Kejriwal banks on Muslim votes to rein in Modi

March 20, 2014
Lucknow, Mar 20: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, who will challenge the BJP 's Narendra Modi in Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, could make attempts to project ' himself as a secular alternative ' as he tries to woo Muslim voters, who are in sizable numbers in the holy town, to corner the saffron strongman.

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Muslims, who constitute around 2.50 lakh in Varanasi constituency, play a crucial role in determining the electoral outcome. A large number of them are from the traditional weaver community and are engaged in making the world famous Benarasi sarees '.

AAP leaders said that one of the primary objectives behind Kejriwal's decision to challenge Modi from Varanasi was to defeat communal forces '. “We do not indulge in the politics of religion but we are dead against communal elements,” said AAP leader Rauf Kaifi. “So far every so called secular party has only exploited the Muslims for their vested interests...they had been treated as vote banks....we talk about progress....ours is inclusive politics,” Kaifi said.

The AAP would like to make sure that Muslims in Varanasi do not get divided among the secular parties ' this time around.

“The young generation of the Muslims are progressive in their outlook...they want development and the AAP is committed to give them and every citizen just that,” the AAP leader went on to assert. Varanasi 's Muslims would whole heartedly support Kejriwal ' said Kaifi, who quit his managerial position at a Delhi-based business group to join AAP.

AAP sources in Varanasi also echoed similar sentiments. The leaders plan to concentrate on Muslim voters along with others during the campaign.

The strategy assumes more significance after reports that Mukhtar Ansari, a mafia don turned politician, currently lodged in jail in connection with a murder case, was planning to contest from Varanasi. Ansari won 1.85 lakh votes in 2009 to finish second; 17,000 votes behind the BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi.

Incidentally, the venue for Kejriwal's scheduled rally in Varanasi on Tuesday was the historic Beniabagh ground which was situated in the midst of the Muslim locality. Modi had addressed his election rally at a venue, which was around 15 km from the town.

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News Network
May 10,2024

Mangaluru: A teenage boy from a remote village in Dakshina Kannada district, who was undergoing treatment for stomach pain for past few days, breathed his last after hospitalization. 

The deceased has been identified as Nithin Kumar, 19, who had completed PUC and was attending computer classes. 

According to police, on May 4, when he informed his family that he had been suffering from a stomach-ache for the past 4-5 days, his family members took him to a clinic in Kaniyoor.

The doctors who examined him advised him to undergo scanning. He was informed about a kidney stone and later, they returned home. That same night, he suffered from stomach-ache again and was rushed to a private hospital in Puttur.

On May 7, as per doctors’ advice, he was discharged around 12:45pm. However, when he came home around 2:30pm, he again suffered from stomach-ache and was taken to another private hospital in Puttur, where doctors conducted a surgery.

On Wednesday, as per doctors’ advice, he was asked to be shifted to Mangaluru for better treatment.

He visited a private hospital in Derakatte, where doctors suggested that he be shifted to government Wenlock Hospital.

The doctors who examined him at the Wenlock Hospital declared him dead. A case has been registered at the Bellare police station, and an investigation is on.

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News Network
May 3,2024

Mangaluru, May 3: The Mangaluru City Corporation will resort to water rationing from May 5 as the Thumbe vented dam, which supplies drinking water to the city, is facing a shortage in water storage.

Instead of daily supply, water will be supplied on alternate days, the Executive Engineer (Water Supply) at the corporation said in a release.

The release said that water will be supplied to Mangaluru City North on May 5. There will be no water supply to Mangaluru City North on May 6. Instead water will be supplied to Mangaluru City South on May 6. Likewise the supply on alternate days will continue.

The inflow in the Netravathi has stopped, the release said, requesting people to cooperate with the corporation and not waste water for washing vehicles and other purposes.

An engineer at the corporation said that water level at the dam stood at 4.27 m on Wednesday against the full storage level of 6 m. If water is supplied daily to the entire city (Mangaluru City North and Mangaluru City South) the existing storage will last only for 16 days, the engineer said. Hence the decision to supply water on alternate days has been taken to supply water till May-end.

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News Network
May 4,2024

Mangaluru, May 4: The Mangaluru International Airport was besieged with a harrowing message of terror recently, when an email, purportedly from malevolent elements, menacingly declared the planting of bombs within the airport premises. 

Addressed to the office of the airport authority, the missive, steeped in ominous overtones, bore the ominous signature of a terrorist faction, ominously named 'Terrorizers 111'.

The communication, disseminated in English, ominously detailed the clandestine emplacement of explosives in areas eluding facile detection, accompanied by a chilling warning of their imminent detonation. The threat, ominously looming over not only the infrastructure but also the airborne vessels, portended a catastrophic deluge of bloodshed and loss.

In response to this dire communiqué, airport authorities swiftly engaged the apparatus of law enforcement, dispatching urgent alerts to the vigilant guardians of public safety. Acting upon the dictates of higher echelons, a formal dossier of this menacing correspondence was meticulously compiled, cloaked in the veil of confidentiality to thwart any premature dissemination.

Mangaluru International Airport found itself in grim camaraderie with more than 30 counterparts under the aegis of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private domains, all recipients of this chilling electronic diatribe. A comprehensive net of precautionary measures was swiftly cast, fortifying the bastions of security in anticipation of any nefarious designs lurking within the shadows.

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