Search conducted in hotels occupied by Congress, JDS leaders
Bengaluru, May 14: An election commission squad, along with income tax and enforcement directorate sleuths, Tuesday carried out searches in two hotels at Hubballi where State minister D K Shivakumar and some Congress and JD(S) leaders were staying.
The sleuths seized from the rooms in the hotels gold utensils and other materials allegedly meant for bribing voters.
The raids were carried out in connection with the bypoll in Kundgol seat which fell vacant following the death of sitting MLA C S Shivalli a few months ago.
According to government sources, the squad carried out searches at the two hotels.
While the search in one hotel was wound up soon, the search in the other lasted longer, Congress party sources said.
Karnataka water resources minister D K Shivakumar (Congress) was staying at one of the hotels when the raid took place.
Speaking to PTI, the minister said, The I-T officials had carried out searches in my room as well as in rooms of other congress cadre."
The raids were meant to curb election related malpractices, government sources said.
Two assembly constituencies in Karnataka Chincholi and Kundgol are going to poll on May 19 and the counting would take place simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.
The team seized gold utensils, party caps and photograph of former MLA of Kundgol C S Shivalli, whose widow Kusumavathi is contesting election, from a room where congress worker Shivakumar Chandrashekhar Gokavi was staying, government sources said.
Subsequently, a police complaint was lodged against Gokavi about the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, they said.
Chincholi is going for by polls as the sitting Congress MLA Dr Umesh Jadhav resigned from the assembly to join BJP and contest the Lok Sabha election from Gulbarga on BJP ticket against Congress stalwart Mallikarjun Kharge.
The BJP has given ticket to Jadhav's son Avinash to contest from Chincholi who would have a direct fight with Congress candidate Subhash Rathod.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump rushed out of dinner event after shots fired; one arrested
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump and other top White House officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of White House correspondents after a man armed with multiple weapons fired shots outside the ballroom of the hotel.
The incident took place at around 8:34 PM local time when dinner was served. At that time, Trump was seen having a conversation with Weijia Jiang, the President of the White House Correspondents' Association, and mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was scheduled to present a show at the marquee event at the Washington Hilton here.
Secret Service officials and other security personnel covered the President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J D Vance, and the Second Lady Usha Vance, who were seated at the head table, and escorted them out of the ballroom.
Several guests at the dinner, including leaders across the political spectrum, journalists and other invitees, ducked under the table, apparently as a reflex reaction.
Putting up a brave face, President Trump later announced on Truth Social that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom is all that I heard, and many guests ducked under the table,” a C-SPAN reporter at the dinner said.
Hours later, Trump addressed a press conference at the White House and announced that the security personnel had captured one person who hails from California.
“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times. It was a pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away. He (the attacker) hadn't reached the area at all. They really got him,” Trump told reporters, recalling the incident.
Trump said one security officer was shot at but saved as he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Several protestors had lined up on the road outside the hotel, raising slogans against the Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A CNN reporter who was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton said he saw a gunman opening fire just a few feet away. He was among the dozens of attendees who took cover as law enforcement swarmed the venue.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California.
Asked how Saturday’s incident impacts him as the US president, Trump told reporters he is in a dangerous job but that he is no “basket case.”
“I like not to think about it. I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I handle it as well as it can be handled,” Trump said.
Trump has survived two assassination attempts over the past two years – first at a presidential election campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and later in Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024.
“I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals, and progressives...everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd,” he said.
“We had some great work done by law enforcement, but in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” Trump said.
