JD(S) with Owaisi; Politics of chameleons
The public campaigning has ended for the assembly elections in state. Though the national leaders were seen too frequently in the public rallies, they couldn’t really deliberate about why their party should be voted to power. Prime Minister Modi even forgot the dignity of his Prime Ministerial position and spoke in all his rallies across the state. His Kannada speaking went terribly haywire with wrong terms and pronunciations. Yet he could not seek votes in the name of his party or explain why BJP should be voted to power in the state. On the other side, Congress party could at least put Siddaramaiah before the people owing to the personal and political integrity the CM has exhibited so far. Though Rahul Gandhi involved himself in the election rallies, his simplicity dulled out before Modi’s blatant shouting. Some even loved the uncomplicated person that Rahul is, even as a politician. But would this convert into votes, one never knows. The leaders of BJP sought votes in the name of Hindutva. Yeddyurappa seemed like a name sake leader. Though the PM kept mocking at Siddaramaiah as ‘Seeda Rupayya’ it almost felt like he was referring to Yeddyurappa.
JD(S) on the other hand, had Owaisi to back them in the publicity campaigns. Devegowda in all his speeches said “No matter who gets the majority, we will form the government”. It simply means, JD(S) would go truck with ANY party in the event of others not getting a clear mandate of majority.
There were times when people saw JD(S) as an alternative to mainstream the Congress and BJP. In the current context, JD(S) has surely lost its character owing to its opportunistic politics owing to the partnership it entered into with the BJP for power, during the last 20-20 agreement government. Today, there are rumours that JD(S) is even controlling the BJP from a distance. It is said that JD(S) is being nurtured by the BJP to ensure secular votes don’t go in the favour of Congress. This can be concluded with the fact that Devegowda having praised the RSS on some occasions. On one hand, Devegowda said the party would not go truck with BJP, and almost immediately after, Kumaraswamy gives another statement that could contradict what Devegowda has said. Hence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaps praises on Devegowda because he knows JD(S) can be used ‘as per convenience’ in the current elections.
On the same occasion, AIMM headed by Asaduddin Owaisi has extended its support to the JD(S). It is no secret that Owaisi’s party has been instigating people from different religions against each other, just the way as RSS and BJP do. There have been almost no occasions when Owaisi or his party trucked with the secular forces of the country. AIMM has always conducted itself in a way that has benefited the BJP. It’s participation in the electoral process in states such as Uttar Pradesh and others had given rise to a few suspicions that BJP and Owaisi had reached an understanding of sorts. Now, the JD(S) is also being rumoured to have done the same, in order to benefit the BJP. All parties that instigate people in the name of religion are the same. Hence secular parties must maintain distance from them. Ironically enough, JD(S) which lost its reputation when it went with BJP for power, is not whetting its luck with Owaisi on their side. Now it is anybody’s guess to see who would be benefited from this equation.
JD(S) hardly targeted Yeddyurappa in any of their campaigns. Instead, they continued to attack Siddaramaiah all along as if he is their personal enemy. Father-sons of the JD(S) did not open their mouth even when Narendra Modi derided the state in his speeches. JD(S) indirectly conceded with UP CM Adityanath in his insults against the state. The only focus of JD(S) is to ensure Siddaramaiah does not become the CM second time over. Should the Congress need even 10 seats to form the government, JD(S) would insist on keeping Siddaramaiah out of the CM’s chair. It is now evidently clear that JD(S) only has the interests of the supremo’s family in mind, and no values other than that. The election manifesto makes this more than evident that JD(S) is facing the elections only to stop Siddaramaiah from becoming second term CM. But that would be their ‘family requirement’ and nothing else. Having limited itself to some personal enemity, JD(S) may never be able to play a significant role in the current elections.
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Israeli troops burn north Gaza hospital after forcibly removing staff, patients: Officials
Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Dec 27: Israeli troops stormed one of the last hospitals operating in the northernmost part of Gaza on Friday, forcing many of the staff and patients out of the facility, the territory's health ministry said.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in surrounding neighbourhoods, according to staff. The ministry said a strike on the hospital a day earlier killed five medical staff.
Israel's military said it was conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and fighters in the area of the hospital, without providing details. It repeated claims that Hamas fighters were operating inside Kamal Adwan, though it provided no evidence.
Hospital officials have denied the accusations.
The Health Ministry said troops forced medical personnel and patients to assemble in the hospital yard and remove their clothes amid the winter temperatures. They were led out of the hospital, some to an unknown location, while some patients were sent to the nearby Indonesian hospital, which was knocked out of operation after an Israel raid earlier this week.
The ministry said troops set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the hospital's lab and surgery department. It said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital out of 75 patients and 180 staff who had been there. The ministry's account could not be independently confirmed, and attempts to reach hospital staff were unsuccessful.
“Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified member of the staff said in an audio message from the hospital posted on the social media accounts of its director Hossam Abu Safiya. The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen. “There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said.
In raids, Israeli troops frequently carry out mass detentions, stripping men down to their underwear for questioning in what the military says is a security measure as they search for Hamas fighters.
Since October, Israel's offensive has virtually sealed off the north Gaza areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and levelled large parts of the districts. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced out, but thousands are believed to remain the area, where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located.
Troops raided Kamal Adwan earlier in October, and on Tuesday troops stormed and evacuated the nearby Indonesian Hospital.
The area has been cut off from food and other aid for months, raising fears of famine. The UN says Israeli troops had only allowed four humanitarian deliveries to the area from December 1 to December 23.
The Israeli rights groups Physicians for Human Rights-Israel earlier this week petitioned Israel's High Court of Justice seeking a halt to military attacks on Kamal Adwan. It warned that forcibly evacuating the hospital would “abandon thousands of residents in northern Gaza”.
Before the latest deaths Thursday, the group documented five other staffers killed by Israeli fire since October.
Israel's nearly 15-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza have devastated the territory's health sector. A year ago, it carried out a wave of raids on hospitals in northern Gaza, including Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and nearby al-Awda Hospital, saying they served bases for Hamas, though it presented little evidence.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
More than 90 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians have been driven from their homes, most of them now sheltering in sprawling, squalid tent camps in south and central Gaza.
Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after the group's October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which Hamas members killed around 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, around a third of whom are believed to be dead.
