Coalition that won in seat sharing
One of the major achievements of coalition government in the state is to have successful and uncomplicated closure of seat sharing deal. CM Kumaraswamy kept repeating that they are not beggars by that way warning the coalition partner Congress of their requirement of seats. If there was a difference of opinion in seat sharing it would have had its impact not only on the lok Sabha elections but also on the government that is running the state.
Even the BJP was waiting for this opportunity. But Congress set aside its pride, provision and reached an understanding with the JDS in seat sharing. This proves the fact that Congress has learnt its lessons from its past failures. BJP is very disappointed by the fact that Congress did not throw tantrums to let go of Tumkur Mandya Chikmagalur and Udupi constituencies to JDS. Coalition partners have managed the first step towards a successful election very amicably. This understanding between Congress and JDS is bound to have a very positive impact on the Lok Sabha elections.
Actor Ambarish's wife is a big challenge for the grandson of HD Deve Gowda in Mandya. Many major leaders within JDS are not very happy with the fact that Gowda's grandson Nikhil has been chosen over other deserving candidates to represent Mandya. This is an unfathomable development for the party members. At the same time there is a huge demand from Congress workers who feel Congress loyalist late Ambarish's wife Sumalatha should be supported by the party to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
However since Mandya has been ceded to JDS, Congress cannot support Sumalatha. Hence now it has become inevitable for Sumalatha to fight the election from BJP. If she joins BJP she will lose the conventional Congress vote bank. Congress workers will never be able to identify with Sumalatha if she joins BJP. Hence Sumalatha has exhibited a very smart and strategic move by almost deciding to contest as an independent candidate.
If she stands as an independent candidate BJP has a plan to not field any candidate against Sumalatha and support her candidature. Sumalatha is already dreaming of a victory that would be caused by dividing the Congress words and gaining the support of BJP and their votes. But Ambarish had lost his political charm during his last days since he had failed to fulfill the desires and expectations of the people who had elected him to his seat. However if the caste politics that is so deeply engraved in the Mandya psyche continues, victory may be a difficult proposition for Sumalatha and Nikhil may sweep the polls. Letting go of Udupi and Chikmagalur seat to JDS by the Congress has taken many by surprise.
JDS has not had any root level worker base in Chikmagalur or Udupi. Comparatively Chikmagalur is a little better than Udupi as far as JDS is concerned. Many Congress leaders who wanted to contest from Udupi are very disappointed. Inclined towards soft hindutva, leaders like Vinay Kumar Sorake and Pramod Madhwaraj cannot be very committed to campaign for JDS candidate in Udupi. With half their mind in BJP, one cannot totally trust them to work for Congress; instead they might work to benefit the BJP.
Under such circumstances JDS has to choose its candidate to represent this constituency. Right now Y S V Datta's name is being floated for this space. And to reach voters surfacing the aggressive hindutva agenda that has already been spread over by the BJP is not an easy task for Datta. Compared to immature and disrespectful candidate like Shobha Karandlaje, Datta is a better candidate anyday. This time there is dissidents against Shobha's candidature within the BJP itself, so this may work for the benefit of JDS. Mangaluru Lok Sabha constituency has raked a lot of interest. BJP has been winning this seat from last three decades.
Janardhan Poojary has set a record of sorts by continuously losing this seat. Politically Poojary has retired from the field. For the first time Congress has chosen to find some other candidate to this seat apart from Poojary. Billava community plays a constructive role in electoral victories in coastal Karnataka. Hundreds of young Billava men have been jailed under various charges fighting for political ends in coastal Karnataka. BJP has been successful in ensuring there are no Billava leaders that come out of the Billava community that supports the party. Congress ensured Poojary grew into a national level leader, while BJP pushed him to the corner.
Billawas today are just a force to reckon by in electoral politics without having a single leader to represent them at any level. Looks like Congress will consider Billava candidates to represent the party in Lok Sabha elections. Vinay Kumar Sorake is an ideal candidate, his soft hindutva stance and the anger of Muslims against him have made him and undesirable candidate for the elections. He has ceased to be relevant to coastal Karnataka. Another leader who can able to represent Billava community is BK Hariprasad and his name is in much circulation.
Congress does not seem to have any choice in the given situation and it is becoming more and more obvious. Politically immature and inactive politician Nalin Kumar Kateel of BJP has become irrelevant already. His victory is dependent on just two factors that is Modi and Hindutva. This apart, handing over Tumkur to JDS has enraged Congress workers in at area. Just being coalition partners does not ensure victory for mutual convenient candidates. Only when both party base and workers try to win elections. Coalition becomes meaningful when leaders of both parties understand this.
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Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar, four others killed in plane crash
Baramati (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board an aircraft were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old leader’s death has not only left a vacuum in the BJP-led state coalition government, but also cast a shadow on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he headed.
His uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the plane crash was an accident which shouldn't be politicised.
The "black box" (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the aircraft, will be analysed after recovery to determine the cause of the accident, an official said.
Ajit Pawar had taken off from Mumbai in the morning to address four rallies in the day in Pune district for the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
The government released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Pawar's death.
The aircraft, a Learjet, was cleared for landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance it did not give any read-back' to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames on the edge of the runway.
In aviation parlance, a go-around is a standard procedure where a pilot discontinues a landing attempt and initiates a climb to fly another approach. It is used when a landing cannot be completed safely due to factors like poor weather, an unstable approach, or traffic on the runway. It is a proactive safety measure rather than an emergency.
A readback is a crucial safety procedure where a pilot repeats back the essential parts of a message or instruction received from Air Traffic Control (ATC). It acts as a "closed-loop" communication system, ensuring that the controller's instructions were heard and understood correctly by the flight crew.
The 16-year-old chartered aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while attempting a second landing approach at Baramati airport which is an uncontrolled airfield where traffic information is typically provided by instructors and pilots from local flying training organisations.
V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, said the pilot apparently could not see the runway and carried out a "missed approach", a standardised procedure in such cases.
Terrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged from the site of the aircraft crash as residents near the Baramati airport described a scene of chaos as the plane appeared to lose control before erupting into a series of big explosions.
An eyewitness described watching the aircraft circle the airport, noting it appeared 'a bit unstable' before its final approach. According to her, the plane 'hit the ground hard and exploded' upon impact, with the blast being heard in homes throughout the area.
Later, the Civil Aviation Ministry, quoting the person manning the Air Traffic Control at Baramati, issued a statement about the sequence of events indicating that the flight encountered visibility issues during its landing attempt despite reports of calm weather.
The statement said that at 8.18 am, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control after being released by the Pune approach at 30 nautical miles (around 55 km) inbound to Baramati.
The crew was advised to descend at their discretion under Visual Meteorological conditions and were also informed that winds were calm and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.
Upon reaching the final approach for the runway, the crew reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around to reposition for a second attempt on the runway.
After initially stating the runway was still not visible, the crew reported "runway in sight" just seconds later and the ATC cleared the aircraft to land at 8.43 am.
However, the crew did not provide the mandatory readback of this final clearance and at 8.44 am, exactly one minute after the last communication, ATC personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of the runway.
Emergency services reached the scene immediately following the explosion and the wreckage was located on the left side of the runway.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is currently analysing why the crew struggled to maintain visual contact with the runway despite the reported 3,000-metre visibility.
According to eyewitnesses, the force of the explosion was so great that parts of the aircraft were hurled through the air, landing near residential structures. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," an eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness reported that the aircraft appeared to be losing control from an altitude of approximately 100 feet above the runway.
"The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash... As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft".
Pramod Madurikar, a witness at the scene, said the victims were identified shortly after the crash and were shifted to ambulances. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly.
The aircraft was trying to land amid poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Pune.
VSR Ventures’ fleet includes seven Learjet 45 aircraft (including the one involved in the crash), five Embraer 135BJ aircraft, four King Air B200 aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of the Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders expressed grief over Pawar's demise.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reached Baramati and met Ajit Pawar’s family members, described the NCP leader’s tragic death as unbelievable, and said he had lost a good friend.
Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings.
Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati.
Modi and Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, the Nationalist Congress Party said.
