9 Muslim candidates win in Karnataka Assembly polls, all from Congress
New Delhi, May 14: Nine Muslim candidates, all from the Congress, emerged victorious in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka, winning 135 of the 224 Assembly seats. The BJP, which bagged 66 seats, lost the only southern state it was in power.
The consolidation of Muslim votes, which make up nearly 13 per cent of the state's electorate, seems to have worked in favour of the Congress. The party has promised to restore a four per cent quota for Muslims, which the erstwhile BJP government scrapped.
Notably, these were the first Assembly elections in the state since the controversy over hijab and the central government imposed a five-year ban on the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).
The Congress handed over tickets to 15 Muslim candidates and nine of them emerged victorious. The JD(S) fielded 23 Muslim candidates, but none could secure a victory.
Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM contested two seats and secured only 0.02 per cent of the votes polled. The SDPI the political outfit of PFI met a similar fate as none of its 16 candidates could open their accounts.
For the Congress, Rahim Khan won in Bidar by a margin of 10,659 votes; UT Khader Fareed in Mangalore by 22,977 votes; Tanveer Sait in Narasimharaja (Mysuru) by 31,091 votes; Asif (Raju) Sait in Belagavi North by 4,551 votes; Rizwan Arshad in Shivajinagar by 23,198 votes; B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan in Chamrajpet by 53,983 votes; H A Iqbal Hussain in Ramanagaram by 10,846 votes; N A Haris in Shanti Nagar by 7,070 votes; and Kaneez Fatima in Gulbarga North by a margin 2,979 votes.
Fatima the incumbent MLA from the Gulbarga North constituency was the lone Muslim woman candidate fielded by the Congress.
Only two of these nine Muslim candidates Asif (Raju) Sait and Iqbal Hussain have been re-elected. The remaining seven will be going to the Assembly for the first time.
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Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 pm as BJP members protest slogans against PM Modi at Congress rally
New Delhi (PTI): Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Monday amid uproar from Treasury benches over slogans raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a Congress rally in Delhi on Sunday.
Immediately after papers were laid in the Upper House, Leader of the House and Union Minister J P Nadda condemned the Congress for the slogans, saying they reflected the party's thinking.
"With pain and an agitated heart, I want to share before the House that yesterday in the Congress party rally, slogans were shouted 'Modi teri kabr khudegi, aaj nahi to kal khudegi' (Modi's grave will be dug.. if not today, then tomorrow). This type of slogan reflects the Congress party's thinking and mindset," Nadda said.
Describing the slogans as "condemnable," Nadda said Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation.
"Congress has stooped to a low level in politics, and it is unimaginable," he added.
The remarks triggered an uproar in the House, prompting Deputy Chairman Harivansh to adjourn proceedings till 12 noon.
