Karnataka: All three Cong candidates win Rajya Sabha polls, BJP wins one

coastaldigest.com news network
March 23, 2018

All three Congress candidates - Nasir Husain, L Hanumanathaiah, G C Chandrashekar - and BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday emerged victorious in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state amid a boycott by JD(S) legislators, who cited violation of electoral rules.

A candidate required around 38 votes to win the elections. Members of the Legislative Assembly form the electoral college for the Rajya Sabha polls. Of the 217 eligible voters, as many as 188 members voted and four votes were found invalid.

While Congress candidates secured the required number of votes for victory - Chandrashekar (46 ), L Hanumanathaiah(44) and Husain (42 ) - B M Farook of the JD(S) lost the polls as he secured only two votes. This is the second time that Farook is tasting defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections. Rajeev Chandrasekhar secured the highest number votes (50) to bag his third consecutive term to the Rajya Sabha.

The day witnessed high drama. The process of counting was delayed by nearly two-and-a-half hours as Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjeev Kumar referred a memorandum submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) submitted to him by the JD(S) seeking countermanding of the polls. Kumar was discharing his duties as observer of the ECI.

The JD(S), in its complaint, cited gross violation of electoral rules by Legislative Assembly Secretary S Murthy, who is the Returning Officer (RO). The party had objected to two Congress legislators - Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa and Gurmitkal MLA Baburao Chinchansur - being allowed a second chance to cast their votes.

Both Thimmappa and Chinchansur had sought replacement of ballot papers as they wrongly marked their preference. The election officers obliged, much to the chagrin of the JD(S). Counting of votes which was scheduled to start at 5 pm, commenced only at 7.30 pm after the ECI gave its go-ahead for the process.

ECI's direction
The ECI subsequently directed that the votes of Thimmappa and Chinchansur should be rejected and the counting process should commence after due segregation of ballot papers. The ECI, in its response, stated that the RO's decision to issue fresh ballot papers was in total violation of voting procedure provided under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. The ECI replaced Murthy with Assembly Joint Secretary M S Kumaraswamy.

The JD(S) had requested the Congress not to field its third candidate and extend its support to the party candidate. However, the Congress not only fielded its third candidate - G C Chandrashekar - but also ensured his victory. Friday's development is bound to further widen the gap between the Congress and the JD(S) in the run-up to the crucial Assembly polls. For its part, the Congress has bagged the support of at least five of the eight independents, including Kudligi MLA B Nagendra, who is likely to join the party.

An analysis of the voting pattern shows that all the seven JD(S) rebels voted for Congress candidates. The BJP, which has 43 votes of its own, secured 50. The party seems to have not only secured the support of not only two BSR legislators and two KJP MLAs but three others.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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Mangaluru: A man from Dakshina Kannada was duped of Rs 2.5 lakh after he was promised a Poland visa.

In a complaint, a resident of Belthangady, stated that the accused, Manoj, had promised a job for his son in Poland. 

Between May 22 of last year and March 19, he handed over Rs 2.2 lakh in various phases, citing different reasons.

However, since the accused failed to provide a visa or return the money, a case was registered at the Dharmasthala police station under IPC sections 417 and 420.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 18: The rising temperature has become a growing concern for residents of coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, as the issue of drinking water shortage continues to worsen in several parts. 

Though the water supply of Mangaluru city has not been affected much, nearby urban local bodies, including Ullal, Kotekar, Bajpe and other parts on the outskirts of Mangaluru have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

Though the water level in the Thumbe vented dam across Nethravati River has started going down in the last few days, officials have ruled out possibility of rationing the water supply in the city.

According to officials, the water level at Thumbe dam of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) stood at 5.8 m as against the maximum storage capacity of 6m height on March 16. The water level at the dam during the same period last year was 5.3 metres. The water level reduced from 5.9 m on March 15 to 5.8 m on March 16 due to the scorching heat, causing evaporation.

The MCC has been drawing 160 MLD of water from the Thumbe vented dam. According to officials, without inflow, the maximum water stored in the dam will be sufficient for only 50 days. Meanwhile, the MCC has already started pumping backwater from downstream of the Thumbe vented dam back to the dam using pumpsets. Water from Thumbe dam can be drawn only if it has more than 1.5m of water in it.

DC Mullai Muhilan MP said that the district administration is closely monitoring water levels in all the dams that supply water.

The AMR dam located upstream of Thumbe dam has 18 m of water from sea level. If the water level in the Thumbe vented dam recedes, then water from the AMR dam will be released into the Thumbe dam. There is water in a dam at Biliyoor, which is located upstream of the AMR dam, the DC said.

“Drawing water for irrigation purposes from Thumbe and AMR dams has been banned,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that an order in this regard has already been issued. Some of the pockets in rural areas too have started facing water crisis.

“We have made arrangements to supply water through tankers in Ullal, Kotekar and Bajpe areas. We will not introduce water supply rationing in MCC limits for the time being,” he said and appealed to citizens to use water judiciously.

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News Network
March 17,2024

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Beltangady, Mar 17: A three-year-old boy was crushed to death under the wheels of an auto-rickshaw in front of his house at Panakaje Mundadi in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada. 

The gut-wrenching tragedy took place on Saturday, March 16 morning when the boy ran out of home to the road. 

The victim has been identified as Kaushik, the son of Chandrashekhar and Usha couple. Their home is situated adjacent to the main road at Panakaje.

It is learnt that the auto-rickshaw failed to notice the boy who suddenly darted towards the road and hit him. 

Even though the injured boy was rushed to a private hospital in Ujire and later to Mangaluru, he breathed his last. 

The Beltangady traffic police have registered a case in connection with the incident.

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