CM Siddaramaiah slams Yatnal's campaign in bypoll, calls it BJP’s ‘double standard’
Bagalkote (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the BJP of adopting “double standard” by bringing expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal to campaign for the Assembly bypolls.
Yatnal has been campaigning extensively in Bagalkote for BJP candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath, who is in a direct contest with Congress candidate Umesh Meti, son of sitting MLA H Y Meti, whose death necessitated the April 9 bypoll.
Yatnal, a firebrand leader, was expelled from the BJP for anti-party activities after making a series of allegations, including on dynastic politics and corruption, against party stalwart and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his sons—Shivamogga MP B Y Raghavendra and BJP state president and Shikaripura MLA B Y Vijayendra.
Speaking to reporters, Siddaramaiah said bringing Yatnal in for campaigning shows that the BJP is losing the election.
“Once the BJP realised it would lose the election, it brought back those it had expelled. On one hand, the BJP expels him (Yatnal); on the other, it brings him back, praises him, and makes him campaign. Isn’t this a double standard?” the CM asked.
According to him, roping in Yatnal indicates that the opposition party is in a “weak position.”
On the BJP’s allegation that the budget favours minorities, Siddaramaiah asked whether they are not citizens of India. “Do you know what percentage they constitute? More than 14 per cent. In our budget, we have provided for everyone, including them,” he said.
Responding to the opposition’s charge that the Congress is “misusing power and money” to win the bypolls, Siddaramaiah said the BJP was doing so instead.
“The BJP has no limits when it comes to telling lies. There is no truth in what it says, and it does not act according to its words. I do not react much to the BJP. Out of fear of losing this constituency, it is saying whatever comes to its mouth,” the CM said.
On the proposed increase in Lok Sabha seats and its impact on the state, Siddaramaiah said the exercise should be based on population, but without any discrimination. “Seats should not be reduced for southern states while being increased for northern states. There must be uniformity,” he said.
On the auto-LPG shortage that has led to long queues of autorickshaws at LPG stations, he said the Centre must address the issue.
“It is the responsibility of the Centre to supply gas cylinders, not the state government. The state only distributes what is supplied. The Centre should be held accountable,” he said.
Dismissing the BJP’s claim that the bypoll results would affect state politics and his position, Siddaramaiah said the Congress would win both Bagalkote and Davanagere seats.
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34 years on, Gujarat police crack woman’s murder; two brothers held
Ahmedabad (PTI): Thirty-four years after a woman was allegedly murdered and buried, the Gujarat police have arrested two brothers following the exhumation of skeletal remains from a house in Ahmedabad, an official said on Saturday.
The crime branch nabbed the accused, Shamshuddin Khedawala (61) and his brother Iqbal (63), in connection with a 1992 murder case, after DNA from the exhumed bones matched with siblings of the victim, Farzana Doshu Radhanpuri, he said.
The victim was Shamshuddin's wife, and the latter had allegedly killed her with the help of his brother and two others. They then buried the body in the pit in the veranda of a house in Qutub Nagar in the Vatva area, the official said.
Acting on a tip-off, the police dug at the site on April 29 to recover a jawbone and teeth, which were subsequently analysed by the Forensic Medicine Department at B.J. Medical College to establish the victim's identity.
Following enquiries with locals, the police traced the victim’s family to Dholka taluka, where her brother, Liyakat Ali, revealed she had been missing for 35 years. To confirm the identity, investigators compared DNA from the skeletal remains with blood samples from Farzana’s sister, Mehbooba, resulting in a positive match, the official said.
The family informed the police that Farzana had left home 35 years ago and had later married Shamsuddin, he said.
Based on the information, the police registered a first information report (FIR) against the Khedawala brothers and one Abdul Javarawala and Shaliyabibi Pathan, both of whom are deceased.
As per the FIR, Shamshuddin, along with his brother Iqbal, his friend Abdul Javarawala, and Shaliyabibi Pathan, allegedly killed Farzana and buried the body in a pit in the veranda and sealed it.
A case has been registered against all four accused under sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.
The brothers have been arrested and will be produced in the court on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajit Rajian said.
