Ramangara (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday hinted at cracks and squabbling within the BJP and the JD(S), as he gave credit to the leaders of these parties for the defeat of JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Channapatna assembly bypoll.

Congress candidate C P Yogeeshwara won in Channapatna bypoll with a margin of 25,413 votes against his nearest rival and NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, as results were announced on Saturday.

The Congress party swept all the three assembly constituencies in Karnataka, namely Channapatna, Sandur and Shiggaon, which went for bypolls.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy is the son of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy and grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. In September last year, JD(S) joined the NDA led by BJP.

“Many people from across the parties have helped us in this election (Channapatna). Congress had only 16,000 votes in the previous assembly election. It increased in the Lok Sabha election,” Shivakumar told reporters here.

According to him, many people from the JD(S) and the BJP supported the Congress. “If the BJP and the JD(S) leaders had not supported us directly or indirectly, we wouldn’t have got so many votes. I congratulate them,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state president, said.

He quipped that the JD(S), which had 19 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, has now reduced to 18.

Hailing the electorate, the Deputy CM said this was people’s verdict in favour of C P Yogeeshwara to develop Channapatna constituency.

There was no immediate reaction from the BJP or the JD(S) on it.

 

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Dehradun (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday filed a police complaint here against the alleged misinformation campaign being carried out against him by BJP on social media.

Rawat, who reached the Nehru Colony police station with his supporters, handed over a written complaint along with a pen drive and other evidence to the police.

Based on this, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and relevant sections of law.

After filing the FIR, Rawat alleged that the police took four hours to register his complaint. He added that if it takes so long for a former CM to file an FIR, one can easily imagine the plight of a common man.

"Finally, after four hours, the police registered the FIR with trembling hands. Their hands were trembling because we have accused the BJP president and his associates, with factual evidence, of misusing AI to tarnish our and our party's image and trying to disrupt social harmony by targeting a particular community," Rawat said.

He expressed hope that after the registration of the FIR, the police would bring the culprits to justice.

Rawat also said, "Just imagine, if the police take so much time to register an FIR of a former CM, what will be the condition of a common man in this state?"

Later, he also handed over a copy of the FIR to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun and the SSP of the Special Task Force. Rawat also said that he would meet the District Magistrate of Dehradun and the State Election Officer with his complaint on Wednesday.

Recently, an AI-generated reel was uploaded on the official social media page of the BJP, which portrayed Rawat as a supporter of appeasement.

In the reel, a Congress leader is heard saying, "I take refuge in Muslims, I take refuge in dargahs (shrines), I take refuge in love jihad." The subsequent images show the construction of a dargah and some people smiling and talking about turning Devbhoomi (the land of gods) into a land of dargahs.

At the end of the reel, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is seen walking with police forces and bulldozers.

Rawat also claimed that another AI-generated video was uploaded from a 'fake' BJP platform, depicting him as a 'traitorous Pakistani agent' engaged in espionage. However, the BJP has denied any connection to this video.