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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Two more Hindu priests arrested in Bangladesh: ISKCON Kolkata
Kolkata, Nov 30: Two more Hindu priests were arrested in Bangladesh, ISKCON Kolkata spokesperson Radharamn Das claimed on Saturday.
Speaking to PTI, Radharamn said, "I have received information that two more ISKCON monks have been arrested by police in Bangladesh."
In a post on X on Friday night, Radharamn said, "In the meantime, bad news has come: two devotees who went with prasad for Chinmaya Prabhu were arrested on their way back to the temple, and Chinmaya prabhu's secretary is also missing. Please pray for them."
Earlier on Friday, Radharamn had posted, "Another Brahmachari, Sri Shyam Das Prabhu, was arrested by Chattogram Police today."
"Does he look like a terrorist? #FreeISKCONMonks Bangladesh. The arrest of innocent #ISKCON brahmacharis are deeply shocking & disturbing," Radharamn posted on X on Saturday. His comments comes comes in the backdrop of unconfirmed reports of arrest of three more ISKCON monks, days after the arrest of spiritual leader Chinmay Das.
Chinmay Das, who also served as a spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday while en route to Chattogram to attend a rally. He was denied bail and sent to jail on Tuesday by the Chattogram Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Historically, Hindus made up approximately 22 per cent of Bangladesh's population during the 1971 Liberation War.
The Hindu population, once a substantial demographic in Bangladesh, has experienced a significant decline in recent decades, with the minority community now comprising only around 8 per cent of the country's total population.
This drop is largely attributed to a combination of socio-political marginalisation, exodus and sporadic violence over the years.
In the meantime, bad news has come: two devotees who went with prasad for Chinmaya Prabhu were arrested on their way back to the temple, and Chinmaya prabhu's secretary is also missing. Please pray for them. #Bangladesh #ISKCON pic.twitter.com/NLX8hNZmpN
— Radharamn Das राधारमण दास (@RadharamnDas) November 29, 2024
Does he look like a terrorist?#FreeISKCONMonks Bangladesh. The arrest of innocent #ISKCON brahmacharis are deeply shocking & disturbing. pic.twitter.com/VG6u7jlnXB
— Radharamn Das राधारमण दास (@RadharamnDas) November 30, 2024
