Deve Gowda indicates JDS is keen on continuing alliance with Congress
Bengaluru, Sep 12: After engaging in a blame game over the collapse of their coalition government, JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Thursday indicated his party is still open for continuing its alliance with the Congress.
"To get rid of the bad situation in the country, we have to keep aside our personal jealousy," he told reporters here in an apparent attack on the BJP-led NDA rule without naming it.
Gowda hinted he was open for an alliance with the Congress in 17 assembly constituencies, where bypolls have been necessitated following the disqualification of rebel MLAs, but said it all depended on the decision of the national party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
In the bypolls, the JD(S) was not inclined to contest all the constituencies as the Congress was more stronger on many of the segments, he said adding it was for Sonia Gandhi to take the decision.
He said she cannot decide without consulting Karnataka Congress leaders.
I don't know what is the stand of the local leaders, I have not discussed with anyone every one knows about developments that are happening in the country. so if they come to a decision, if local leaders of that party come to a consensus, we will give cooperation I have said. There is nothing to misinterpret, he added.
Gowda and Congress strongman in the state Siddaramaiah had traded charges, blaming each other for the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July after it was rocked by dissidence.
Both Congress and JD(S) leaders have also been non- committal over the continuation of the alliance after the fall of the coalition government.
Congress leaders including state party chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and Siddaramaiah, who is the Congress legislature party leader, have maintained that continuation of alliance will be decided by the high command.
However, several top leaders of the party on condition of anonymity had recently said the entire rank and file of the party were happy to end the partnership with JD(S).
The two parties, considered arch rivals, especially in old Mysuru region, had bitterly fought against each other during the 2018 assembly polls but came together to form a post-poll coalition following a hung verdict.
However, the alliance was not accepted by lower level leaders and the cadres of both the parties and this culminated in the open revolt by 17 MLAs of the combine and the fall of the government, paving the way for BJP's return to power.
The then assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar had disqualified 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law. They have challenged it in the Supreme Court.
On the three seats represented by the JDS, Gowda said he would field candidates based on local leaders' decision.
Referring to the criticism of JDS by Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah, during the assembly elections that it was a "B" team of BJP, Gowda said no one now say so. "...it is a gone thing now. I gave cooperation despite all these things.
"The point is both the parties had suffered badly on account of remarks against each other (during 2018 assembly polls), what was the use? They had 130 seats with them (in the previous assembly), they got reduced to 78," he said.
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
