Don't project me as CM face, Siddaramaiah tells MLAs as fissures in Karnataka Cong widen

Agencies
June 24, 2021

Bengaluru, June 24: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday asked MLAs not to project him as the Chief Ministerial face for the 2023 Assembly polls, amid widening fissures within the party on the issue, that has triggered a game of one-upmanship between him and state unit President D K Shivakumar.

His statement came amid a growing list of MLAs who openly favoured him as CM face despite diktat from the party leadership, which has irked Shivakumar, who is also nursing Chief Ministerial ambitions.

"I don't know, I don't want to react to that... I have never said that I will become Chief Minister, but I will still request MLAs don't make statements (projecting me as) next Chief Minister," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question on Shivakumar's statement asking him to rein in MLAs projecting him as next CM.

On returning from New Delhi after meeting party's national leaders, Shivakumar on Wednesday said Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah will look into open statements by some MLAs projecting him.

"...party high command has said what it has to, I have also seen statements by some MLAs in the media. Legislature Party leader (Siddaramaiah) will look into it. If he does not, the party is there to look into it," he had said, adding that he was in no urgency to become the CM and bringing the party to power was his goal.

Siddaramaiah, who is now the leader of opposition in the Assembly, however, playing down statements by some MLAs projecting him as the next CM and maintaining it as their personal views, on Wednesday said "I can't do anything about it...I'm not concerned about it."

Congress legislators B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan (Chamarajpet), Raghavendra Hitnal (Koppal), J N Ganesh (Kampli) and Bhima Naik (Hagaribommanahalli), S Ramappa (Harihar) and R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy (Pulakeshinagar) have openly expressed their opinion in favour of Siddaramaiah as the next CM.

Their statements had come despite AICC General Secretary in-charge of the State Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shivakumar's diktat to party legislators and leaders not to make such open remarks.

The move by Siddaramaiah's loyalists is said to have gained momentum following a tweet from Karnataka Congress' official Twitter handle, last month, stating that the Covid- 19 pandemic would have been under control if Shivakumar was the CM.

The tweet was immediately deleted, but not before enraging the Siddaramaiah camp.

With growing political one-upmanship between the two leaders, the issue may become contentious in the days to come for the Congress, party sources said.

Siddaramaiah had earlier headed the Congress government between 2013-18, in which Shivakumar, who is often referred to as the party's troubleshooter, was a Minister. 

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News Network
April 20,2024

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is being pushed towards a “slow death” inside Tihar jail by denying him insulin and consultations with his doctor.

Kejriwal, who has Type-2 diabetes, has been asking for insulin and a video conferencing with his family doctor but his requests are being denied by the jail administration, party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a press conference.

"I want to say with full responsibility that a conspiracy is underway for the slow death of Kejriwal," Bharadwaj claimed citing blood sugar readings of the Chief Minister in jail.

He also slammed the Tihar administration, BJP, Centre and Delhi LG for allegedly denying insulin to Kejriwal and said the Delhi Chief Minister had been suffering from diabetes for the last 20-22 years.

On Friday, the chief minister council Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said Kejriwal has not been administered insulin to control his sugar levels since his arrest, terming it “shocking” and “alarming”.

The ED had on Thursday claimed before the court that Kejriwal was eating food high in sugar like mangoes and sweets every day, despite having Type-2 diabetes, to create grounds for medical bail.

Kejriwal, however, refuted the ED’s claims by asserting before a court that the food he consumed was in conformity with the diet chart prepared by his doctor.

“Out of 48 meals sent from home, only three times mangoes were there…,” Singhvi told the court.

Bharadwaj said Kejriwal was allowed by the court to use a machine in the jail to monitor his daily blood sugar levels.

"Overall, it was a conspiracy to finish Kejriwal so his multiple organ damage and when he comes out of jail after 2-4 months he goes for treatment of kidney, heart and other organs," said Bharadwaj, who holds the portfolio of health in Delhi government.

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News Network
April 23,2024

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The genocidal war on Gaza launched by Israel on October 7 last year, with the support of the US and its other Western allies, completes 200 days on Tuesday, leaving behind a trail of death, destruction, displacement and starvation.

These 200 days – between October 7, 2023, and April 23, 2024 – have been marked by unprecedented crimes against the people of Gaza, especially children and women, the bombardment of hospitals and schools, abuse and torture of women and abduction of young boys.

Human rights groups and international bodies have described the harrowing events unfolding in the besieged Palestinian territory as a textbook case of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Israeli regime’s key international allies – Washington, London, Paris and Berlin – have also been at the receiving end of massive public backlash for their continued military support for the regime.

The death toll in the apartheid regime’s genocidal campaign has already topped 34,150 since October 7, more than 75 percent of them being women and children, according to the Gaza government office.

The 2.3 million people in the besieged territory continue to deal with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis amid relentless bombings and crippling siege imposed by the Israeli regime with the backing of the US.

Following are the statistics related to 200 days of war waged by the Israeli occupation on Gaza. 

200 – the number of days of the latest Israeli genocidal war on Gaza

41,183 – the total number of those killed and missing in Gaza since Oct. 7

34,183 – the total number of fatalities in Gaza since Oct. 7 (confirmed dead)

7,000 – the number of people still under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza (presumed dead)

77,183 – the number of wounded persons in Gaza since Oct. 7

3,025 – the number of massacres committed by the regime since Oct. 7

14,778 – the number of children killed since Oct. 7

30 – the number of children who died due to starvation and famine

9,752 – the number of women killed since Oct. 7

485 – the number of doctors and paramedics killed since Oct. 7

67 – the number of civil defense personnel killed since Oct. 7

140 – the number of Palestinian journalists killed since Oct. 7

72 – the percentage of children and women killed since Oct. 7

17,000 – the number of children who have lost one or both parents since Oct. 7

11,000 – the number of injured people who need to travel for treatment

10,000 – the number of cancer patients who face the risk of death

1,090,000 – the number of people with infectious diseases due to displacement

8,000 – the number of cases of viral hepatitis due to displacement

60,000 – the number of pregnant women at risk due to lack of healthcare

350,000 – the number of chronically ill patients suffering due to lack of medicine

5,000 – the number of people arbitrarily detained in Gaza since Oct. 7

310 – the number of health practitioners who have been arrested

20 – the number of known journalists arbitrarily detained since Oct. 7

2 million – the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip

181 – the number of government buildings destroyed since Oct. 7

103 – the number of schools and universities completely destroyed since Oct. 7

317 – the number of schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation

239 – the number of mosques completely destroyed since Oct. 7

317 – the number of mosques partially destroyed since Oct. 7

3 – the number of churches targeted and destroyed since Oct. 7

86,000 – the number of housing units completely destroyed since Oct. 7

294,000 – the number of housing units partially destroyed since Oct. 7

75,000 – tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza since Oct. 7

32 – the number of hospitals taken out of service by the occupation since Oct. 7

53 – the number of health centers that have become non-functional since Oct. 7

160 – the number of health institutions partially or fully destroyed since Oct. 7

126 – the number of ambulances destroyed by the occupation army since Oct. 7

206 – the number of archaeological and heritage sites destroyed since Oct. 7

$30 – billions in preliminary direct losses as a result of the genocidal war on Gaza

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News Network
April 14,2024

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New Delhi: A 24-year-old student from India was shot dead inside a car in Canada's South Vancouver, the local police have said. The Vancouver Police in a statement said Chirag Antil, 24, was found dead inside a vehicle in the area after neighbours reported hearing gunshots.

"Officers were called to East 55th Avenue and Main Street around 11 pm on April 12 after residents heard the sound of gunshots. Chirag Antil, 24, was found deceased inside a vehicle in the area. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing," the police said.

Chirag Antil's brother Ronit told reporters that Chirag seemed happy when they spoke on the phone in morning. Chirag later took out his Audi to go somewhere. That was when he was shot dead.

The Congress students' wing National Students' Union of India chief Varun Choudhary in a post on X tagging the Ministry of External Affairs requested for assistance to the student's family.

"Urgent attention regarding the murder of Chirag Antil, an Indian student in Vancouver, Canada. We urge the Ministry of External Affairs to closely monitor the progress of the investigation and ensure that justice is swiftly served," Mr Choudhary said.

"Additionally, we request the ministry to extend all necessary support and assistance to the family of the deceased during this difficult time," he said.

Chirag Antil's family is raising money through the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe to repatriate his body to India, local media reported.

Haryana resident Romit Antil, the brother of Chirag Antil, told CityNews that he was a kind-hearted person.

"My brother and I had a great relationship. We used to talk every day, day and night. I spoke to him last before the accident happened. He was kind of happy, he never had any issues or fights with anyone, ever. He was an extremely polite person," Romit Antil told CityNews.

Chirag Antil came to Vancouver in September 2022. He just finished MBA at University Canada West, and recently got his work permit.

Here are 5 facts about Chirag Antil

1.    Chirag Antil was a resident of Sonipat, Haryana.
2.    He was the youngest son of Mahavir Antil, a retired employee of the Sugar Mill Department of the Haryana Government.
3.    Chirag moved to Vancouver in 2022 to pursue higher studies at the University Canada West (UCW), in British Columbia.
4.    After completing his MBA, he started working at a company in Canada after getting a work permit.
5.    Chirag's brother Ronit shared in an interview that his younger sibling was a "kind-hearted" person. "I spoke to him last before the accident happened," he said and added that Chirag sounded "happy".

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