JD(S) will not contest upcoming by-polls in Karnataka: H D Deve Gowda
Raichur: JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday said his party will not contest by-elections for Belgaum Lok Sabha segment, and Basavakalyan, Sindgi and Maski Assembly seats.
The by-poll schedule is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.
"JD(S) will not field its candidates for bypolls to Belgaum Lok Sabha and Basavakalyan, Sindgi and Maski Assembly seats. We don't have money to fight these elections," Gowda was quoted as saying to reporters by his office in a release.
The former Prime Minister said he will completely involve himself towards organizing or building the party for 2023 assembly polls.
"... I will put all my efforts to save and build the regional party, with the support of leaders and workers," he said.
While by-polls to Belgaum Lok Sabha and Basavakalyan Assembly seats are necessitated following the death of Union Minister Suresh Angadi and MLA B Narayan Rao respectively due to COVID-19 in September last year, Maski seat fell vacant following the disqualification of MLA Prathapagouda Patil.
Patil had won the Maski assembly seat in 2018 from Congress and is now with the BJP.
Sindagi MLA and senior JD(S) leader M C Managuli's death last month, due to age related ailments, has necessitated the by-polls there.
With an aim to win these seats, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have already begun the process of shortlisting the candidates, party sources said.
Noting that BJP will face a setback in elections to four states this year, Gowda said according to him the saffron party will not get much seats in Tamil Nadu, and lauded the "courage" of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"Despite getting less votes, Mamata may retain power...
the whole BJP team is camping in West Bengal.
Legislators and Ministers quitting the party may cause a setback to TMC to an extent, butMamata Banerjee will become CM (of West Bengal) for the third time," he added.
The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry end on different dates in May and June and the elections are likely to take place in April.
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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.
