“BJP had nothing to do with resignation of 17 disqualified MLAs", says CM BSY
Bengaluru, Nov 4: Distancing himself from the charge that the BJP was behind the resignation of the 17 disqualified MLAs, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday said the party had nothing to do with it and they were free to take whatever steps they wished to do so.
He was reacting to Opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah's allegation that the saffron party was behind engineering the defections of the rebel legislators and destabilising the then coalition Congress-JD(S) government.
Siddaramaiah had demanded that Yediyurappa quit his post, as also party president Amit Shah.
"We have no connection with the resignation of the 17 disqualified MLAs. Further, what they want to do is left to them," Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.
A purported audio clipping of Yediyurappa expressing anguish against leaders at a recent party meeting in Hubballi over their opposition to giving tickets to disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs for the December 5 assembly bypolls in 15 assembly constituencies had surfaced on Friday.
In the audio, he is heard saying that the rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs, who were later disqualified, were kept in Mumbai during the final days of the coalition government under BJP national President Amit Shah's watch.
He had hit out at party leaders for lack of support in "saving" the BJP government and not recognizing their "sacrifice", behind party coming to power.
The Chief Minister alleged that Siddaramaiah had doctored the audio clipping in a bid to create 'confusion' among people.
"Just see to what extent he has gone! He says Union Home Minister Amit Shah too has to resign. He should be ashamed of saying so," the Chief Minister said.
He recalled Siddaramaiah's objectionable remark in Dharmasthala on August 31, apparently directed at the Janata Dal (Secular), his party's ally in the previous coalition government.
Asked why the JD(S) leaders were blaming him for the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, he had used the Kannada adage, literally translating to "Incapable of dancing, a prostitute called the dance floor uneven".
The Congress-JD(S) alliance government collapsed on July 22 after the confidence motion moved by the then-Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was defeated in the state Assembly.
"When you were responsible for their resignation, how suitable it for your stature to level baseless charges against BJP?" asked Yediyurappa.
Challenging the leader of opposition to face the December 5 bypolls to 15 out of 17 seats represented by disqualified MLAs, he said it was entirely upto them to decide what they wished to do.
"Who will give them ticket whether we, you or the JD(S) or will they contest as independent candidates, it is their choice to contest wherever they want to contest.How I am related to it?" Yediyurappa asked.
At Belagavi, Siddaramaiah dismissed the charge that the Congress had doctored the audio clipping and pointed out that the Chief Minister himself had admitted that it was his voice in it.
He demanded to know who were there in the core committee meeting and who recorded the statement.
"Either Nalin Kumar Kateel, Laxman Savadi or Basavaraj Bommai's son might have done it. After recording it, who released it to TV channels? Who brought out the truth? They only released it. Now they are blaming others," Siddaramaiah said.
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India-bound LPG tanker clears Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 tonnes of LPG and staffed by 20 crew, including 18 Indians, cleared the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said.
The cargo -- enough to meet half a days requirement of the country -- will partly tide over supply constraints being faced since the start of the West Asia conflict more than two months back.
Ship-tracking data showed its position in Oman Gulf on Sunday evening.
The very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since a weeks-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to almost zero.
There are as many as 14 Indian flagged or India-owned vessels still stranded on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
India has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal with no congestion reported, the statement added.
