Congress names candidates for Basavakalyan and Maski assembly bypolls in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Mar 18: The Congress on Thursday announced its candidates for the April 17 byelections to two Karnataka assembly constituencies, fielding Mallamma, the wife of late legislator B Narayan Rao who died of COVID-19 in last September, in Basavakalyan.
Basanagouda Turvihal, who recently joined the party, would be its candidate in Maski segment, a Congress press release said.
The party did not name the candidate for the Belgaum Lok Sabha seat, which will also go to bypolls on April 17.
It, however, declared Ashok Managuli as candidate for Sindagi assembly seat, for which election has not yet been announced. The seat has fallen vacant following the death of senior JD(S) leader M C Managuli in January.
The Congress aims to retain Basavakalyan and Maski, which it had won in the 2018 assembly elections.
The death of Narayan Rao due to COVID-19 in September last year has necessitated the bypoll in Basavakalyan.
Among other factors, Congress seems to be eyeing sympathy wave in favour of Mallamma.
Turvihal was the BJP's candidate from Maski in 2018 and had lost by a margin of just 213 against Prathapagouda Patil of the Congress, who is now with the BJP.
Maski seat fell vacant following the disqualification of Patil for his role along with others that led to the collapse of the previous Congress-JD(S) coalition government.
The bypolls will be held on April 17 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2.
According to party sources, the candidate for the Belgaum seat is likely to be announced by the end of this week.
By-polls to Belgaum Lok Sabha seat has been necessitated following the death of Union Minister Suresh Angadi of the BJP due to COVID-19 in September last year.
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Double-decker electric bus gutted in fire at Kurla BEST depot
Mumbai (PTI): An empty double-decker electric bus was gutted in a fire during servicing at a BEST depot in Mumbai's Kurla area on Sunday, officials said, adding that nobody was injured.
The blaze broke out inside the Kurla BEST bus depot near Kanakia Building at 4.14 pm, according to preliminary information from the Mumbai Fire Brigade.
The parked bus was unoccupied at the time of the incident.
Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control. The exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, they said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, officials added.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has hired 50 electric double-decker buses from Switch Mobility in its fleet of around 2,700 buses.
