Congress not worried about SDPI in coast: U T Khader
Mangaluru (PTI): The Congress is not much worried about the active presence of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in the communally polarised Dakshina Kannada region ahead of the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, former minister and Mangaluru MLA U T Khader said.
In an interview to PTI, he said, "I don't see SDPI as a threat to our vote bank. People are not going to support their communal agenda." Khader said people in the region are more concerned about issues like poverty, unemployment and protection of their basic rights. Only the Congress addresses these issues in the election campaign.
"Congress is there for everyone and strives to uphold the constitutional rights of citizens and fights to protect them. Voters will ultimately realise that."
"When we try to protect the Constitution, the rights of minorities will also be protected. The electorate will vote for a secular government in the state," he said.
Asked whether SDPI, the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), will eat into the Congress vote bank, he said they have only limited influence in Dakshina Kannada.
"The BJP is on its deathbed in the state. It is now the duty of SDPI to save them," he said. "We are opposing the communal policies of both the parties."
The Congress leader further said the SDPI's two-three percent votes in the region cannot make an impact in the elections. "The Congress had won when they contested against us and we know the people are with us."
Congress is focusing on the failures of the BJP government which is steeped in corruption, he said expressing hope that the party will considerably improve performance in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
In the last elections, Khader was the only Congress candidate to win from the region. BJP had won 12 out of the 13 seats in the two districts.
He said the Congress is working unitedly for victory. On former MLA Mohiuddin Bava deserting the party and contesting on a Janata Dal (S) ticket from Mangaluru North, he said the decision will only damage his political career.
"Political leaders need to learn patience. The party cannot always favour a leader and they have to take it in their stride."
Khader said the description of the coastal region as the laboratory of Hindutva politics is not always correct. People have chosen different parties in successive elections.
He recalled that in 2008, out of the eight seats in Dakshina Kannada, the BJP and Congress won in four seats each. In 2013, Congress won seven seats and BJP won only in Sullia. In 2018, Congress lost due to certain undercurrents.
"A strong anti-incumbency wave is now visible in the state due to their divisive politics and people have learnt that Congress should come to power to maintain peace and harmony," he said.
On the CM Basavaraj Bommai-headed government taking away four percent quota for Muslims and placing them in the economically weaker sections category, Khader said it is not right to withdraw the existing quota of a community.
The decision reflects the BJP's continuing attempts to polarise the society and gain political advantage, he said.
Khader is contesting for the fifth consecutive time from the Mangaluru (erstwhile Ullal) constituency and had won all the four elections he faced.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
