BJP will have to come to me after polls, says HD Kumaraswamy, and then clarifies
Bengaluru, Dec 19: Hinting at a possibility of his party emerging as a deciding factor in case of a fractured mandate in 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday warned the ruling BJP that it might have to come to him after the elections.
Kumaraswamy was speaking after releasing the first list of 93 JD(S) candidates for the election.
"In 2023, you (BJP) will have to come to JD(S). Be careful. It is not easy for the BJP to survive. I have decided to throw the BJP out of the State. I don't need to learn from you," Kumaraswamy said while referring to the BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh.
The former Chief Minister was reacting to Santosh 's recent comments taking a dig at JD(S)' "family politics", and its leadership's emotional appeal to people during polls, for votes in their favour, stating that this would be their last election.
However, later stating that both BJP and Congress would be rejected, as people want to bring a government for and by Kannadigas, Kumaraswamy clarified that he did not mean having a post-poll alliance with the BJP to form a government.
"When JD(S) forms an independent government, BJP leaders will have to come to me to get work done. Why should I form a government with looters?" he said in response to a question.
Hoping to form an independent government with majority, JD(S) has set a target of winning at least 123 seats in the 224-member Assembly.
Kumaraswamy had headed a coalition government with both national parties in the past when there was fractured mandate- for 20 months with BJP from February 2006, and with Congress for 14 months after the 2018 Assembly polls.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
