BJP is a 'sinking ship' in Karnataka, Congress a united force: Randeep Surjewala
New Delhi, Apr 4: Terming the BJP as a 'sinking ship' in Karnataka which even Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot save, Congress leaders on Tuesday said their party is "united" in the southern state and will ensure the "40 percent commission" government is ousted.
AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also dismissed reports claiming that the latter had pushed his case as a contender for the top post and said his statements to a channel were "misinterpreted".
They said Siddaramaiah had never claimed that he would be the chief minister and had only stated that he is a contender and that the party high command would decide after consulting the elected MLAs on who the leader would be.
Siddaramaiah and PCC president D K Shivakumar were in the national capital to attend the party's central election committee meeting here on Tuesday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi were present during the meeting, where the leadership discussed the allocation of tickets for the remaining 100 seats.
The Congress was the first to declare 124 candidates for the May 10 election to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.
Surjewala told reporters that the screening committee and the Central Election Committee again met on Tuesday and discussed the probable candidates for the remaining seats and would declare some more seats by the late evening.
He stressed that the leaders were unanimous while deciding on the party candidates for the upcoming elections.
"The '40 percent Commission BJP Sarkara' in Karnataka has floundered and failed. The so-called 'double engine Sarkara' is a double-betrayal for Karnataka. Modi government betrays Karnataka on one hand and the Bommai government brazenly loots Karnataka on the other hand," he alleged.
"The way in which the BJP leaders are leaving the party in Karnataka in hordes, as over 10 MLAs have left expressing no confidence in the Bommai government, it (BJP) is a sinking ship which is on a nosedive and neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor the corrupt BJP government can save it anymore," Surjewala told reporters.
He also claimed that the Congress stood firmly united while the BJP is running scared.
He alleged that while Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai "is not being respected anymore, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa is being insulted everyday".
Siddaramaiah said he had given an interview to a TV channel which misinterpreted it. He claimed that he never said that he will be the chief minister.
"I said in the interview that I am also an aspirant for the chief minister's post and, likewise, D K Shivakumar is also an aspirant for the chief minister's post. The aim of both of us is to defeat BJP and to bring back the Congress party to power," he said
"My statement in the interview is misinterpreted. What I said was I am an aspirant and Shivakumar is an aspirant and there is nothing wrong in being an aspirant," he said,
Ultimately, the newly-elected MLAs will have to elect the leader of the legislature party after the election, not now, and ultimately, the high command has to take a decision, he said.
Siddaramaiah claimed that there is a strong anti-incumbency against the BJP. He said the "state has never had such a corrupt government".
Shivakumar also said their purpose is to jointly remove the 'corrupt' BJP government from power in the state.
Meanwhile, hitting out at Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Bommai said they are fighting for the chief minister's post and their main focus is power and not the welfare of the people.
"People who have to decide (whom to elect), don't have both (leaders) in mind... Both are dreaming about the chief minister's seat, but it will not come true," Chief Minister Bommai said.
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SC refuses urgent listing of plea for FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma in cash row
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to list for urgent hearing a plea seeking the registration of an FIR against the Allahabad High Court's Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the cash discovery row.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih asked lawyer and petitioner Mathews Nedumpara to follow the mentioning procedure.
"Please go through the mentioning procedure," the CJI said.
Former CJI Sanjiv Khanna had said no to oral mentioning for urgent listing and hearing of cases and said that the lawyers or the litigants will have to write an email and move the apex court registry first.
After an in-house inquiry panel indicted the judge, the former CJI had nudged Justice Varma to resign. The ex-CJI wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Justice Varma refused to resign.
The petition, filed by Nedumpara and three others, called for immediate initiation of criminal proceedings, saying the in-house committee found the allegations against Justice Varma to be prima facie true.
The plea emphasised that while the internal inquiry might lead to judicial disciplinary action, it was no substitute for a criminal investigation under the applicable statutes.
In March, the same petitioners had approached the apex court, challenging the in-house inquiry and demanding a formal police investigation.
However, the top court had then dismissed the plea as premature, citing the pending nature of the internal proceedings.
With the inquiry now concluded, the petitioners asserted that a delay in criminal action was no longer tenable.
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