Modi leading the country to dictatorship, says Mallikarjun Kharge
Mangaluru, Feb 17: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the Narendra Modi government should not be brought back to power at the Centre as he is leading the country to dictatorship.
The Prime Minister did not honour his promise of creating more jobs for the unemployed youth and depositing Rs 15 lakh to the bank accounts of all citizens, he said.
"Modi wants to become a dictator and control the entire governance including law enforcement agencies and the media," he alleged while speaking at the Congress workers' state-level convention on the outskirts of the city.
Launching the party's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in the state, he said the Congress is confident of securing at least 20 seats in Karnataka. While the Congress fulfilled all the guarantees in its election manifesto in Karnataka, Modi went back on his words, Kharge said.
He further said Modi was always stressing on personal guarantees, while the Congress collectively refers to its promises as the party's guarantees. Unlike Modi, who promotes his personal image, the Congress gives thrust to the collective commitment of the party, he added.
ALSO READ: LS polls: Congress hopeful of winning in coastal Karnataka region, says D K Shivakumar
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also addressed the gathering of party workers, said the Congress is positioned to get a minimum of 20 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Prime Minister Modi had not fulfilled any of the promises he made in the last 10 years, he said, and asked the people not to trust the BJP.
"The BJP manipulates emotions and exploits religious and caste divisions among the people. The people of the country had never witnessed the BJP's promised 'Acche Din' in the last decade, whereas the Congress does not make false promises," Siddaramaiah said.
The Congress has delivered on all the five guarantees it presented before the people in the last Assembly elections in just eight months, while the BJP implemented only 60 out of 600 promises they made, the Chief Minister said.
Both Nalin Kumar Kateel and Shobha Karandlaje, the Lok Sabha MPs from the coastal region, had failed to get Central funds released for the state, he said and urged the voters to elect Congress candidates in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
Deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, in his speech, said the Congress has a glorious tradition in Mangaluru where veteran leaders like Janardhan Poojary and Veerappa Moily strengthened the grassroot level work of the party.
Shivakumar, who is also KPCC president, asked workers to approach the voters with confidence as the Congress has implemented its promises in the state. Dharmasthala dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade himself had said the number of devotees to Dharmasthala has increased due to the Congress guarantee of free bus travel to women and are offering prayers in the name of the Chief Minister, he added.
Shivakumar said Janata Dal(S) leader H D Deve Gowda, who once vowed to leave the country if the BJP wins, is now joining hands with the same party to save his son.
Calling for unity in the Congress, Shivakumar said all party workers should come together to achieve a massive victory for the party in the coming elections.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala also spoke.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwar, Dakshina Kannada district-in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Ashok Kumar Rai, MLA, B K Hariprasad, MLC, KPCC working president Salem Ahmed, state ministers K H Muniyappa, R V Deshpande, K J George, Laxmi Hebbalkar, former MLAs Ramanath Rai and Vinay Kumar Sorake and DCC president Harish Kumar MLC were present.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
