PM Modi to kickstart BJP LS poll campaign from Cong President Kharge's home turf in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Karnataka by addressing a public meeting in Kalaburagi on March 16, the party's state general secretary V Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday.
Kalaburagi is the home district of AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from there in 2009 and 2014 but lost to BJP's Umesh Jadhav in the last general elections.
The Congress is likely to field the 81-year-old Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani this time, according to party sources.
Modi will also address a public gathering in Shivamogga on March 18, Sunil Kumar told reporters at the BJP state headquarters here. "The public meeting will be held at NV Playground on March 16 at Kalaburagi. The event in Shivamogga will take place at Allamaprabhu Ground on March 18."
Karnataka is the most important State for the BJP in south India as it's only here that it had held power in the past.
The BJP swept the previous Lok Sabha elections bagging 25 seats out of the total 28 in the State, while an independent backed by the party also won.
The Congress and the JD(S) headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who were running a coalition government back then and fought the elections together, came a cropper winning a seat each.
But the political landscape has changed significantly since then. The Congress scored a landslide victory in the May Assembly polls, winning 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly. The BJP and JD(S) slumped to 66 and 19 seats, respectively.
The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA last September and the two parties are fighting the elections together.
Sunil Kumar said BJP president J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with other national leaders will visit different Lok Sabha constituencies and address public gatherings in the coming weeks.
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NIA court to complete framing of charges against 2010 hand-chopping case accused on May 15
Kochi (PTI): A special court here will complete proceedings for framing charges against the prime accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case involving professor T J Joseph, in which PFI activists were accused of attacking him at Muvattupuzha.
Ernakulam Special Court for NIA cases judge P K Mohandas, on April 30, heard the arguments of counsel for accused Savad and Shafeer C and decided to proceed with framing charges against the duo.
A group chopped off Thodupuzha Newman College professor Joseph's right hand in July 2010, accusing him of religious blasphemy in a question paper he had prepared.
The case, later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), resulted in the conviction of 19 accused.
The first accused, Savad, who allegedly chopped off Joseph’s palm, was arrested in Berram in Mattannur, Kannur, in January 2024, where he had allegedly been hiding under the pseudonym Shajahan.
The NIA also arrested Shafeer, who allegedly arranged shelter and provided logistical support to Savad at Chakkad and Mattannur in Kannur since 2020.
On April 30, the court heard the counsel for the accused and the NIA prosecutor on framing charges against the duo.
"On going through the documents and evidence in the case and on hearing the counsel for the accused and the prosecutor, I am of the opinion that there are grounds for presuming that the first accused has committed offences punishable under provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and that the second accused has committed offences punishable under the IPC and the UAPA, and there are materials for framing charges under these provisions against the accused," the court said.
The court directed that Savad be produced and Shafeer, who is on bail, appear before it on May 15 for recording their pleas as part of the charge-framing process.
After framing the charges, the court will schedule the trial in the case.
