MP bypoll results: Congress retains both Mungaoli and Kolaras assembly seats

Agencies
March 1, 2018

Mumbai, Mar 1: Results of three assembly bypolls on Wednesday brought cheer to the opposition Congress party in Madhya Pradesh and the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha.

The Congress retained the Mungaoli and Kolaras assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh. In Odisha, the BJD retained the Bijepur assembly seat.

All three Odisha and MP bypolls were necessitated by the death of sitting legislators from the Congress and BJD.

The Congress in Madhya Pradesh and the ruling BJD in Odisha described the results as an indication of things to come in Madhya Pradesh elections later this year and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress said the defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates proved that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s popularity was on the wane and the Congress was on the comeback trail.

In Mungaoli assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh, Congress candidate Brajendra Singh Yadav defeated his BJP rival Bai Saab Yadav by 2,124 votes. The BJP candidate, however, managed to reduce the Congress lead of 20,765 votes in the 2013 elections.

In the Kolaras seat, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav won by over 8,086 votes after 22 rounds of counting. Here too, in the 2013 assembly polls, Congress nominee Ram Singh Yadav had won by a comfortable margin of nearly 25,000 votes.

The victory comes as a shot in the arm for Congress leader and MP Jyotiraditya Scindia. Both Mungaoli and Kolaras assembly segments fall within his Guna Lok Sabha constituency and Scindia led his party’s campaign in the MP bypolls. For the BJP, Chouhan led from the front and also deployed a host of state cabinet ministers for the campaign.

In the process, the MP bypolls triggered a Chouhan versus Scindia face-off as the Congress member of parliament is widely seen as the party’s potential chief ministerial candidate in the November 2018 Madhya Pradesh elections.

Talking to reporters, senior Congress leader Ajay Singh, who is the leader of opposition in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, conceded Scindia’s influence in the constituency but said the Congress did not have “a tradition of projecting a chief ministerial candidate”.

“The BJP has given a slogan: ‘Ab Ki Baar, 200 Paar’ (This time around, 200-plus seats) for the 2018 assembly elections. But our slogan is ‘Ab Ki Baar, Congress Ki Sarkar’. Our target is to reduce the BJP to a two-digit tally in the assembly elections and the winds of change demonstrated by the victory in bypolls will turn into a cyclone by November 2018 that will sweep the BJP away,” Singh said.

In Odisha’s Bijepur bypoll, BJD nominee Rita Sahu defeated her BJP rival Ashok Panigrahi by 41,933 votes.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik hailed the outcome and said it would have an impact on the general elections in 2019. “Such an enormous victory with a margin of over 40,000 votes will have an impact on future elections,” Patnaik told reporters while thanking the people of Bijepur for their overwhelming support.

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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 2,2025

DKSsiddu.jpg

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
November 26,2025

Mangaluru, Nov 26: Mangaluru East police have registered a case following a sophisticated online fraud where a 57-year-old local resident was allegedly cheated out of ₹13.4 lakh after being targeted on Facebook.

The scam began in February when the complainant, while browsing Facebook reels, was contacted by a woman identifying herself as "Lillian Mary George" from London. After establishing a chat relationship, the woman claimed she would visit India in November and bring a significant sum of money.

The trap was sprung on November 15, when the victim received a call from a woman named "Sonali Gupta," who claimed Lillian had arrived at Mumbai International Airport but was detained by customs. The fraudsters convinced the man that Lillian was carrying £25,000 (about ₹26 lakh) in traveller’s cheques and 1 kg of gold (valued at around ₹30 lakh).

Under the pretense of clearing these items, the victim was asked to make numerous online transfers between November 15 and 18 for various bogus charges, including:

•    "Pounds exchange registration"
•    "Customs declaration issues"
•    "Discount charges"
•    "Money-laundering charges"

Believing the fictitious story, the complainant transferred the cumulative sum of ₹13.4 lakh to various bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. He realised he was cheated when the culprits later promised a refund within two days but stopped answering his calls. The Mangaluru East police are now investigating the case, which highlights the continuing threat of transnational cyber fraud using social engineering and promises of fictitious wealth.

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