Five in fray for four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Five candidates, including three from the ruling Congress and one each from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) filed nominations for the biennial election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, an EC official said on Monday.
"Of the five candidates, four have filed nominations on the last date (Monday), including three from the Congress and one from the BJP, while JD-S candidate B.M. Farooq had filed nomination on March 9," the Election Commission (EC) official said.
The Congress candidates are L. Hanumanthaiah, G.C. Chandrasekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain, and BJP candidate is Rajeev Chandrashekar, who is seeking a second term, as his first term as an Independent member ends on April 2.
The election has been necessitated to fill the vacancies arising out of retirement of incumbent members Basawaraj Patil, Rahman Khan and R. Ramakrishna of the Congress, and Chandrasekhar.
In the 225-member state legislative assembly, including one nominated, the Congress has 122 legislators, BJP 48 and JD-S 37. Of all, 7 seats are vacant.
As each candidate needs 45 votes to win the contest, the Congress is in a position to get two of its nominees elected easily, while its third candidate with 37 votes will have to get 13 more votes to make up for the shortfall.
With Chandrashekar assured of victory by virtue of the BJP having 48 votes, the contest will be for the fourth seat between the Congress and the JD-S, whose strength got reduced to 37 after three of its members were suspended for revolting against its leadership.
The JD-S also fears cross-voting by some of its members in favour of the ruling Congress' third nominee.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Operation Sindoor: Indian strikes kill Masood Azhar’s 10 family members, 4 aides; Report
New Delhi: Ten family members and four close aides of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar were killed in missile strikes carried out by Indian armed forces under ‘Operation Sindoor’, according to a statement released by Azhar.
The admission came through a statement issued by Azhar and reported by BBC Urdu and PTI on Wednesday, a day after India launched Operation Sindoor, its targeted retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre.
The strikes targeted nine terror-linked sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including the JeM headquarters Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur. Azhar’s elder sister and her husband, and his nephew and his wife, were among those killed.
The operation also hit key compounds associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, including Markaz Abbas in Kotli, Syedna Bilal camp in Muzaffarabad, Markaz Taiba in Murdike, and camps in Barnala, Shwawai Nalla, Sialkot, among others. Four of the sites were located in Pakistan and five in PoK.
Reacting to the attack, Azhar said, “Is zulm ne saaray zabtay tor diye hain. Ab koi reham ki umeed na rakhe” — meaning “This cruelty has broken all boundaries. Now, no one should expect mercy.”
Indian Air Force officials confirmed the precision night raids were aimed at dismantling terror infrastructure.
