Cong-JD(S) government in Karnataka may fall before year-end: BJP leader
Hyderabad: Senior BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao Monday said his party would not try to destabilise the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka but indicated the coalition may fall before the year end.
The party general secretary in charge of Karnataka affairs said the BJP has maintained in the past year that the coalition government is not a stable one, it cannot survive and it would not last.
Rao, asked if the coalition government would last the calendar year 2019, told PTI here: "2019 itself may be a little longer; I don't know because things are not stable is the fact."
"New development has added to the problem", he said, obviously referring to the coalition worries that have been compounded by the BJP's spectacular performance, winning 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving a mere one each to the Congress and JD(S).
The BJP-backed independent Sumalatha had also won.
The BJP had won 104 seats in the Assembly elections last year and added one more to its tally in the bypolls held along with recent Lok Sabha elections.
The ruling combine has 117 members -- 78 of the Congress, 37 of the JD(S), one of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one Independent.
"Basically, the government has become delegitimate, people have rejected it. Technically, as a combined force, they (Congress-JD-S) may say they have majority. But mandate is different, majority is different; so you are robbed off legitimacy," Rao said.
"Why we (BJP) should destabilise (the government) when people are not accepting (the coalition)? They do not have people's support, so don't you think within Congress and JD(S) people (MLAs) will be eager to get out?", he said.
Rao said it is not the responsibility of the BJP to keep the government in Karnataka going. "If anybody (MLAs of the ruling coalition) comes out, should I not meet? I am not doing any special game (not destabilising)," he said.
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No 'bacterial infection' found in bodies of 4 Mumbai family members who died after eating watermelon
Mumbai (PTI): The initial report submitted by the microbiology department of a Mumbai-based state-run hospital has said no "bacterial infection" was detected in the bodies of four family members, who died after consuming watermelon recently, officials said on Wednesday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am (on April 26), hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
After the incident, Mumbai police, forensic experts and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials visited the house and had collected samples of every food item that constituted the family's last meal, including 'chicken pulav', watermelon, water, and other foodstuffs, and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
After the post-mortem of the deceased, their viscera was preserved for chemical analysis.
As the probe is underway, the microbiology department of the state-run J J Hospital has submitted its initial report to the police.
"As per the report, no bacterial infection has been detected so far in the bodies of the victims. No bacteria was found in their blood," the official said.
The exact cause of the death will be known once the forensic science lab submits its report, he said.
"The report will also clarify whether any food items consumed by the family members during the day contained anything poisonous," the official said.
