mohalla, Hebbal Second Stage, Vijayanagar Post.
Nishitha M.D (21) from 4th Cross, Kuribarahalli, Mysuru.
Parvathi S (20) from Ramanuja Road, K.R. Mohalla, Mysuru.

Sequence of Events

The three women had checked into Room No. 2 of the resort on the morning of November 16 and stayed overnight. On Sunday morning, around 10 AM, they entered the swimming pool to play. Reports suggest that they placed their clothes poolside and set an iPhone to record the activity.

Initial findings indicate one woman slipped underwater and began to struggle. When the second attempted a rescue, she too drowned, followed by the third woman. Within minutes, the tragedy claimed all three lives. CCTV footage from the resort corroborates the sequence, showing the young women struggling before succumbing to the water.

Investigation Underway

The resort staff discovered the lifeless bodies and immediately raised the alarm. Ullal Police Inspector H N Balakrishna and his team are conducting an investigation. Preliminary reports suggest the women were non-swimmers, and the lack of safety measures contributed to the tragedy.

The resort is owned by Manohar, as per police records. While the formal case is yet to be registered, the incident has raised serious questions about safety protocols at resorts offering pool facilities.

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