Somanna, who lost to Siddaramaiah in Karnataka Assembly polls, gets Central berth
Bengaluru, Jun 9: BJP leader V Somanna, who reluctantly and unsuccessfully contested against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Assembly polls a year ago, is now part of the new union council of ministers, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It seems to be a sweet turn of events for Somanna, who was reportedly sulking and there were speculations about him allegedly planning to join the Congress, over being sidelined by the BJP, ahead of 2023 Assembly elections. The veteran leader, however, had denied it.
He won the Tumkur Lok Sabha segment by a margin of 1,75,594 votes, against Congress' S P Muddahanumegowda in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
The Lingayat leader, who started off as member Bruhat Bangaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in 1983-87, has grown politically steadily and has had his stint in all the three key political parties in the state -- Janata Dal (erstwhile), Congress and BJP.
The 73-year-old had served as Housing Minister in the previous BJP government in the state, and had unsuccessfully contested 2023 Assembly polls from Varuna, the home turf of Siddaramaiah, and also in Chamarajanagar against C Puttarangashetty.
Somanna was a staunch follower of the prominent and revered Lingayat pontiff of Siddaganga Math -- late Shivakumara Swami -- who was considered "walking god" by his devotees.
Somanna was born on July 20, 1951, to Veeranna and Kempamma in Doddamaralavadi of Ramanagar district.
He was elected as MLA from Binnypet here on a Janata Dal ticket in 1994, and served as Minister for Prisons and Minister for Bangalore Urban Development from 1996-1999.
In 1999, he was again elected from Binnypet as an independent. In 2004, he entered the Assembly for a third time, this time on a Congress ticket, and shifted to Govindaraj Nagar segment in 2008.
However, he subsequently quit the seat and the party to join the BJP, and was rewarded with a ministership. But he had to resign from the post, as he faced defeat in the by-poll to a Congress candidate.
From 2010-2018, he served as the Member of Karnataka Legislative Council.
Somanna was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Govindraj Nagar, representing the BJP from May 2018 to May 2023.
When the BJP came to power, he served as Minister of Horticulture and Sericulture (2019-20) and as Minister for Housing and Minister for Infrastructure and Development (2021-23).
Somanna, who was sulking over allegedly being sidelined in the party affairs, was reportedly in a dilemma about whether to leave the BJP and join the Congress ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections.
He was asked to shift from his Govindaraj Nagar segment to contest from Varuna against Siddaramaiah along with Chamarajanagar, but lost both seats.
Somanna, who had asked for Chamarajanagar seat, was reluctant to contest in Varuna initially. But he had gained confidence with the momentum of campaigning that saw participation from top BJP leaders.
Somanna had later repeatedly expressed his displeasure and took a veiled dig against the party veteran B S Yediyurappa and the party, when the BJP decided to appoint the latter's son B Y Vijayendra as state president of the party.
He had publicly asked the party to consider him for the state president's post.
Somanna is married to Shailaja and they have three children.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
