Yediyurappa makes pitch for 'Congress-mukt Karnataka'
Bengaluru: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday pitched for 'Congress-mukt Karnataka' to realise the BJP's national dream of 'Congress-mukt Bharat'.
"If we have to make 'Congress-mukt Bharat' then it should be 'Congress Mukt Karnataka' first. It should begin from here," he said addressing an election rally at Kamalapur In Vijayanagar Assembly constituency from where Anand Singh is contesting on a BJP ticket.
A party hopper, Singh was previously elected on a Congress ticket and was the among the MLAs to resign from the Assembly rebelling against his party.
He was among the 17 Congress-JDS MLAs who were disqualified by the then speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in July.
After the Supreme Court allowed the disqualified MLAs to contest the December 5 bypolls, Anand Singh joined the BJP again and is contesting on the party ticket from Vijayanagar.
Yediyurappa said he "never knew in his life what lies are" but people did not trust him when he said BJP would win at least 22 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.
"I never knew in my life what lies are. When I said that we will win 22 Lok Sabha seats, people mocked at us but we actually won 25 seats. Congress and the JD(S), the (then) ruling coalition could win only one seat each," he said.
Speaking about the "pathetic" performance of the previous ruling coalition of Congress and JD(S), Yediyurappa said the two parties could hardly register their presence in the Lok Sabha election.
Ridiculing Congress, Yediyurappa said, "Congress doesn't even have the required number of MPs in the Lok Sabha to be called the principal opposition party. This is the condition of Congress today."
Heaping praise on Singh, Yediyurappa said he was the first among the 17 MLAs who had resigned from the Assembly. Till then, he had no clue that the BJP would form a government in Karnataka.
"It was Anand Singh who resigned first and later others too joined him. He was discontent with the lack of development and hence he decided not to stay in the Congress for long," the Chief Minister said.
Yediyurappa asked the people to ensure Singh's victory so that he becomes a minister in the BJP government and helps the government develop the area as a model constituency.
Bypolls are scheduled to be held in 15 Assembly constituencies on December 5.
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 says Islamic State group leader was killed in joint US-Nigerian mission
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump said US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Nigeria in a mission carried out Friday.
Trump announced the joint operation in a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second in command of the Islamic State group globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
The US viewed Al-Mainuki as the key figure in IS organising and finance, and believed he was plotting attacks against the United States and its interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to share sensitive information.
Born in Nigeria's Borno province in 1982, al-Mainuki took the helm of the IS branch in West Africa after the group's previous leader in the region, Mamman Nur, was killed in 2018, according to the Counter Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.
Al-Mainuki was based in the Sahel area, the monitoring group said, adding that it is believed that he fought in Libya when IS was active in the North African nation more than a decade ago. He was sanctioned by the US in 2023.
Trump in December directed US forces to launch strikes against the Islamic State group in Nigeria, though he released little detail then about the impact.
Nigeria has been battling multiple armed groups, including at least two affiliated with IS.
The Friday night operation was the latest instance in a string of covert missions abroad that Trump has announced this year, starting with the stunning overnight raid in January to capture and remove Venezuela's then-leader Nicolás Maduro and whisk him to the US, followed nearly two months later by the launch of strikes that kicked off the war with Iran.
