Coalition govt stable, Congress-JDS to fight LS polls together: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Dec 27 : Rubbishing BJP's claim that the coalition government in Karnataka would collapse due to internal rift, Congress leader Siddaramaiah Thursday said the Congress-JDS alliance was strong and they would contest the Lok Sabha polls together.
The leader of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition coordination committee also ruled out any differences between him and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara over portfolio allocation to newly inducted ministers.
"They (BJP) don't want to sit in the opposition and work. By using some wrong means, they want to form the government," Siddaramaiah said.
He was reacting to senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Umesh Katti's claim that 15 disgruntled MLAs from the ruling coalition were in touch with him and that the saffron party would form the new government in Karnataka by next week.
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, Siddaramaiah said, "Nothing will happen, the government will not fall. Government will complete its term; there is no problem at all."
Reacting to the views of JDS leaders that the party should contest the Lok Sabha polls alone, the veteran Congress leader said both the parties had fought the by-elections together and the alliance will remain intact for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as well.
"I don't know what you are saying... (JDS wanting to go alone) is news for me," the former Karnataka chief minister said, adding that the seat sharing formula was yet to be finalised.
"About the number of seats, all those things we have not been discussed, it will be discussed when we will sit together, which has not yet happened," he said.
Unhappy with the Congress' "big brother attitude" in the ruling coalition in Karnataka, JD(S) workers and local leaders have apparently asked the leadership to contest all 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 general elections alone.
Congress and JD(S) had earlier announced that they would fight the polls together.
Expressing confidence that former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, sulking over being dropped from the ministry, would not quit as party MLA, Siddaramaiah said, "He is basically a Congress man, he will stay with us."
"He may be upset that he was removed from the ministry, so he has gone incommunicado, I also tried, but could not speak to him... As I understand him, he will remain and work for the Congress," he added.
Jarkiholi has threatened to quit as Congress lawmaker and is likely to announce his decision soon amid reports that he might join the BJP.
Siddaramaiah also said that portfolios to eight newly inducted ministers would be announced after approval from Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
Terming reports about the rift with Parameshwara as "totally false", he said, "We haven't spoken at the meeting, as reported."
According to reports, the meeting between top party leaders on Wednesday to decide on portfolios was not cordial, as Parameshwara expressed displeasure after Siddaramiah asked him to give up some key portfolios.
Parameshwara currently holds the departments of home, Bengaluru city related affairs, youth affairs and sports.
Also, hitting out at media reports about a rift with Siddaramaiah, Parameshwara said, "It is all your creation, which is false. By giving false news... You will lose the credibility."
"There is no issue of giving up any ministry and it is applicable to every one... Everything will be decided by the high command," he added.
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Stop atrocities on Hindus immediately, release ISKCON monk from jail: RSS to Bangladesh interim govt
New Delhi (PTI): The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday appealed to the Bangladesh interim government to ensure the atrocities on the Hindus are stopped and ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das is released from jail immediately.
RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale in a statement also appealed to the Indian government to continue its efforts to stop the atrocities on the Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and take necessary steps to build global opinion in its support "as soon as possible".
"The attacks, murders, looting, arson as well as inhuman atrocities by Islamic fundamentalists on Hindus, women and all other minorities in Bangladesh are extremely worrying and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh condemns this," he said.
Instead of stopping this, the present Bangladesh government and other agencies are only silent spectators, Hosabale said.
"Out of helplessness, a new phase of injustice and atrocities seems to be emerging against the Hindus of Bangladesh to suppress the voice raised by them in a democratic way for self-defense," the RSS general secretary said.
"It is unjust for the Bangladesh government to send ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is leading the Hindus in such peaceful demonstrations, to jail," he added
Bangladesh Police earlier on Monday arrested International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka while he was travelling to Chittagong.
"The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh appeals to the Bangladesh government to ensure that the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh stop immediately and release Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das from imprisonment," Hosabale said.
"The RSS also appeals to the Indian government to continue its efforts to stop the atrocities on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and take necessary steps as soon as possible to build global opinion in its support," he added.
At this crucial time, the RSS general secretary said, India and the global community and institutions should stand with the victims of Bangladesh and express their support, and demand that their respective governments make every possible effort to ensure that atrocities on the Hindus and other minorities are stopped in Bangladesh immediately.
This is necessary for world peace and brotherhood, he added.
