Karnataka govt appoints defeated BJP candidates heads of boards, corporations
Bengaluru, Oct 9: In a move seen as confirmation of party tickets to disqualified Congress-JDS MLAs, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday appointed eight former BJP candidates from constituencies they represented as heads of boards and corporations with Minister of State rank.
The defeated BJP candidates appointed as heads of state run boards and corporations with this rank include Sharath Bachegowda as Chairman of the Karnataka Housing Board.
Bachegowda was defeated in the 2018assembly polls by M T B Nagaraj inHosakote.
His supporters had recently thronged Yediyurappa's home, demanding a ticket for their leader and opposed any move by the party to allot a ticket to disqualified MLA Nagaraj.
Yediyurappa had recently said disqualified Congress-JDS MLAs would be given BJP tickets for the bypolls if they wanted, amid growing opposition in some quarters within the party against any such move.
The rebellion by the then MLAs had led to the fall of the Congress-JDS government in July, paving the way for the BJP to come back to power.
By elections to constituencies held by them are slated in December.
Yediyurappa had tried to pacify BJP ticket aspirants and those defeated in the2018 assembly polls,saying "opportunity" will be created for them in state-run boards and corporations.
Among others appointed were Ashok Ningayyaswami Pujari as Chairman of the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority and Bharamagouda Kage as Chairman of Command Area Development Programme- Malaprabha and Ghataprabha projects,Belagavi.
Nandish Reddy was made Vice-Chairman of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, U B Banakar as Chairman of the Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processingand Export Corporation Limited, while Basangouda Turvihal was appointed Chairman of CADA- Tungabhadra Project.
V S Patil was appointed as Chairman of North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and H R Gaviappa as chairman of the Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd.
The bypolls to 15 of 17 seats represented by disqualified MLAs, which the Election Commission had earlier decided to defer until Supreme Court decides on their plea challenging disqualification, has now been scheduled forDecember 5.
Even as the status of the disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs over their eligibility to contest the bypolls is yet to be decided by the Apex Court, there is growing opposition within some in the state BJP against giving them tickets to contest.
The 15 constituencies going to the polls are Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapur, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijayanagara, Chikkaballapura, K R Pura, Yeswanthpura, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagara, Hosakote, K R Pete, and Hunsur. Among these, 12 were represented by Congress and three by JD(S).
Winning most seats is crucial for BJP to stay in power.
The ruling party has 105 MLAs (including one independent) in the assembly, whose current strength is 208 (after 17 disqualifications).
While Congress' strength is 66, JD(S) has 34 MLAs in the Assembly that also consists of one BSP member, a nominated member and the Speaker.
The actual strength of the assembly is 225 and the half way mark is 113.
BJP needs to win at least six seats in the bypolls for 15 constituencies to remain in majority in the assembly, which will still have two vacant seats (Maski and R R Nagar).
The absence and resignation of the 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs during the trust vote had led to the collapse of the coalition government in July and helped BJP to come to power.
After examining the petition moved by both parties, the then Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar had disqualified the 17 Congress and JD(S) MLAs under theanti-defectionlaw, which they have challenged in the SupremeCourt.
Kumar had ruled that those disqualified cease to be MLAs with immediate effect till the expiry of the 15th assembly (in 2023).
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US vetoes Palestinian bid to gain statehood at the United Nations
United Nations, Apr 19: The US has vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on the latest Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations, an outcome lauded by Israel but criticised by Palestine as “unfair, immoral, and unjustified".
The 15-nation Council voted on a draft resolution Thursday that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly “that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”
The resolution got 12 votes in its favour, with Switzerland and the UK abstaining and the US casting its veto.
To be adopted, the draft resolution required at least nine Council members voting in its favour, with no vetoes by any of its five permanent members - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Palestinian attempts for recognition as a full member state began in 2011. Palestine is currently a non-member observer state, a status that was granted in November 2012 by the UN General Assembly.
This status allows Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions. The only other non-member Observer State at the UN is the Holy See, representing the Vatican.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the US for vetoing what he called a “shameful proposal.”
“The proposal to recognise a Palestinian state, more than 6 months after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and after the sexual crimes and other atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists was a reward for terrorism”, Katz wrote on X, after the US veto.
US Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs, said in the explanation of the vote at the Security Council meeting on Palestinian membership that Washington continues to strongly support a two-state solution.
“It remains the US view that the most expeditious path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners,” he said.
“This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgement that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties.”
Wood said there are “unresolved questions” as to whether Palestine meets the criteria to be considered a State.
“We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake necessary reforms to help establish the attributes of readiness for statehood and note that Hamas - a terrorist organisation - is currently exerting power and influence in Gaza, an integral part of the state envisioned in this resolution,” he said, adding that “For these reasons, the United States voted “no” on this Security Council resolution.”
Wood noted that since the October 7 attacks last year against Israel by Hamas, US President Joe Biden has been clear that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution, with Israel’s security guaranteed.
"There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish state. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace and with dignity in a state of their own. And there is no other path that leads to regional integration between Israel and all its Arab neighbours, including Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, sharply criticised the US veto, saying that it was “unfair, immoral, and unjustified, and defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations.”
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, said that “our right to self-determination has never once been subject to bargaining or negotiation.
“Our right to self-determination is a natural right, a historic right, a legal right. A right to live in our homeland Palestine as an independent state that is free and that is sovereign. Our right to self-determination is inalienable...,” he said.
Getting emotional and choking up as he made the remarks, Mansour said that a majority of the Council members “have risen to the level of this historic moment” and have stood “on the side of justice, freedom and hope.”
He asserted that Palestine’s admission as a full member of the UN is an “investment in peace.”
On April 2, 2024, Palestine again sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its application for full UN membership be considered again.
For a State to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting is required for the State to be admitted as a full member.
Earlier in the day, Guterres, in his remarks to a Council meeting on the Middle East, warned that the region is on a “knife edge”.
“Recent escalations make it even more important to support good-faith efforts to find lasting peace between Israel and a fully independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” Guterres said.
“Failure to make progress towards a two-state solution will only increase volatility and risk for hundreds of millions of people across the region, who will continue to live under the constant threat of violence,” he said.
The UN, citing the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that between October 7 last year and April 17, at least 33,899 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 76,664 Palestinians injured. Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7.
As of April 17, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
