Yeddyurappa rules out formation of govt. with JDS support, favours fresh polls
Bengaluru, May 26: Amid speculation that JDS-Congress coalition may collapse following its drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, Karnataka BJP Chief BS Yeddyurappa Sunday said his party favoured fresh assembly elections in such an event, ruling out partnering with the regional party to form a new government.
"Forming a government with JDS help is an impossibility. I have had a distasteful experience of 20-20 rule under Kumaraswamy's chief ministership. I do not want to repeat the mistake again," Yeddyurappa told PTI in an interview here.
The BJP had to withdraw support to the Kumaraswamy led government as the JDS leader refused to step down as per 20-20 power sharing deal in 2007.
Responding to a question, Yeddyurappa said the party is ready for fresh state elections.
"We are ready for fresh assembly elections. There is no option left for our party," he said.
Claiming that the JDS-Congress government has lost people's faith after losing 26 seats in Karnataka's Lok Sabha constituencies, he said despite this the coalition partners have decided to run the government, which was against the verdict of the people.
He also alleged that the coalition partners have buried the hatchet just to remain in power, instead of solving people's problems including, drought and drinking water across the state.
To another query, the senior BJP leader said the party has convened a meeting on June 1 to chart out the next course of action.
Asked if the BJP would welcome Sumalatha Ambareesh, who defeated Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, into the party, Yeddyurappa said if Sumalatha wants to join his party, she was welcome to do so.
"Sumalatha told us that she would talk to the people of Mandya and decide on joining BJP," he added.
The Congress and JDS formed a coalition government in the state after the May 2018 assembly elections threw up a hung verdict.
Congress and JD(S) ended up winning only one seat each in the Lok Sabha elections dealing a blow to the one-year-old coalition.
JDS patriarch H D Deve Gowda and Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil lost in Tumkur and Mandya respectively.
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Explosive device kills 13, injures 38 on bus in southwestern Colombia as violence persists
Bogota (Colombia) (PTI): An explosive device killed 13 people travelling on a bus in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, an attack the country's army chief described as a “terrorist act" that also left at least 38 injured as violence linked to drug trafficking in the region escalates.
Octavio Guzman, the governor of the region of Cauca, said on X that the device was set off while the bus was travelling along the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. Five children were among the injured, Cauca Health Secretary Carolina Camargo told Noticias Caracol, a TV news program.
Gen. Hugo Lopez, commander of Colombia's Armed Forces, told a news conference that it was a “terrorist act" and blamed the network of a man known as “Ivan Mordisco” — one of Colombia's most wanted figures — and the Jaime Martínez faction. Both are dissidents of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that operate in the region.
Neither Ivan Mordisco nor the Jaime Martínez faction abide by the peace agreement signed with the state in 2016.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on X.
“Those who carried out the attack and killed seven civilians — and wounded 17 others — in Cajibío — many of them Indigenous people — are terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers,” he wrote.
The attack is the latest in a spate of explosions that have attempted to target public infrastructure. At least 26 incidents have taken place in the past two days in southwestern Colombia, which Lopez said have only affected civilians.
They included a shooting at a police station in the rural area of Jamundi, and an attack on a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo, where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones earlier on Saturday. No one was hurt.
On Friday, two vehicles rigged with explosives were detonated near military units in Cali and Palmira, causing material damage.
The escalation of violence in that region — a territory contested by illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking — prompted the mobilisation of high-ranking officials on Saturday. Led by Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez, the delegation that includes regional governors and local authorities, was meeting in Palmira when the deadly explosion occurred.
“These criminals seek to instil fear, but we will respond with firmness,” Sanchez said on X.
Meanwhile, Francisca Toro, governor of Valle del Cauca, has called upon the national government to provide “immediate support.” In a message on X, Toro called for a reinforcement of public security forces, enhanced intelligence operations and “decisive actions” against crime in the face of a “terrorist-level escalation.”
According to authorities, Cauca and Valle del Cauca serve as a critical hub for illicit activities of illegal armed groups vying for control over sea and river access routes leading to the port of Buenaventura — a key transit point used to traffic drugs to Central America and Europe.
The government has also offered a reward of more than 1 million dollars for information leading to the capture of “Marlon,” who is identified as the leader of the region's dissident group. On Friday, local authorities offered more than USD 14,000 for information leading to the identification and location of those behind the attacks in Cali and Palmira.
