Bengaluru, Nov 5: Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamys recent statement that his party would not try to dislodge the ruling BJP government was out of 'fear' that more JD(S) legislators may jump ship to the saffron party.
The former Chief Minister also alleged that Yediyurappas audio clipping on rebel MLAs was leaked by someone within the BJP to defame the Chief Minister and make him resign.
"Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has said he will not allow the BJP government to collapse. What else can we expect from JD(S)?
He might have said it out of fear that more JD(S) MLAs may join BJP. This is an expected political development, Siddaramaiah tweeted.
Kumaraswamy had recently said JD(S) would not try and dislodge the BJP government like the saffron party had done to his coalition government and opined that he did not think that mid-term polls would be held.
Hitting back, Kumaraswamy, without naming the Congress Legislature Party leader, said some people wanted to pull down the government out of "selfishness and greed" to become the Chief Minister.
"Some people with selfishness and greed to become Chief Minister are eager to pull down the government. It doesn't matter to them even if it leads to wastage of public money.
Don't forget that among those MLAs who quit the party and went, most of them are from your party (Congress).
Douse the fire in your house before going to douse the fire in your neighbor's house," Kumaraswamy tweeted.
The resignation and absence of 14 Congress and three JD (S) MLAs during the trust vote had lead to the collapse of the coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy and paved the way for the BJP to come to power in Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah in another tweet said Yediyurappas audio clipping on rebel MLAs was leaked by someone within the BJP to 'defame the Chief Minister and make him resign.
"Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa should get a bad name and he should resign, this is the reason behind the audio leak.
People who don't like Yediyurappa are in the BJP core committee that consists of senior leaders," he tweeted.
A purported audio clip of Yediyurappa expressing anguish against his party leaders at a recent party meeting in Hubballi over their opposition to giving tickets to the disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs for the December 5 Assembly bypolls in 15 constituencies had surfaced last Friday.
In the audio,Yediyurappa is purportedly heard saying that the rebel Congress JD(S) MLAs, who were later disqualified, were kept in Mumbai during the final days of the coalition government under BJP national President Amit Shah's watch.
BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Sunday charged Siddaramaiah of being behind the audio release as he desired to become the Chief Minister and was involved in such (audio) releases in the past.
Siddaramaiah, in another tweet, defended a video showing him purportedly predicting the collapse of the Kumaraswamy led coalition government and stated that he had neither said he would pull down the government nor asked anyone to do so.
One of our party workers had asked about giving the Chief Minister's post to JD(S) despite having 80 MLAs to which I had said.. be patient till Lok Sabha election, after which we will sit and discuss.
I ever said that I will pull down the government. I have not attempted for it also, he tweeted.
A video of Siddaramaiah, who was under treatment at a nature cure centre, stating that the coalition government will not last long after the Lok Sabha polls, had gone viral a few days after the Kumaraswamy-led government had come to power.
Siddaramaiah was the coordination committee chief of the then coalition government when the video had gone viral.
ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಬೀಳಲು ಬಿಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಮಾಜಿ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ @hd_kumaraswamy ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಜೆಡಿಎಸ್ನಿಂದ ಬೇರೇನು ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಮಾಡಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯ? ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಜೆಡಿಎಸ್ ಶಾಸಕರು ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸೇರಬಹುದೆಂಬ ಭಯಕ್ಕೆ ಅವರು ಹಾಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡಿರಲೂಬಹುದು. ಇದು ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿತ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ. 3/4#ಸಾಗರ
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 5, 2019
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Agra (UP) (PTI): Four people were arrested, after a prompt response by police following a social media alert, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and a girl inside a moving bus here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official police statement, at 12:27 am on April 27, information was received on the social media platform X about an incident of sexual assault on a bus travelling from Kanpur to Ahmedabad, which was approaching Namner crossing in Agra.
Acting under the direction of Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the Agra Police social media team immediately alerted the Rakabganj police station within minutes and coordinated with the victims to confirm the incident and obtain the exact location, it stated.
Police teams launched intensive checking at Namner crossing and intercepted the bus as it reached the spot. The four accused involved in the incident were apprehended on the spot, and legal action was initiated against them, the statement said.
The police said the swift response and coordination between the social media team and field units ensured timely action, bringing relief to the victims and other passengers, who expressed gratitude towards the police, it added.
