Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh decides to join BJP, says not contesting LS polls

Bengaluru: The opposition BJP in Karnataka on Thursday (July 18) warned the Congress government in the state to be prepared for the wrath of the people if it fails to table the bill that mandates reservations for Kannadigas in the private sector in the ongoing Legislative session.

The party slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for taking an U-turn on the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, which was cleared in the Cabinet meeting on Monday and put on hold late Wednesday night after uproar by the industry.

Clarifying on the decision to hold back the bill, Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday that the draft bill intended to provide reservations for Kannadigas in private sector companies, industries, and enterprises is still in the preparation stage.

A comprehensive discussion will be held in the next Cabinet meeting to make a final decision, he said.

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra in a post on 'X' asked, "Why did you bring the bill to give employment to the kannadigas? Why did you hold it back? Why mess with the lives of Kannadigas? Do you need Kannadigas to insult?" "Let the government present the job reservation bill for Kannadigas, which has given hope to lakhs of unemployed people in rural areas who were deprived of job opportunities despite their qualifications, in the current session, or else be ready to face the anger of Kannadigas," the Shikaripura MLA said.

Vijayendra condemned the 'cowardly decision' of putting the bill on hold which 'insulted Kannada-Kannadiga-Karnataka'. The bill aims to provide employment to Kannadigas.

The BJP leader sought to know why the government, which had moved forward to address the demand of the pro-Kannada fighters, after many years of struggle to protect the employment rights of the children of this land, gave up within a day.

It seems that the lobby of the anti-Karnataka forces, which suppress the self-respect of the country, the self-esteem of the Kannadigas, has prevailed over the chief minister, forcing him to take a 'U-turn' three times within a day, Vijayendra alleged.

"Fearing the split in the INDI Alliance, Delhi's big 'hand' must have tied the hands of the chief minister, otherwise how can he take an escapist decision to sideline the bill that will improve the lives of Kannadigas?" the BJP state president said.

The people of the state will never forgive the Congress leaders if the Congress government and the chief minister held back the 'pro-Kannada bill' in an attempt to divert public attention and also mislead the investigation into the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (KMVSTDC) and Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scams that have rocked the state, he said.

Bengaluru: Search and rescue operations resumed on Wednesday morning in Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district, where a massive landslide claimed the lives of four people a day ago.

Vehicular traffic has been temporarily suspended on National Highway 66, where the incident occurred, officials said.

After an intensive rescue and search operation by the local police, a team of National Disaster Response Force, fire and emergency services and officials of other agencies amid rains, four bodies were recovered by Tuesday evening.

"So, far four bodies have been recovered and identified. Restoration and search operations have resumed early morning today," a senior police official said.

Among the four dead were members of the same family, who ran an eatery along the national highway.

Following the incident, the state government had said that three gas tankers had pulled up at the eatery for a tea break when mud and rocks plunged down the hill.

The landslip triggered by incessant rains also swept away two of the three tankers into the Gangavali river flowing on the other side of the road.

According to state government, the National Highways Authority of India while building National Highway 66 "cut the hill steep instead of a 45-degree slope resulting in the accident.

Meanwhile, vehicular movement has been banned till July 22 in Seethalayanagiri-Mullayanagiri area of Chikkamagaluru taluk due to collapse of hills and severe damage to the road surface owing to heavy rains.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will sink like the Titanic if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is left in command, stated firebrand saffron party leader Subramanian Swamy in an X post on Monday.

"If we in BJP want to see our party sink like the Titantic Ship then Modi is the best to command," he said, adding, "By-Election results show BJP is cracking up to sink forever."

Swamy's post comes after the I.N.D.I.A. bloc managed massive gains in the assembly bypolls, whose results were declared on Saturday. The coalition managed to win 10 of the 13 seats, restricting BJP to only two victories. An Independent candidate won the 13th seat.

Among the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, TMC and Congress were the biggest winners, bagging four seats each, while AAP and DMK managed one each. BJP also lost the Badrinath seat in Uttarakhand, in what is seen as a blow by the Congress following the saffron party's loss in Ayodhya in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress sought to project a larger political message in the Badrinath victory saying that Hindutva followers were being electorally bashed up in places of significance to Hindu religion.

Swamy has been railing against BJP top leaders like Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for some time now. When the Modi government declared June 25 as the 'murder of Constitution day', Swamy remarked on X "What was Mody [Modi] or Amit Shah’s contribution to actively opposing the Emergency?", adding, "Credit snitching is a bad disease."

Recently, he also spoke on the consequences Modi's visit to Russia would have on India-US relations.

After the Lok Sabha polls, which saw Modi return to power for a third term, albeit with diminished margins, and only with help from alliance partners Nitish Kumar and JD(U) and Chandrababu Naidu and TDP, Swamy remarked, "The most devastating outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha Election Results could be that Modi will find his assembled crowds evaporated before he could say 'namaste'."

"The surprise is that he did not realise that in a democracy no one can take the people for granted," he had concluded.