Mangaluru(PTI): All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the party would welcome anyone who accepts its ideology and follows the party leadership.

Addressing reporters here, he said he could not predict what would happen in future in politics.

"I don't have prophecies and we have not taken anyone to the party by checking their blood," he said on the statement by BJP leader K S Eshwarappa that Jagadish Shettar would return to the BJP. "If they accept our ideology, they are welcome," he said.

On Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's remark that Lingayats' support would add to the BJP's tally, Kharge said it showed that the government under him had not done any work on the field. "It is clear that the BJP has not done any developmental work. He is not claiming that the BJP will come to power on the basis of their work."

Kharge said the BJP was obviously not in a winning position and were making statements out of frustration. "Political parties should work on their ideologies. If any party fights elections on the basis of caste or religion, it is not good for the country as well as for democracy," he said.

Kharge is on a two-day tour of the coastal districts of Karnataka as part of the campaign for the May 10 elections.

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.



Srinagar (PTI): Property worth Rs 1 crore belonging to a notorious drug peddler was on Saturday attached in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, police said.

A double-storey house on eight marlas of land situated at Wantpora Eidgah, belonging to Basit Bilal Dar, a notorious drug peddler, valued at approximately Rs 1 crore, a police spokesperson said.

He said Dar is involved in two cases registered under various sections of the NDPS Act.

During investigation, it was established that the accused had acquired the said property through illicit proceeds generated from drug trafficking activities, the spokesperson said.

Consequently, the property was attached under the provisions of the NDPS Act. The attachment proceedings were conducted in the presence of the two independent witnesses, strictly in accordance with the prescribed legal procedures, he said.

As per the attachment order, the owner has been restrained from selling, leasing, transferring, altering, or creating any third-party interest in the property till further orders, the spokesperson added.