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.

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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
March 17,2024

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Bengaluru: The Vokkaliga heartland of the old Mysuru region consisting of several southern districts will be the testing ground for the recently forged BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls.

The ruling Congress will now look to consolidate its gains that it made in the assembly elections in May last year when it made inroads into the strongholds of the regional party headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in these districts.

In the 2019 Pariamentary elections, the Congress and JD(S) fought together but secured only one seat each in the state. The BJP bagged 25 out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress and JD(S) win, in fact, came in the old Mysuru region -- Bangalore Rural and Hassan, respectively, while Mandya seat went to an independent backed by the BJP.

This time, the JD(S) has an alliance with BJP. According to sources, the JD(S) is likely to be alloted Hassan, Mandya and Kolar seats in the region, from where Deve Gowda's party draws its strength from in Karnataka.

The JD(S) is now looking to bounce back after the drubbing it received in the May assembly polls.

The Congress and JD(S) are considered to be traditional rivals in the region, where the BJP has also been improving its vote-share.

The BJP-JD(S) alliance hopes to counter the Congress' surge in the region, determined to consolidate Vokkaliga votes in their favour and banking on the Modi charisma. Both parties also hope to gain from each other with this alliance.

The Congress is hoping to further its prospects and continue its dominance in the region, with the help of its strong local leadership and riding on its five guarantee schemes.

Both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress state President D K Shivakumar, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister come from this region, and so does JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy, a former CM and that party's state President.

According to a political analyst, 'coordination among local leaders and transfer of votes between the parties are going to be key for the BJP-JD(S) alliance to click.' Lack of trust between sizeable workers and leaders of both parties on the ground had proved to be counterproductive for Congress and JD(S) combine in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, resulting in their rout and helping the BJP.

Both Congress and BJP have announced candidates for some seats in the region for the 2024 polls.

The Congress has re-nominated D K Suresh, brother of Shivakumar, from Bangalore Rural.

Interestingly, the BJP has fielded the scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar from Mysore and noted cardiac surgeon and Deve Gowda's son-in-law, Dr C N Manjunath, from Bangalore Rural.

In Karnataka, the Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7.

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News Network
March 16,2024

Mangaluru: In the wake of complaints regarding middlemen menace, sleuths of Lokayukta on Friday, March 15, conducted a raid at the Mangaluru Urban Development Authority. 

The Lokayukta team found unaccounted money and several files, which were not disposed of for a long period.

Lokayukta SP CA Simon said that the Lokayukta has received complaints that middlemen have been interfering in the MUDA office, and files pertaining to the public are not being cleared on time.

A raid that commenced in the evening on March 13, lasted for 18 hours. During the raid, Lokayukta officials found cash in a bag in MUDA office, and also with officials and others. MUDA officials could not inform the source of money found in their office, the SP said.

Further, he said that many people gathered at the MUDA office during the Lokayukta raid, and have raised complaints about the harassment at the urban development authority. “We have gathered evidence for MUDA officials carrying out file disposal processes through brokers on phone calls. The investigation on the MUDA network will be continued,” he said.

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News Network
March 27,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in multiple places, including Bengaluru and Shivamogga.

Reports suggested that the ongoing raids are in connection with the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1. The blast had injured at least ten people as per the police report.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) had launched an investigation alongside the NIA, and the trail of the suspect led them to Tumakuru first and subsequently to Ballari. Investigators believe that the bomb was planted by Mussavir Hussain Shazib, a handler of the Islamic State’s Shivamogga module who was aided by another IS handler called Ahmed Taahaa.

Sources in the know said that Shazib and Taahaa had stayed in Chennai for about a month between January and February using fake credentials. The names of the suspects were identified after they traced the cap worn by Shazib to a shop in a mall in Chennai. The cap, which was abandoned by the bomber in Bengaluru after the blast, was reportedly bought by Taahaa, around January-end.

As per the NIA, Shazib hails from Masjid Road in Thirthahalli, Shivamogga district, and Taahaa from Fish Market Road, Soppu Gude, Thirthahalli Rural. Both "wanted" suspects have been termed "absconders" by the NIA.

The NIA has questioned seven jailed terror suspects so far in connection with the blast. The investigation agency had also obtained seven-day custody of a jailed terror suspect named Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

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