Attracting votes from other parties just election time politics, not into caste politics: DKShi
Bengaluru: A day after JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy accused Congress of trying to lure party workers ahead of the November 3 bypolls, its' Karnataka unit chief D K Shivakumar on Friday said inducting people from rival parties and attracting their votes was just "election time politics."
Ruling out competition between him and Kumaraswamy for the Vokkaliga leadership, the dominant community to which both leaders belong to, he said he has never indulged in caste politics and for him Congress was his only caste.
"...he (Kumaraswamy) has his party and we have ours. They (JDS) are doing their duty and we are doing ours," Shivakumar said in response to a question on the JD(S) leader's statement.
Speaking to reporters here, he said it is common for a political party during election time to try and attract votes of rival parties.
"JD(S) tries to attract votes of Congress and BJP and similarly we will try to attract votes of the two parties."
Also if anyone from the other parties expresses willingness to join Congress, looking at their candidate, the party would take them in.
"This is what is happening, it is nothing but election time politics," he added.
Kumaraswamy on Thursday had alleged that Congress, which lacks a worker base in Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly constituency, was trying to lure his party workers ahead of the bypolls.
To a question about competition between them to gain leadership of a community, considering people joining Congress are Vokkaliga leaders from JD(S), Shivakumar said he has never indulged in caste politics and for him his caste is Congress.
"Both my parents are Vokkaligas, so in my school application, it is mentioned that I'm a Vokkaliga. Also I'm an agriculturist by birth, which is the occupation of the community.
But now I'm a Congress President and we have a caste -- which is Congress. Why should I speak about other castes? I don't like to speak about it," he said.
Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar), along with Sira assembly segment in Tumakuru, will go for the bypolls on November 3.
With both seats having considerable presence of Vokkaliga community, winning them is crucial for both leaders to consolidate their position in the community.
With the community seen as strong vote base of JD(S), Kumaraswamy is looking at keeping it intact.
Shivakumar, who is top leader in the Congress from the community, is looking at consolidating his position within the party by winning this bypolls.
Winning R R Nagar is even more crucial for him as it comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, represented by his brother D K Suresh.
In R R Nagar, Congress' Kusuma H is pitted against V Krishnamurthy of JD(S) and N Munirathna of the BJP.
In Sira, Congress has fielded former Minister T B Jayachandra against JD(S)' Ammajamma, the wife of late party MLA Sathyanarayana and Dr Rajesh Gowda of BJP.
The Sira by elections was necessitated following the death JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August, while the Rajarajeshwari Nagar (R R Nagar) seat fell vacant after the disqualification of Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti defection law last year.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
