Siddaramaiah is our leader, no need to 'misuse' his name: Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Feb 16 (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday asserted that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the undisputed leader of the Congress party in Karnataka and emphasised that there is no need for anyone to make statements "misusing" his name.
His statement came in response to a section of party leaders, who have been pitching for Siddaramaiah to complete his full term as Chief Minister, stating that his leadership is crucial for the party to retain power in the next election, amid speculations about a potential leadership change in Karnataka later this year.
Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President, is a strong Chief Ministerial aspirant and has time and again made no secret of his ambition to become the CM.
"Siddaramaiah is our Chief Minister, he is our leader, we want him for all the polls. We want him for zilla panchayat, taluk panchayat, assembly and parliament polls. He is our leader," Shivakumar said in response to a question on statements that Siddaramaiah was indispensable to the party if it wanted to retain power in the next election.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Congress party has made Siddaramaiah Chief Minister twice. There is no need for anyone to misuse his name every day. He is our leader, unquestioned leader of the Congress party. He is serving as Chief Minister for the second time and is doing a good job. I don't want him to become food for the media (speculations)."
Asked about statements made by party leaders, Shivakumar said, "there is no confusion, Congress party is observing everything, every day."
This is the second term for Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister from May 2023 after ruling Congress' Assembly polls victory. He had earlier served as the CM for five years from 2013-18.
A section of leaders and Ministers seen as Siddaramaiah’s camp, have been advocating for his continuation in the office, notwithstanding Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s warning last month to colleagues against issuing statements and to focus on governance.
There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the top post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May 2023, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.
There were even reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a "rotational chief minister formula," according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-half years, but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
