Prominent Lingayat seer announces decision to contest against Union Minister Pralhad Joshi
Bengaluru (PTI): Fakira Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakkireshwar Math, a prominent Veerashaiva Lingayat seer, on Monday said he has decided to contest as an independent candidate from Dharwad segment in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Repeatedly targeting BJP's candidate from the segment and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, he accused him of "suppressing" Veerashaiva-Lingayat and other communities, and also misusing of the Lingayat maths and causing disrespect to them to stay in power.
"I'm announcing my candidature as an independent candidate from the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency. As you are aware the national parties have announced their candidates and people in the Dharwad constituency and nearby segments feel that both parties have entered into election fixing like match fixing," Dingaleshwar Swami alleged.
Responding to the Swami's decision, Joshi said: "There is no reaction to Dingaleshwar Swami...Whatever he says it is blessings for me."
The seer also accused Congress of neglecting Lingayats after coming to power, and not giving suitable positions to leaders of calibre from the community.
Speaking to reporters here, he accused both national parties of having betrayed the people of the Dharwad constituency.
"While the two parties have fielded their candidates, voters of Dharwad have decided to field me as their candidate. This is a 'Dharma Yuddha' declared by those who value their dignity and 'Kaavidhaaris', against two national parties and selfish politicians," the swami said, adding, he is entering politics to create political awareness among people.
"There should be no politics in 'Dharma' and there should be 'Dharma' in politics -- is the desire of the people, and I will continue this even after the polls," he said, adding that his "Dharma Yuddha" will continue till the end of his life in favour of oppressed communities and their leaders.
A few seers in the Dharwad region, especially those from Lingayat community, met in Hubballi on March 27 under the leadership of Dingaleshwar Swami and asked BJP central leadership to change the party's Dharwad Lok Sabha candidate Prahlad Joshi. They had given the party time till March 31 to decide.
At that meeting it was decided that "like in the north", Swamijis in the south too should work in the political field and contest elections.
Lingayats are said to be the majority among voters in the Dharwad segment, while Joshi, a four-time MP, is a Brahmin.
Targeting Joshi, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, the seer alleged on Monday: "in oppressing leaders from other communities, Joshi is a hero, but when it comes to development, he is zero, and this is among the reasons for me to contest the election."
He asked as to what Joshi has done during his 20 years tenure as MP, to the constituency and the state.
Joshi on his part has been maintaining that he will consider the seer's comments as a blessing and will try to clarify the misunderstandings, if any, in the days ahead, while veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, a Lingayat stalwart, has categorically said there is no question of replacing Joshi.
To a question about his well wishers and supporters targeting the seer, Joshi said: "I have no comments, social media is an open platform and people there comment in our favour, also against us. I'm a party candidate, I will not comment on such things."
Karnataka goes to Lok Sabha polls in two phases and voting will be held for Dharwad in the second phase on May 7.
Claiming that BJP did not give tickets to various communities like Kuruba, Reddy, Ambigas and Lambanis, the Swami pointed out that veteran BJP leader K S Eshwarappa's son K E Kantesh too was denied ticket from Haveri, and he was "betrayed". "I had warned Eshwarappa not to trust Joshi."
He alleged that BJP denied opportunity to leaders from several big communities to contest, but has given three tickets to those from the community that has very less population (Brahmins -- Pralhad Joshi, Tejasvi Surya -Bangalore South, and Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri-Uttara Kannada), and asked: "where is social justice?"
However, claiming that he was not anti-Brahmin, he also said that several people from Joshi's community have contacted him, extending their support.
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2 LPG tankers sail through Strait of Hormuz, 16 still stranded
New Delhi (PTI): Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers have safely crossed the war-hit Strait of Hormuz and are headed for Indian ports even as 16 other vessels remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, officials said Monday.
LPG vessel Green Sanvi carrying 46,650 tonnes of LPG is scheduled to reach Indian port on April 7 while Green Asha with 15,500 tonnes of cargo is scheduled to touch Indian coast on April 9, said Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary in Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways at a news briefing.
"Indian maritime operations remain safe and uninterrupted amid West Asia crisis. 16 Indian-flagged vessels with 433 seafarers are in the region; two LPG carriers, Green Sanvi and Green Asha, safely crossed Strait of Hormuz," he said.
With this, eight Indian-flagged LPG tankers have safely transited through the strategic waterway, which has remained effectively shut since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28 and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
Of the vessels still stuck in the Persian Gulf, one is of a loaded liquefied natural gas (LNG), two are LPG tankers (one loaded and one empty), six are crude carriers (five loaded, one empty), three are container ships, one is a dredger, one is carrying chemical cargo and two are bulk carriers, he said.
Asked about reports of Iran charging a fee for letting ships cross the strait, Mangal said, "we have no information of such payments."
For a country that relies on imports from Gulf nations to meet as much as 60 per cent of its cooking gas needs, the arrivals will help ease the worst LPG shortage it is battling in decades. India consumed 33.15 million tonne of LPG last year, with imports accounting for about 60 per cent of demand. As much as 90 per cent of those imports came from West Asia.
The US-Israel attacks on Iran, and Tehran's sweeping retaliation have all but halted shipping through the strait - the narrow shipping lane that is the conduit for oil and gas exports from Gulf countries to the world. Iran has, however, stated that "non-hostile vessels" may transit the waterway after coordinating with Iranian authorities.
Last week, two LPG carriers, BW TYR and BW ELM, carrying combined LPG cargo of about 94,000 tonnes safely transited the region. While BW TYR reached Mumbai on March 31, BW ELM docked at New Mangalore on April 1.
Prior to that, four Indian-flagged LPG tankers had safely sailed through the strait. Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying 92,612 tonnes of LPG, reached Indian ports between March 26 and March 28. MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG, had reached Mundra port in Gujarat on March 16 and Kandla port in the state on March 17.
Originally, there were 28 Indian-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz when the war in West Asia broke. Of these, 24 were on the West side of the strait and four on the East side. Eight vessels from the west side and two from east have managed to sail to safety.
Besides the eight LPG tankers, the Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki, with 80,886 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE, reached Mundra on March 18.
Another tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, had previously safely crossed the strait and is en route to Tanzania.
