Bommai to be Leader of Opposition? R Ashoka, Sunil Kumar Karkala too among contenders

New Delhi, Sept 11: Renowned Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan alleged that the central government has been campaigning for the 'one nation one election' (ONOE) only to postpone upcoming assembly elections in five states.

The assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram are due later this year.

"ONOE cannot be implemented in a Parliamentary democracy like India because in our system a government can fall in midterm when it loses majority and a fresh government forms," Bhushan told reporters here on Sunday.

However, if the one nation one election will be implemented, in such a situation, Presidential rule will be imposed, which is against democracy, he claimed.

"That means we are switching from democratic system to a presidential rule system. So it will be a total violation of parliamentary democracy. In my view, the government clearly knew about this and they also know that several amendments in the constitution are required to switch to the presidential rule system," Bhushan said.

He said the present government does not have the majority in Rajya Sabha. The government knew about all these facts. Still, they floated the balloon (one nation one election) with only one objective to postpone the state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, which are due later this year.

"The BJP government is fearing defeat in upcoming assembly elections in these five states. So, they are going to postpone the assembly polls till the general election in 2024 in the name of ONOE. And, President Rule will be imposed in the states," he claimed.

Mangaluru, Sept 9: Minister for Medical Education Dr Sharanaparakash Rudrappa Patil said that a tender for the construction of the regional centre of Rajiv Gandhi University for Health Sciences (RGUHS) in Mangaluru will be floated shortly.

Following an appeal by Mangalore City North MLA Dr Y Bharath Shetty, the Minister inspected the proposed site for the regional centre at Mary Hill in Mangaluru on September 8.

"Work will commence once the tender is finalised. The MLA said that land for the project has been earmarked. Now, the work has to commence. It is a Rs 40 crore project. The regional centre will have a skill development centre, sports centre and other facilities," Patil said.

The setting up of the regional centre in Mangaluru will benefit students of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, and Kodagu districts.

RGUHS members Dr Shivasharan Shetty and Dr Sharan Shetty appealed to the minister to complete the work on the regional centre at the earliest. The Minister directed RGUHS Vice Chancellor Dr Ramesh M K to take note of the same. 

Udupi, Sept 19: Within days after Bengaluru CCB personnel arresting Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapura in BJP MLA ticket scam, the Kota police in Brahmavar taluk of Udupi district have registered a case against her on charges of cheating to the tune of Rs 5 lakh. 

In a complaint to the police, Sudina (33) from Kodi village in Brahmavar alleged that Chaitra Kundapura had promised to help the complainant in setting up textile shops in Udupi and Kota in 2015.

The complainant alleged that Chaitra had claimed that she has close affinity with the BJP top leaders, ministers, and MLAs, and had promised to help the former in setting up shops and availed Rs five lakh in a phased manner between 2018 and 2022.  

When Sudina demanded the shop or return of the money, Chaitra had allegedly issued a threats of registering a fake sexual assault and threatening of life cases against the former. Based on the complaint, Kota police have registered a case under IPC Sections 506, 417, and 420.