BJP does not know anything other than 'Operation' to come to power: CM Siddaramaiah
Vijayapura (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the BJP does not know anything other than 'Operation' to come to power.
Taking a dig at former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and BJP state president B Y Vijayendra's statements that many Congress leaders will join the saffron party, the Chief Minister alleged the BJP knows how to buy MLAs by paying them money.
"They (BJP) don't know anything other than 'Operation'. You know the meaning of Operation? It means buying people by paying them money. They cannot come to power by winning the trust of voters. They just pay money (to the public representatives) and buy them," Siddaramaiah said.
Shettar recently returned to the BJP after spending less than a year in the Congress. The staunch RSS man had joined the Congress party when the BJP denied him a ticket in the Assembly elections last year.
The Chief Minister alleged that the BJP came to power twice in the past through 'Operation Lotus' when B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai were the chief ministers.
According to him, the BJP in Karnataka has been coming to power through 'Operation' since 2008.
"When did the BJP get a full majority in the state? Did they ever win with absolute majority, be it in 2008, 2013 or 2018? Never. The Congress, on the other hand, won with a majority in 2013 and 2023. The Congress comes to power with people's mandate. They (BJP) come to power through 'Operation'," the Chief Minister alleged.
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Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment
Kolkata (PTI): The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata.
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"We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.
"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.
Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.
According to family members, he mostly stays in Kolkata for work and visits home occasionally during weekends.
Besides his parents, his younger brother, sister-in-law and several relatives have also travelled to Kolkata following the incident.
Demanding strict action against the perpetrators, the uncle said, "We want the government to conduct a proper investigation and identify those directly involved in the crime. They should be given exemplary punishment so that such incidents do not happen again in West Bengal and no other family has to go through this grief."
A neighbour, Ranjana Ghorai, also sought stringent punishment for those behind the attack.
"In our neighbourhood, we call him Sona. We want exemplary punishment for the people responsible for this incident," she said.
Rath's family members have demanded life imprisonment for the accused, while Adhikari has called for capital punishment for those involved in the killing.
