Bypolls: BJP leader CP Yogeeshwara confident on getting Channapatna ticket
Channapatna (Karnataka), Oct 16: BJP leader C P Yogeeshwara on Wednesday said he will be the joint candidate of the BJP-JD(S) alliance for the upcoming Channapatna Assembly bypolls, and expressed confidence that leaders of both parties will announce his name soon.
He however indicated that he may go by the decision of his supporters and workers, in the event of not getting the ticket.
This even as Union Minister and JD(S) State president H D Kumaraswamy recently said that there is pressure to field JD(S) youth wing president and his son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy.
Channapatna will go for by-polls along with Sandur and Shiggaon on November 13.
"I will contest as the alliance candidate in the Channapatna bypolls. As per my information, the BJP and JD(S) leadership together will finalise my name. I'm confident that I will be in the fray as the alliance candidate," the BJP MLC said.
Speaking to reporters here, after meeting with his supporters, he said leaders of both parties have almost finalised his name after discussions, and his name will be declared probably in a couple of days.
"I'm saying this based on the information I have, I have spoken earlier with Kumaraswamy several times, I'm in touch with JD(S) leaders and also BJP leaders. I have spoken to them. I will get the ticket," he added.
The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA in September last year, and the two parties contested the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance.
Channapatna bypoll is necessitated as the seat fell vacant following the election of its representative -- H D Kumaraswamy -- to Lok Sabha from Mandya parliamentary segment.
Noting that in all the surveys his name has appeared at the front, Yogeeshwara said, "if ticket has to be given on priority, I should be given. I'm confident that I will be given the ticket." Conceding that there is anxiety among his supporters and workers that he may be denied ticket if the seat is ceded to JD(S), he said, he doesn't want to react now. "If ticket is not given, a decision will be taken based on what our workers decide, But, I don't think there is a need for me to decide in a haste..." Pointing to his efforts to build the BJP in the region for the past fifteen years, Yogeeshwara said, "I feel with me BJP can grow further in the region...." Noting that he is working under the BJP flag and will abide by the party decision, he however said, he will also have to listen to his supporters and workers.
Yogeeshwara had earlier said that in case he fails to get a ticket, he will contest as an independent.
Kumaraswamy's actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy's name has been doing the rounds for some time now. Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from neighbouring Ramanagara Assembly segment.
Kumaraswamy had won the Channapatna seat in 2018 and 2023. Before that Yogeshwara had represented the seat from BJP and Samajwadi Party. He had earlier also represented the seat both as an independent and from the Congress.
There are ndications that either Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar or his brother D K Suresh, a Congress former MP who lost from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment, may be fielded in Channapatna, from the grand old party.
"D K Brothers" are hoping to regain lost grounds in the region, after the Lok Sabha poll debacle here.
A section of state BJP leaders have reportedly backed Yogeeshwara's candidacy and informed the same to the party high command.
Kumaraswamy doesn't want to cede the seat that he had represented and which has become his political turf, to Yogeeshwara or BJP, according to JD(S) sources.
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Hemant Karkare dying at hands of Kasab ‘Karmic Justice’: Shefali Vaidya on Col. Purohit’s promotion
Shefali Vaidya’s ‘karmic justice’ remark on Hemant Karkare sparks controversy.
Columnist Shefali Vaidya said that the death of former ATS chief Hemant Karkare was “almost karmic justice,” while expressing support for the promotion of Shrikant Purohit.
In the post, she wrote, “Col Purohit to be made Brigadier! This is the least Indian Army could do to restore the honour of an officer who was wrongly accused, framed on false charges, tortured beyond imagination and lost many years of his life thanks to anti-national, evil Congress.”
She further stated, “the way Maharashtra ATS Hemant Karkare died at the hands of Kasab was almost karmic justice, for having tortured Col Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and others in the fake Hindu terror case. Ditto for disgraced cop Parambir Singh!”
Her post came after reports that Colonel Purohit, who was acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case last year, has been approved for promotion to Brigadier.
Defence sources cited by Indian Express had indicated that less than a month after his retirement was put on hold by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), he has been approved for promotion to Brigadier.
According to the report, he will now continue in service for at least two more years, up to the age of 56, which is the retirement age for Brigadiers, compared to 54 for Colonels.
Purohit had reportedly approached the AFT, stating that the 17-year-long trial had affected his career progression and denied him the opportunity to be considered for promotions.
Though he was granted bail in 2017, he remained under a Discipline and Vigilance (DV) ban, which was lifted in July 2020. Due to this, his promotion to the rank of Colonel was reportedly withheld in 2021.
The controversy around remarks on Karkare is not new.
Earlier, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee had highlighted instances of social media users allegedly making derogatory comments about the slain officer.
Hemant Karkare, a 1982-batch IPS officer, served as the chief of the Mumbai ATS and led the investigation into the 2008 Malegaon blasts. He was killed in action on November 26, 2008, during the 2008 Mumbai attacks while responding to terrorist activity near Cama Hospital. He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra in 2009.
According to the Mumbai Police chargesheet, Karkare, along with Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar, was killed in an exchange of fire with Pakistani terrorists, including Ajmal Amir Kasab and Abu Ismail Khan.
The officers were ambushed near Rang Bhavan Lane while moving towards Cama Hospital.
According to a report by India Today, BJP leader Pragya Singh Thakur had earlier claimed that Karkare died as a result of a “curse,” while Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar had alleged that an “RSS-linked cop” was responsible for Karkare’s death, citing claims from a book by S.M. Mushrif.
