Puttur: Arun Kumar Puttila, who contested the last assembly elections as an independent rebel, causing the BJP to secure the 3rd place in the Puttur Vidhan Sabha constituency, faced widespread opposition from Puttur BJP leaders regarding his rejoining the BJP. As a result, his inclusion in the party has been postponed.
Puttila's independent candidacy in the previous elections had garnered attention at the state level. Subsequently, he established the Puttila Parivar and aimed to expand its presence to the district level. In an attempt to put an end to this, several BJP leaders sought to bring him back into the BJP fold.
Following B. Y. Vijayendra's appointment as the state president of BJP, Puttila family leaders, including Arun Kumar Puttila, visited Bangalore and met Vijayendra. This meeting suggested that Arun Kumar Puttila would join the BJP, and an official joining program was scheduled at the district BJP office in Mangalore on Friday evening. However, strong opposition from Puttur BJP leaders led to the postponement of Arun Kumar Puttila's BJP joining.
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During a meeting held at the Puttur BJP office on Friday, it was decided that all party office bearers should be consulted before his official induction. The demand was made that Arun Kumar Puttila must adhere to party rules before officially joining BJP, and local officials should be taken into confidence. It was also decided that Puttila should not be given any status, including mandal chairmanship, at this time.
Reports indicate that the BJP district president Satish Kumpala has deferred Arun Kumar Puttila's joining following the demands of local BJP leaders.
Arun Kumar Puttila was prepared to visit the district BJP office and election office on Friday. However, district president Satish Kumpala's arrival in Puttur and subsequent closed meeting at the party office resulted in the announcement that Puttila's joining was misrepresented by the media. This indicates that the leaders are obstructing Puttila from joining the BJP.
In Friday's meeting, party leaders Sulochana Bhatt, Premananda Shetty, District General Secretary Yatish Arwar, former MLA Sanjiva Mathandur, Dr. M.K. Prasad, Mandal President Saja Radhakrishna Alva, former MLA Mallika Prasad, OBC Morcha State Secretary R. C. Narayan, Gopalkrishna Herele, Appiah Maniyani, Bhami Ashok Shenai, Radhakrishna Borkar Jeevandhara Jain, Rajesh Bannur, Chandrasekhara Rao Bapplige, Ajith Rai Hosamane, Dinesh Panjiga, and others were present.
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Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
