Fight 2023 polls unitedly; don’t speak out internal matters publicly: Rahul Gandhi to Karnataka Cong leaders

News Network
August 3, 2022

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Hubballi, Aug 3: The former Congress president attended the Karnataka unit's political affairs committee meeting, where discussions were held on organisational matters and preparations for the upcoming assembly polls.

Amid signs of rumbling within, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday night urged the party's Karnataka unit leaders to work unitedly for the 2023 assembly polls and not speak out publicly on leadership and internal matters.

The former Congress president attended the Karnataka unit's political affairs committee meeting, where discussions were held on organisational matters and preparations for the upcoming assembly polls.

Gandhi's call for unity comes amid a game of political one-upmanship between two leaders legislature party leader Siddaramaiah and state president D K Shivakumar over the chief minister's post in the event of the party coming to power in the state.

"The committee discussed party organisation and policy matters. The meeting also discussed preparations for the 2023 assembly polls.....PAC will meet frequently and take collective decisions in the interest of the party. Rahul Gandhi appealed to leaders of the party to go aggressively and unitedly against the misrule of the BJP in Karnataka and at the Centre," AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said.

Speaking to reporters here after the meeting, he said Gandhi urged party leaders to work to instal a people-centric Congress government in Karnataka.

"The entire leadership of Karnataka will join hands together and win Karnataka in the 2023 polls.....unknowingly or knowingly some statements are made here and there before the media. Don't fall for that trap, party leaders should not speak in different voices inside or outside," he added.

Stating that it has been unanimously decided not to speak about internal matters in public, Venugopal said, "There is no leadership issue at all, individual opinion is also not acceptable. The party's new MLAs and the high command will decide on the leader after winning." Several internal issues have been discussed at the meeting, he said.

"We are well-prepared to finalise the candidates, announce their names and win the elections." Several internal issues have been discussed at the meeting, he said.

The political affairs committee of the Congress met on Tuesday for the first time after its constitution on July 9. Besides Gandhi, Venugopal, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the party's campaign committee chief M B Patil, Leader of Opposition in the legislative council B K Hariprasad, and senior leaders like H K Patil, Dinesh Gundu Rao, M Veerappa Moily and G Parameshwara attended the meeting.

Rahul Gandhi's two-day visit to the state assumes significance as the Congress in Karnataka seems to be in a conundrum, with many within the party fearing it would implode ahead of the assembly polls.

There is also a palpable worry within the party about a virtual division getting created between the camps of the two key leaders, hurting its prospects in the polls.

Though both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have overtly maintained that the chief minister will be decided by party's newly elected MLAs and the high command on gaining majority in the polls, their loyalists and camp followers have been projecting their respective leader, making things messy. Gandhi will also take part in former chief minister Siddaramaiah's 75th birthday bash in the district headquarters of Davanagere on Wednesday.

Siddaramaiah's supporters have planned a grand celebration on his birthday, an apparent show of strength by his camp. The event comes ahead of the party sounding the poll bugle despite reservations from a section of the old guard which reportedly includes Shivakumar, who has said that he was opposed to the "personality cult" in the party.

Gandhi will also visit Chitradurga's Murugarajendra Mutt, a prominent Lingayat seminary in the region, during the visit on August 3, and meet Sri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru and seers of various mutts. During his last visit to the state in April, he had set a target of winning 150 seats and urged for unity among the party's rank and file.

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News Network
May 12,2024

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Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into sexual abuse charges against Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, will not be going abroad to bring him back, and the Interpol will share information about him.

He also cautioned political leaders about making public statements or sharing information in connection with the case, which is sensitive.

The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna, who is grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, is facing charges of sexually abusing several women.

The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.

Prajwal Revanna is said to have flown abroad on April 27, a day after the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka was held.

He was BJP-JD(S) alliance's joint candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to polls in the first phase.

"No, there is no such option. Blue Corner Notice has been issued and the Interpol will share the information. The respective country in which he is found or identified - they will inform them (Interpol) and then our agencies, the CBI will get to know, and through them we will get to know."

"So far there is no information," Parameshwara said.

He was responding to a question on reports about the SIT team travelling abroad in connection with the case.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "Investigation is going on, not to affect the investigation we don't want to share any information."

Responding to a question on Union Minister Pralhad Joshi's statement alleging conspiracy behind the arrest of BJP leader Devaraje Gowda, for making allegations against Congress leaders in connection with the case, Parameshwara said, "If anyone says anything I cannot react to it. We cannot respond to every public statement. As this is a serious case, we cannot share information until the investigation is completed."

"My request to the public and to our leaders is to be cautious while making statements. If not, based on the statements given by them, we may have to call them for investigation and record their statement under 41 A of CrPC," he added.

Asked whether JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy will also be served notice, the Minister said he is a former CM and that he believes that the former has taken this case seriously.

"Before giving any statements on this case or before sharing any information in the public domain, one has to be cautious, and this applies to all," he added.

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News Network
May 17,2024

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New Delhi: In fresh claim, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that his government sent an envoy to Israel urging them to stop the airstrike in Gaza during Ramadan. He said that he urged Israel to maintain peace rather than engage in combat during the holy month.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, PM Modi said that his envoy told Israel they should not bomb Gaza, at least during the auspicious month of Ramadan.

"During the month of Ramadan, I sent my special envoy to Israel to meet and explain to Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) that he should not carry out bombings in Gaza during Ramadan. They made every effort to follow it, but in the end, there was a fight for 2-3 days," he said.

The Prime Minister said that he does not publicise such things even though people in India keep "cornering him on the Muslims issue".

PM Modi said that some other countries also tried to speak to Israel to halt the bombings and may have also achieved results.

"They may have got the results too. I also tried," he said.

During the interview, PM Modi also said that he made standalone visits to both Israel and Palestine, unlike earlier governments which used to display token secularism.

"There was a fashion earlier that if one has to go to Israel, a visit to Palestine is a must. Do secularism and come back. But I refused to do it," he said.

The Prime Minister also recounted an episode when he needed to travel to Palestine via Jordan.

"When the President of Jordan, who is a direct descendent of Prophet Muhammad, came to know that I am going to Palestine over (the airspace of Jordan), he told me 'Modi ji, you cannot go like this. You are my guest and will use my helicopter'," Modi claimed.

Describing the unique amalgamation of circumstances, he continued, "I went to his home for dinner, but the helicopter was of Jordan, the destination was Palestine, and I was escorted by Israeli flight attendants. All three are different but for Modi, all came together in the sky."

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News Network
May 11,2024

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Madikeri, May 11: Kodagu police have apprehended the man allegedly responsible for the brutal murder of a minor girl within the confines of Kumbaragadige village in Karnataka's Somwarpet taluk. 

Kodagu Superintendent of Police, K Ramarajan, disclosed that the arrested individual is Prakash (32) from Hammiyala village in Somwarpet taluk. However, authorities are still in the process of recovering the severed head of the victim. The perpetrator had absconded with the victim's severed head after committing the crime. 

Search operations for the suspect commenced late on Thursday night (May 9), with officials diligently pursuing leads. Acting on information suggesting the suspect's presence in a forested area near the village, the police swiftly moved in and apprehended him.

The victim US Meena, 15, a student of Surlabbi High School, had passed the SSLC examinations, the results of which were announced on May. One same day, she was murdered. 

Reportedly, the engagement of the minor girl with the suspect was thwarted by officials from the Women and Child Development department. Subsequently, officials persuaded the girl's parents against proceeding with the marriage. 

However, despite these interventions, the suspect forcibly entered her residence during the night, purportedly abducted her, and later perpetrated the heinous crime in a wooded area on the outskirts of the forest, before absconding with her severed head.

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