Campaigning for Nov 3 Karnataka bypolls comes to an end
Bengaluru, Nov 1: Campaigning for the November 3 bypolls to three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in Karnataka came to an end Thursday, with a BJP candidate pulling out of the contest and returning to the Congress.
In a major embarrassment for the BJP, two days before the Ramanagara assembly bypoll, its candidate against Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy's wife quit the contest on Thursday and returned to the Congress.
With BJP's L Chandrashekhar withdrawing his candidature, Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, is expected to have a smooth sail facing a virtual no-contest.
Bypolls for three Lok Sabha constituencies-Shivamogga, Ballari and Mandya and two assembly constituencies- Ramanagara and Jamkhandi, will take place Saturday.
Counting of votes will be on November 6.
Congress and JD(S) that are ruling coalition partners in Karnataka have decided to fight the bypolls unitedly against the BJP.
Congress has fielded its candidates in Jamkhandi and Ballari and JD(S) in Shivamogga, Ramanagara and Mandya.
While Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy remained away from campaigning on the last day as he had take part in the "Karnataka Rajyotsava", state formation day celebrations, in Bengaluru, most leaders from different political parties made a last attempt to woo the voters.
Former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and Jagadish Shettar campaigned in Jamkhandi for Congress candidate Anand Nyamagouda and BJP candidate Shrikant Kulkarni respectively.
State BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa campaigned for his son and party candidate B Y Raghavendra who is pitted against another former chief minister S Bangarappa's son Madhu Bangarappa ofthe JD(S).
While senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar campaigned for party candidate V S Ugrappa, considered an outsider for Ballari, BJP's Sriramulu sought votes for his sister J Shanta.
JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister was in the party's bastion of Mandya Thursday to campaign for Shivarame Gowda, who is pitted against a fresh face Dr Siddaramaiah, a retired Commercial Tax officer from the BJP.
However, in a twist to the poll campaign on the last day in Ramanagara, BJP candidate L Chandrashekhar withdrew his candidature.
Announcing his decision to return to his "mother party," the Congress, Chandrashekhar accused BJP and its leaders of "abandoning" him after giving him the ticket.
The development just ahead of polls is being seen as senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh's response to the BJP's alleged attempts to weaken the coalition government by trying to "poach" Congress MLAs.
Upset and embarrassed BJP workers staged a protest in Ramanagara and vented their anger against Chandrashekhar.
Chandrashekhar, son of a senior Congress leader C M Lingappa, had joined BJP as the Congress decided to support the candidate of its ruling coalition partner, JD(S).
Within days after joining the BJP, he was announced as the party's candidate.
During campaigning in the last couple of weeks open expression of displeasure by congress workers was seen in the Vokkaliga bastion of Ramanagara and Mandya constituencies that come under old Mysuru region, as a large section of local party leaders and workers are opposed to their party decision to support JD(S) candidate in both segments.
Congress and JD(S) that had fought bitterly against each other in the assembly polls, especially in the old Mysore Region, decided to join hands to form a government as the May 12 assembly polls threw up a hung verdict.
There are 31 candidates in the fray.
By-elections have been necessitated after BJP's B S Yeddyurappa (Shivamogga) and B Sriramulu (Ballari), and C S Puttaraju of JD(S) (Mandya) resigned as MPs on their election to the assembly in May this year.
Bypolls to Jamkhandi assembly seat was caused by the death of Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagouda, while Ramanagara fell vacant after Kumaraswamy gave up the seat preferring Channapatna, the other constituency from where he had won.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
