Dhananjay Kumar gives shock to Yeddy, joins Congress

coastaldigest.com news network
July 22, 2017

Mangaluru, Jul 22: Venur Dhananjay Kumar, the former union minister and BJP’s first MP from South India, is all set to formally join Congress party amidst preparation for 2018 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

dhananjay
Confirming the reports of his decision to change the party, Dhananjay told coastaldigest.com that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi assured the former to give a suitable position in the party.

“I met AICC President Rahul Gandhi on Friday and he assured a smooth entry into the Congress. He said that the entire Congress leadership is supporting this move. In a couple of days, KPCC President Dr G Parameshwar will announce my entry to the party. I don’t expect any great post once I join the Congress but if the party wants me to contest the upcoming polls, then I will oblige,” he said.

“Dhananjay felt sidelined by the BJP. He had been extremely loyal to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa but was not given the positions a politician of his experience deserves. Hence, he decided to join the Congress,” a source with knowledge about the BJP veteran’s exit said.

Dhananjay began his political career in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) youth wing. He went on to become an MLA in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1983. In 1991, he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha defeating the Congress veteran B Janardhana Poojary in Dakshina Kannada.

As the BJP grew stronger in the state, he was offered the Mangaluru constituency and won four successive Lok Sabha elections. He served as a Union Minister thrice when the BJP was elected to power.

He was appointed the Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism in 1996, the Union Minister of State for Finance between 1999–2000 and the Union Minister of State for Textiles between 2000–2003.

A staunch loyalist of Yeddyurappa, Dhananjay, in October 2012, had hurled the choicest of abuses against BJP leaders including the central leadership, for ousting Yeddyurappa from the post of Chief Minister.

Angered by the high command’s decision to oust him as CM, Yeddyurappa then went on to form the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP).

The party’s central leadership was angered by Dhananjay’s insults and had expelled him from the BJP on that grounds that Kumar was indulging in “anti-party activities”. Loyal as ever, Dhananjay went and joined the KJP and was even made its President.

However, when the KJP was dissolved, there was strong opposition for his re-entry into the BJP as he had severely slammed the BJP’s central leadership.

In March 2014, Dhananjay Kumar joined the JD(S). However, in 2015, after holding talks with his close friend Yeddyurappa, he was back in the BJP’s fold.

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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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News Network
December 1,2025

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Udupi, Dec 1: A horrific case of alleged rape has unfolded in Udupi, where a worker from a Hindutva organisation, previously arrested and released on bail for harassing a young woman, is now accused of waylaying and sexually assaulting her.

The arrested individual has been identified as Pradeep Poojary (26), a member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Nairkode unit in Perdur.

Poojary had allegedly been relentlessly harassing the young woman, pressuring her to marry him. When she bravely stood up to him and refused his demands, she filed a formal complaint at the Hiriyadka police station. He was subsequently arrested in that initial harassment case but was later granted bail.

According to police reports, driven by the same malicious grudge, Poojary allegedly intercepted the woman again on November 29. While she was walking through a deserted area, the accused is claimed to have threatened her by grabbing her neck. When she again refused to marry him, he allegedly proceeded to rape her.

The survivor immediately informed her family about the traumatic assault. Following this, her parents lodged a complaint at the Udupi women’s police station.

Police arrested Poojary again and produced him before the court. He has since been remanded to judicial custody.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru police have arrested a 27-year-old NRI on his return from Saudi Arabia in connection with an Instagram post allegedly containing derogatory and provocative remarks about the Hindu religion, officials said on Monday.

The accused, Abdul Khader Nehad, a resident of Ulaibettu in Mangaluru, was working in Saudi Arabia when the post was uploaded, police said.

A suo motu case was registered at the Bajpe police station on October 11 after an allegedly offensive post circulated from the Instagram account ‘team_sdpi_2025’. Police said the content was flagged for being provocative and derogatory in nature.

During the investigation, technical analysis traced the Instagram post to Nehad, who was residing abroad at the time, a senior police officer said. Based on these findings, a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him.

On December 14, Nehad arrived from Saudi Arabia at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, where he was taken into custody on arrival. Police said further investigation is underway.

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