Pragya Thakur's co-accused condemns Karkare remarks, but to back poll bid
Pune, Apr 21: A co-accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case Sunday denounced BJP Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur's comments against former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare but added that he would still campaign for her to defeat the Congress' Digvijaya Singh there.
Sameer Kulkarni, a Malegaon blast accused out on bail currently, addressed a press conference here and stressed that no one had the right to make such remarks against Karkare who laid down his life fighting terrorists.
"Not only Sadhvi (Thakur), no one has the right to make such remarks. Because making such remarks against bravehearts is sheer ingratitude towards their supreme sacrifices," Kulkarni said.
However, taking a stand supporting Thakur, he added, "While in custody for several years in the blast case, we, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, were subjected to unlimited torture. It is possible Sadhvi made that statement out of anguish."
"However, realising her mistake, she apologised," he said, adding that her statement should not be politicised.
Informing that he would be campaigning for Thakur in Bhopal, Kulkarni said, "Sadhvi is not a politician but she is fighting against adharma. She is fighting against Digvijaya Singh and to defeat Singh, we would go there (to campaign)," he said.
He accused the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party of being "anti-Hindu" and said the two parties had made them (blast accused) "scapegoats" in 2008.
"The NCP and Congress came to power on the basis of majority Hindu votes. Senior leaders Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and NCP president Sharad Pawar have taken an anti-Hindu stand from time to time," Kulkarni alleged.
"The Congress and NCP created a fake narrative about Hindu terrorism and put several innocent Hindus behind bars by implicating them in false cases. But it was because of the judiciary and a few honest police officers that several people like us got bail," he said.
Kulkarni got bail in the Malegaon blast case in 2017.
Thakur, an accused in the case who is out on bail, is under fire for saying that Karkare died in the 26/11 terror attack because she had cursed him for `torturing' her when he probed the Malegaon blast as chief of the ATS.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
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Siddaramaiah will continue as CM, says DCM DK Shivakumar
Raichur (Karnataka), Oct 8: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday once again ruled out the possibility of replacing the chief minister, as he asserted that the incumbent Siddaramaiah would continue in the post.
His comments have come in the wake of demands by opposition parties for Siddaramaiah's resignation, and behind-the-scenes political activities within the ruling Congress, following charges against the chief minister in the MUDA site allotment case.
"There is no need for anyone from Congress to discuss or hold meetings. The chief minister has nothing to do with it (case). Investigation is on in accordance with law. Let's see later. Why unnecessarily discuss things now? It has nothing to do with it now," Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar was responding to senior Congress leader and former Speaker K B Koliwad's statement that Prime Minister Narendera Modi "going to villages" and raising MUDA issue during the Haryana poll campaign had affected the party's prospects there.
Koliwad had earlier too said that Siddaramaiah should resign over the MUDA 'scam' keeping the party's interests in mind and to avert further embarrassment, adding that he could become the CM again after coming out clean.
Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, ruling out the chief minister's resignation, said: "there won't be any change."
Asked about the alleged "2.5 years agreement" between him and Siddaramaiah for CM post, Shivakumar said, "that is a different matter, our government will be there, also CM will be there."
There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, a powerful leader from the politically influential Vokkaliga community, for the chief minister's post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May last year, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.
There were some 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.
Later speaking to reporters in Hubballi, Shivakumar, in response to a question that some Congress leaders were lobbying the Congress central leadership for CM post in Delhi, said, "no lobby or declaration."
Asked about Minister Satish Jarkiholi being hailed as the next CM by his supporters, he said, "I don't know about it, you ask him. Our Chief Minister is Siddaramaiah. We are working under him, and will continue to do so."
To a question about him becoming CM, he said, "now Siddaramaiah is there (as CM)."
Siddaramaiah is facing the Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Siddaramaiah's wife, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others are named as other accused in the case by Lokayukta.
Commenting on the poll results in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, Shivakumar said the Congress was confident that voters would vote for the party with an absolute majority, but the results have come against the belief in Haryana. However, in Jammu and Kashmir the results have come in favour of INDI Alliance as expected, and "people have saved democracy."
The party will look into what went against it in Haryana, he said. "It's a lesson for us, and, accordingly, the party will take further steps cautiously, keeping the verdict of the people in mind..."
