Deve Gowda has this to say regarding Sumalatha's election plans
Mangaluru: JDS National President and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Sunday held a press conference at the MLC office here during his visit to the city. He told reporters that the party has sought 12 out of 28 seats of the state from Congress but it is not the final demand and there can be room for relaxation.
“Leaders from both the parties will meet in Delhi and discuss the seat sharing. We have sought 12 seats but that doesn’t mean it is our final demand. There will be discussions and negotiations. There is no confusion in the coalition and seat sharing and we will not allow dissent as well” he said.
Speaking about Sumalatha Ambareesh contesting from Mandya, he added “Sumalatha demanding to contest from Mandya is natural. But JDS dominance has increased in Mandya and Hassan and I think Congress leaders understand this. From where I contest is not important I haven’t made a decision as yet”.
“Party workers and activists from Chikkaballapur are urging me to contest from their constituency, but not decision has been made yet. MP Veerappa Moily has indicated that they will give us 10 out of 28 seats, so we will see which seats they give us. Based on that decisions on candidates will be made” he added.
“People of Mandya and Hassan also want Nikhil and Prajwal to contest from their respective constituencies. We also need to understand the feelings of people while deciding the candidate” he further added.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ (Congress free India) is meaningless and has no vision. We don’t need to learn about patriotism from Narendra Modi. People now understand what Modi has done for the country in last five years” Deve Gowda added while taking a dig at Modi.
After the press conference Deve Gowda handed over the salary of MLC BM Farooq to the poor families and also felicitated the newly appointed Grand Mufti AP Ustad.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
