JDS not contesting bypolls as it wants its "marginal" votes to go to BJP: Siddaramaiah
Hubballi: Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleged on Thursday JDS was not contesting the coming Assembly and Lok Sabha by-elections in north Karnataka as the party wants its "marginal votes" to go to the ruling BJP in the State.
His comments a day after JDS patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said his party would not field candidates as it did not have the funds to fight the bypolls.
Bypolls for Belgaum (Belagavi) Lok Sabha, and Basavakalyan, Sindgi and Maski Assembly seats are due and the schedule is expected to be announced by the Election Commission soon.
Siddaramaiah, also Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, told reporters here that the JDS was not strong in these constituencies.
"They want their marginal votes also to go to BJP. Hence, JDS is not contesting," he claimed.
Senior JDS MLC, Basavaraj Horatti was elected Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council on Tuesday with the support of the BJP amid indications that the two parties are warming up to each other.
To a question on the ongoing agitation demanding ST (Scheduled Tribe) status to the Kuruba (shepherd) community, to which he also belongs, Siddaramaiah said when he was Chief Minister he had ordered a 'Kulashastra Adhyayana' (ethnographic study) about categorising Kurubas into ST category.
"The study is still ongoing.The demands should be made after the study is over.In my opinion, rallies are not needed at this point," he said.
In a show of strength, Kurubas, categorised as Other Backward Castes (OBCs), staged a mammoth rally last Sunday demanding ST tag for the community.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP and RSS were playing politics in the issue to provide reservation to Kurubas, and "their main motive is to divide Kuruba community".
"Why is K S Eshwarappa (a Kuruba and senior minister in the B S Yediyurappa Cabinet) is protesting against his own party? This clearly exposes their motive," Siddaramaiah said.
Reacting to Siddaramaiah's statement, Eshwarappa, the Rural Development and Panchayatraj Minister, sought to know why Siddaramaiah was "opposed to the campaign" by the community.
"We have no objection to the Kulashastra Adhyayana but Siddaramaiah should make it clear why this agitation is not required," Eshwarappa told reporters in the district headquarters town of Shivamogga.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13; body of last missing person recovered
Jabalpur (PTI): The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.
The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.
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All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.
Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.
The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
