BJP shortlists candidates for all 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka: Arvind Limbavali
Bengaluru, Mar 17: The BJP's Karnataka unit said Sunday that it has shortlisted candidates for all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies and the party's central election committee would soon take a call on it.
"We have shortlisted the names of all the candidates (in Karnataka). The central election committee will take a decision on it and release the list," BJP state general secretary Arvind Limbavali told reporters.
He was speaking after the party's state core meeting here, chaired by BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa.
BJP general secretary and state unit in-charge P Muralidhar Rao, BJP organising secretary (in-charge south India) B L Santosh, former chief ministers D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar were among those who attended the meeting.
Limbavali said the state election committee would table the list before the central election committee, headed by its national president, but refused to divulge the names, saying the CEC would announce it later.
On the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, where Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is pitted against multi-lingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of late actor-turned-politician Ambareesh, he said the core committee discussed fielding a candidate.
However, the party kept its options open and would take a final call based on Sumalatha's decision, he said.
Mandya has gone to the JD(S) as per the seat-sharing agreement between the coalition partners Congress and the JD(S).
The party has planned to field Nikhil Gowda, grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
However, Sumalatha's decision has disturbed the political equations.
Ambareesh had represented Mandya thrice in the Lok Sabha, the first time on a JD(S) ticket and twice on Congress ticket.
He was minister of state for information and broadcasting during the UPA-1 regime.
Limbavali said senior Congress leader from Hassan, A Manju would soon join the BJP after his meeting with Yeddyurappa.
Manju had been a vocal critic of Gowda and often expressed his displeasure in respecting the Congress-JD(S) coalition.
Shortlisted Candidates:
Kolar- DS Veeraiah, Chikkaballapur-BN Bache Gowda, Bengaluru(South)-Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, Bengaluru(Center)- PC Mohan, Bengaluru(North)- Sadananda Gowda/HM Chandrashekar, Bengaluru(Rural)- CP Yogeshwar/Rudresh.
Chamarajanagar- V Srinivas Prasad, Mysore- Pratap Simha,Tumkur- GS Basavaraju, Chitradurga- A Narayanaswamy/Manappa Vajjal, Dakshina Kannada- Nalin Kumar Kateel, Hasan- A Manju, Udupi-Chikmagalur- Shobha Karandlaje, Shimoga- BY Raghavendra.
Davanagere- GM Siddeshwar, North Kannada- Anath Kumar Hegde, Darawad- Prahlad Joshi, Haveri- Shivakumar Udasi, Ballari- Devendrappa/Venkatesh Prasad, Koppala- Sanganna Karadi, Bidar- Bhagavat Khuba, Raichur- Thipparaju Havaldar/ Amareh Nayak/ Fakeerappa, Kalburgi- Dr. Umesh Jadhav.
Vijayapura- Ramesh Jigajinagi, Bagalkot- PC Gaddigoudar, Belgaum- Suresh Angadi, Chikkodi-Prabhakar Khore/Ramesh Katti names were included in the list.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
