BJP takes early lead in Karnataka Assembly bypolls
Bengaluru: The ruling BJP has taken an early lead in 10 out of 15 Assembly constituencies that went for bypolls on December five, as the counting of votes was taken up on Monday, election officials said.
Initial trends showed the Congress and JD(S) were ahead in two seats, while independent candidate was maintaining lead in Hoskote.
BJP candidates who are leading are- Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Anand Singh (Vijayanagara), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), B C Patil (Hirekerur), Shrimant Patil (Kagwad), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura), Mahesh Kumthalli (Athani), Arun Kumar Guttur (Ranebennur), Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) and Byrathi Basavaraj (K R Puram).
Congress nominees H P Manjunath (Hunsur) and Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar) were leading; JD(S)' B L Devaraj and Javarayi Gowda were ahead in K R Pete and Yeshwanthpura respectively.
BJP's rebel and independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda, son of Chikkaballapura Lok Sabha member B N Bachegowda, was leading ahead of party's official candidate MTB Nagaraj in Hoskote.
The bypolls were held to fill vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs, whose revolt led to collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for BJP to come to power.
The BJP needs to win at least six of the 15 seats to remain in majority in the 225-member assembly including the Speaker, who has a casting vote), which would still have two vacant seats -- Maski and R R Nagar.
In the assembly with the current strength of 208 after disqualifications, the BJP has 105 MLAs (including an independent), the Congress 66 and the JD(S) has 34 MLAs. There is also one BSP member, a nominated member and the Speaker.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
