K'taka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti to join BJP, meets Amit Shah
Bengaluru (PTI): Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah here, and said he would join the BJP soon.
He is likely to be the BJP's candidate for the upcoming MLC polls from West Teachers' constituency.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, Minister Kota Shrinivas Poojari, who is also the leader of the House in the legislative council, were present during the meeting.
"I will be resigning soon as Chairman of the Legislative Council. After that, a date will be fixed (for joining BJP) and I will be contesting the upcoming polls from BJP. Shah expressed happiness about my decision to join the party and said with people like me joining, it will benefit the party," Horatti said after meeting Shah.
Speaking to reporters, the senior politician said there are some technical issues for him to resign immediately as the Deputy Chairman post remains vacant, and after clearing them, he will resign as Chairman and join the BJP soon.
With this, Horatti, who was elected as MLC seven successive times from 1980, has ended his long association with the JD(S).
Asked about the reason for him to join the BJP by quitting JD(S), Horatti said, "It is nothing but politics...I still have the same affection and good opinion towards the JD(S), but as the voters' preferences and system changes, we too have to take certain decisions suddenly and I have taken it. I had been in JD(S) for a long period..."
To a question on ideological differences in both parties, he said, "Please don't ask about ideology in politics."
Considered to be among the senior-most MLCs, 76-year-old Horatti was seen as a prominent Lingayat face of the JD(S) from north Karnataka.
He had been education minister in the state, and was elected as the Chairman of the Legislative Council in February 2021.
The MLC polls from graduates' and teachers' constituencies are expected in June or July this year.
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Primary accused in 96.6 pc POCSO cases were close acquaintances: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): In 96.6 per cent of 44,126 cases of sexual abuse of minors, close acquaintances have emerged as the primary offenders, according to the latest data released by the NCRB.
In its report 'Crime in India 2024' released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 44,126 total cases have been registered under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act under Sections 4 and 6 which pertain to penetrative sexual assault on minors during the year across the country.
The figures present a grim picture as close acquaintances emerged as primary accused in 42,634 (around 96.6 per cent) of the 44,126 total cases falling in that category, according to the latest NCRB data.
The data shows that family members were involved in 3,658 cases, while family friends, neighbours, employers or other known persons were named in 16,668 cases.
The largest share came from friends, online friends or live-in partners acting on the pretext of marriage, with 22,308 cases.
Cases where the offender was unknown or not identified stood at mere 1,492, or 3.4 per cent of the total.
Among states, Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of POCSO cases at 5,320, followed by Maharashtra at 4,829 and Madhya Pradesh at 3,721. Uttar Pradesh was next with 3,671 cases.
In Union territories, Delhi accounted for the highest number of cases at 1,038, followed by Jammu and Kashmir at 228 and Puducherry at 82. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported 77 cases.
The data also shows that Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Tripura and several Union territories, including Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Ladakh and Puducherry, reported 100 per cent of cases involving known offenders.
