Snake chases lawmakers from Nigerian state parliament

Bengaluru, May 2: Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, was issued fresh summons on Thursday by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is investigating the case of obscene videos involving the former JD(S) member, several news outlets reported.

The SIT also junked his appeal which sought seven days time to join the probe, as per these reports.

Prajwal and his father, H D Revanna, have sexual harassment and stalking cases filed against them over the matter. Gowda's son, H D Revanna, however, said that what took place '4-5 years ago' is now being turned into a legal case.

JD(S) in its core committee meeting suspended Prajwal from the party till the end of the probe. Prajwal, meanwhile, took to X to state he would join the probe in seven days time, asserting 'truth will prevail'.

The BJP has opened its account in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The party's candidate from Gujarat's Surat constituency, Mukesh Dalal, has won the polls as all his opponents are now out of the fray.

BJP's Mukesh Dalal elected unopposed from the Surat Lok Sabha seat after all other candidates withdrew from the contest, the party's Gujarat unit chief CR Paatil said today. Today was the deadline for withdrawing nominations.

The nominations of the Congress party's Surat candidate and his substitute were rejected by the returning officer over alleged discrepancies in paperwork, a development that the Congress called an attempt at "match-fixing".

"Surat has presented the first lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I congratulate our candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed," Mr Paatil posted on the microblogging website X, referring to the BJP's election symbol.

Eight candidates - seven of them independents - and Pyarelal Bharti of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) withdrew their papers.

The nomination papers of the Congress's Surat candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected on Sunday after the district returning officer Saurabh Parghi found discrepancies in the signatures of the proposers.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress's substitute candidate from Surat, was also found invalid.

The returning officer had said the four nomination forms submitted by the two Congress candidates did not appear genuine. The proposers, in their affidavits, had said they had not signed the forms themselves, the returning officer said in the order.

Congress lawyer Babu Mangukiya said the party will approach the high court and the Supreme Court for relief.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said the Surat developments indicate "democracy is under threat". "Our elections, our democracy, Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution - all are under a generational threat. This is the most important election of our lifetime," Mr Ramesh said.

Mr Ramesh alleged the "distress" of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) owners and the business community in PM Modi's "Anyay Kaal" and their anger have "spooked the BJP so badly that they are attempting to match-fix the Surat Lok Sabha polls, which they have won consistently since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections."

Bengaluru: BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde represented Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha segment in Karnataka for six terms and now gynecologist Anjali Nimbalkar is putting up a spirited fight seeking to turn the tide and "deliver" it for the Congress.

Dr Nimbalkar is taking on former Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, who replaced Hegde, in this BJP stronghold.

A former Congress MLA, she lost the Assembly elections from Khanapur in Belagavi district last year.

The 62-year-old Kageri, a six-term MLA and a former minister, was also defeated in the Assembly polls from Sirsi.

"In the past 30 years, the voice of Uttara Kannada was not spoken and not even a single question was asked in the Parliament," Nimbalkar said in an apparent dig at Hegde.

If elected, she said her focus is to address the local issues related to forest dwellers, getting them 'patra' for their own land -- a battle they have been fighting for long.

Also on her priority list is getting a multispecialty hospital in Kumta as per people's demand, generating employment and focusing on tourism for the overall development of Uttara Kannada.

"Issues related to forest dwellers -- they want a 'patra' for their own land -- we will try and put forth these issues in the first session itself and we will see to it that maximum applications which are pending with the Central government get cleared during the first session itself," she said in an interview.

"So, our thing is that at least 50 per cent of the jobs should be given to the local Kannadigas in the Central schemes which are implemented in the district," she said.

Noting that Uttara Kannada has a combination of both beaches and temples, Nimbalkar said the district can be developed internationally in a much higher scale than "what actually Goa or Kerala is".

The Congress candidate is also banking on the five guarantee schemes launched by the Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka and the promises made by party in its manifesto at the national level.

Responding to a question, she expressed happiness that the Congress has fielded a total of six women candidates out of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.

While campaigning, Nimbalkar said she was overwhelmed to see a large number of people, especially women, turning up for her rallies despite the intense heat in Uttara Kannada.

"They are very happy that the Congress has given a woman candidate and an educated candidate who herself is a doctor and a gynecologist. So they are excited that, yes, she can be our voice in the Parliament who can fight for our rights," the 47-year-old said.

"I have worked as an MLA (Khanapur), so they have seen my work in the Assembly and the expectations are like, yes, she will be the one who will be speaking for us and that faith is seen in their eyes," she said.

Nimbalkar strongly believes that when women enter any field, it brings a different perspective - be it in terms of management, policy formulation or even as homemakers.

Uttara Kannada is among the 14 constituencies going for polls in Karnataka under second phase on May 7.

Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats and the first phase of polling was held on April 26.