I’m fed up with electoral politics: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, November 5: “I am fed up with the electoral politics. I will be in politics. But I will not be in electoral politics”, former chief minister Siddaramaiah reiterated.
Speaking at a Kannada Rajyotsava and felicitation programme organized by the FKCCI here on Monday, Siddaramaiah said that “I have faced 13 national and state level elections in his political career and I have won in eight elections. Now, I am 71 and I am still MLA. By the time I complete this tenure, I would be 75. So, I have decided to stay away from electoral politics”, he said.
“I have not come to politics either for power or making money. Political field is a service sector. We have the responsibility of fulfilling our aims for which we are in politics. I have done my work honestly to ensure justice to the poor, backwards and exploited classes”, he said.
“Vested interests are there in the society and they are against the progressive thoughts. But I have not worried about it. Some people accused me of dividing the religion. But I have not divided the religion. Basavanna had opposed the superstitious beliefs 800 years ago and advocated ‘kayaka dasoha’.Buddha and Ambedkar were also on the same path. So, I am proud that I have followed the same path”, he claimed.
JDS leader PGR Sidhya said that though Siddaramaiah has done work for all castes and religions, he was restricted to one community which is not right. People should stop seeing a leader with narrow mindset. Siddaramaiah was the only chief minister who followed the ideologies of Basavanna, he said.
Some vested interests have tried to misuse Siddaramaiah politically. But no one could keep him away from politics. He was close to former chief ministers JH Patel and S Nijalingappa. Now, JDS national leaders also wanted him to be in politics. So, it was the responsibility of everyone to keep him in active politics. So, he should enter the national politics in future, he said.
Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, FKCCI president CR Janardhan, vice president Perikal M Sundar and others were present.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
