Ramanath Rai called Poojary “Ra***maga”: Harikrishna Bantwal

CD Network | Sumedha V
June 28, 2017

Mangaluru, Jun 28: Expelled Congress leader Harikrishna Bantwal has accused Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister B Ramanath Rai of abusing Congress veteran B Janardhana Poojary in public and igniting communal clashes in Bantwal for political gains.

harishkrishna

Speaking to media persons in the city on Wednesday, Mr Bantwal, “revealed” that Mr Rai had used Tulu Nadu’s extreme derogatory words like “‘ra***maga’ and ‘nayisoo***maga’” against Mr Poojary in a fully crowded wedding hall nearly five months ago.

“MR Rai had attended a certain Rajesh’s wedding in Surathkal Buntara Bhavana on February 6, 2017. Local Congress leaders Arun Coelho and Tejaswi Raj too were present there. Mr Rai asked them where Mr Poojary was using the above mentioned words and further abused him in Tulu,” he said.

Interestingly, Mr Bantwal revealed the five month old incident for the first time a day after Harish Kumar, a leader of Billava community was made the president of Dakshina Kannada district Congress Committee. The appointment was seen as an apparent attempt by the Congress to woo Billavas in the coastal district in the wake of community stalwart Janardhana Poojary’s dissidence with the party leaders.

Lashing out at the Bunt stalwart, Mr Bantwal said that Mr Rai owes his political position today to Mr Poojary. “Back in 1985, when Mr Rai was nobody in the party, he secured the ticket to contest from Bantwal constituency because of Mr Poojary,” he said.

“Billawas and Bunts are the majority and strengths of this region. They cannot be without each other. We do not believe in seeing them as different communities. But some people always get caste into politics”, he said.

He also said that national leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, A K Anthony always praised Mr Poojary and called him an honest politician, but Rai never valued him.

Justifying Mr Poojary’s recent outburst against his own party men in the state, Mr Bantwal said: “This is a democracy. People are allowed to criticize others.”

“Though Mr Poojary often criticized the chief minister, the former never used any unconstitutional or derogatory words against anyone”, he added. Calling Mr Rai an unfaithful and ungrateful, he said that Dakshina Kannada doesn’t need a politician like Mr Rai.

Mr Bantwal went on to say that being a follower of Sri Narayana Guru, he believed in being true to his religion, but also being an Indian first. “Nobody likes to fight. Some greedy politicians like Mr Rai create communal clashes for vote bank. Transferring police officers won’t solve problems in Bantwal. It is Mr Rai who needs to be stripped off his power to restore peace here”, he said.

Mr Bantwal also accused Mr Rai of always being on the side of ‘note and vote’. He called him a ‘modern day Shishupala’ and said that ‘Krishna’ had waited long enough and cannot hold it in anymore, it is time to show Mr Rai’s true colors to the people who voted him to power.

Comments

Chidu
 - 
Wednesday, 28 Jun 2017

Ra*** maga means what? Raayara Maga?

ahmed
 - 
Thursday, 29 Jun 2017

Ra***maga means Raithana maga tats all

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News Network
December 2,2025

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Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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News Network
December 7,2025

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Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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