BJP's Ram Nath Kovind appears set for comfortable win

News Network
June 20, 2017

New Delhi Jun 20: By selecting Ram Nath Kovind, a dalit leader, as its candidate the presidential election, the BJP has spurred fence-sitters into action.

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Within hours of the announcement of Kovind's candidature, TRS and BJD declared their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice for the country's top office. YSR Congress, headed by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, reiterated its support to the BJP candidate.

The electoral college for the presidential election has a vote value of 10.98 lakh and comprises 4896 electors – elected members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and elected members of legislative assemblies of states and union territories.

If the BJP manages to keep the NDA intact it has the assured support of 48% of the total electoral college. The BJP has already secured the support of AIADMK, YSR Congress who together make up 7% of the electoral college.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, whose TRS commands 2% votes in the electoral college, announced his support for Kovind's candidature after the Prime Minister spoke to him. YSR Congress too reiterated its support.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the support of the BJD – which has about 3% votes in the electoral college – placing Kovind with a comfortable support of 60% of the total vote share.

The Bihar Governor's candidature has put Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in a fix as it feels that the party could not be seen opposing a Dalit. However, the Bihar Chief Minister has conveyed to his opposition colleagues that he would stand by their decision.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has played the 'son-of-the-soil' card while canvassing support the Kanpur-born Kovind in an attempt to sway the SP and the BSP.

It is NDA partner Shiv Sena that is playing hardball with the BJP. Sena President Thackeray said his party – with 2.34% voteshare – will not support Kovind's candidature if vote bank politics was the reason for his selection.

The opposition block, led by the Congress, has 35% votes and would be looking at making a dent in the NDA ranks hoping for cross voting by parties such as the Shiv Sena.

The AAP with 85 MLAs and four MPs has a vote value of 8922 and has announced to vote with the opposition block despite Congress keeping it away from the grouping.

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News Network
March 19,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 19: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that the Congress will split in three months after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and its impact will be visible on the Siddaramaiah-led state government.

"Due to internal squabbles, the state government will not last long," the BJP leader said.

Talking to reporters on Monday, he said the sitting MP from the Gadag-Haveri constituency, Shivakumar Udasi, has done a lot of development work and implemented the Central government's schemes effectively.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will surely become the PM for the third time. The overall response has been good in the Gadag-Haveri Lok Sabha constituency," the former Karnataka chief minister said.

Asked if he was contesting the election in a half-hearted manner in the Gadag-Haveri seat, Bommai said "such a question does not arise when the party's high command gives instructions".

He said he would respect his opponent and not take anyone lightly. 

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News Network
March 26,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The preliminary probe has revealed that the two suspects were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

The NIA sleuths have picked up the suspects from an area in the state capital. However, a statement is yet to be made by the NIA in this regard.

Even as the investigating agencies, both NIA and state special wing CCB teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber’s images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the incident.

Sources said that the sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookfield area. Low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 18: The rising temperature has become a growing concern for residents of coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, as the issue of drinking water shortage continues to worsen in several parts. 

Though the water supply of Mangaluru city has not been affected much, nearby urban local bodies, including Ullal, Kotekar, Bajpe and other parts on the outskirts of Mangaluru have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

Though the water level in the Thumbe vented dam across Nethravati River has started going down in the last few days, officials have ruled out possibility of rationing the water supply in the city.

According to officials, the water level at Thumbe dam of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) stood at 5.8 m as against the maximum storage capacity of 6m height on March 16. The water level at the dam during the same period last year was 5.3 metres. The water level reduced from 5.9 m on March 15 to 5.8 m on March 16 due to the scorching heat, causing evaporation.

The MCC has been drawing 160 MLD of water from the Thumbe vented dam. According to officials, without inflow, the maximum water stored in the dam will be sufficient for only 50 days. Meanwhile, the MCC has already started pumping backwater from downstream of the Thumbe vented dam back to the dam using pumpsets. Water from Thumbe dam can be drawn only if it has more than 1.5m of water in it.

DC Mullai Muhilan MP said that the district administration is closely monitoring water levels in all the dams that supply water.

The AMR dam located upstream of Thumbe dam has 18 m of water from sea level. If the water level in the Thumbe vented dam recedes, then water from the AMR dam will be released into the Thumbe dam. There is water in a dam at Biliyoor, which is located upstream of the AMR dam, the DC said.

“Drawing water for irrigation purposes from Thumbe and AMR dams has been banned,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that an order in this regard has already been issued. Some of the pockets in rural areas too have started facing water crisis.

“We have made arrangements to supply water through tankers in Ullal, Kotekar and Bajpe areas. We will not introduce water supply rationing in MCC limits for the time being,” he said and appealed to citizens to use water judiciously.

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