Congress would have won 15-16 LS seats if no tie up with JD(S), says Veerappa Moily
Bengaluru, June 22: Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily Saturday said the party would have won 15 to 16 seats in the Lok Sabha polls had there been no tie up with JD(S) and that trusting the alliance was a 'mistake."
"Hundred per cent...not only here (Chikkaballapur).. in various constituencies...if there was no alliance, 15-16 seats Congress would have definitely got," he said.
Moily was replying to a question on whether he would have won in Chikkaballapur if there had been no alliance.
Speaking to reporters in Chikkaballapur, he said that trusting the coalition was a mistake. "Our people (Congress) also opposed (me).. that is very clear."
Asked about the reasons for those in Congress opposing him, he did not divulge much details, saying it maybe because of power or money.
Moily, a former union minister, was the joint candidate of the ruling Congress-JDS coalition.
He was defeated by BJP's B N Bache Gowda in Chikkaballapur by 1,82,110 votes.
Congress and JD(S) that had faced the polls in alliance managed to win one seat each, while BJP won 25 seats.
The saffron party supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won in Mandya.
Moily said even though he had lost from Chikkaballapur, he still trusted the people of the constituency.
He said he was not sure about contesting an election again, saying he does not have that desire, "but will continue to have the love and trust with the people here."
Indicating that ineffectiveness of the government also led to the disastrous result in the LS polls, Moily said other than saving the government, those in power should also look into the needs of the people, who do not have a good opinion about the administration.
Calling for reorganising Congress from the grassroot level, he said "going with them (JDS) we have seen defeat.
That bitter experience has happened and should not happen again.
We should reorganise our party and we have to face elections," he said.
"...I have not got JD(S). Going to them, talking to them was a waste of time.If I had utilized that time to concentrate on voters, I would have got far more votes," he added.
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Bus helper held for stealing USD 1,600 from Iranian woman's purse in Delhi; money recovered
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a bus helper and recovered USD 1,600 that was allegedly stolen from the purse of an Iranian woman who had forgotten it on a private bus at ISBT Kashmere Gate, an official said on Sunday.
The incident came to light on December 15, when a complaint was lodged at the ISBT Kashmere Gate police post by Dr Ali Akbar Shah, a professor at Delhi University and a resident of Mukherjee Nagar, the police said.
He informed police that his guest, Fareshteh Sayanjali, an Iranian national, had arrived in India on December 13 and was staying at his residence, they said.
The woman had travelled to Uttarakhand's Rishikesh and was returning to Delhi on December 15 in a bus. While de-boarding at ISBT Kashmere Gate around 1.45 pm, she inadvertently left her purse on the bus seat, the police officer said.
After some time, she received a phone call from the bus operator informing her that the purse had been found in the vehicle. However, when the purse was handed back to her, she discovered that USD 1,600 in cash kept inside was missing," the officer added.
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Based on Dr Shah's statement, an FIR was registered at Kashmere Gate police station on December 16, and an investigation was taken up, police said.
During the investigation, the team questioned the driver and conductor of the bus in which the woman had travelled, police said.
During questioning, the conductor told police that Monish, the bus helper, found the purse lying abandoned on a seat and handed it over to him, police said.
Monish initially attempted to mislead the investigators, but later confessed to stealing the US dollars from the purse, police said
Following his disclosure, Monish was arrested on December 17 and recovered the entire stolen amount, police said.
The accused, Monish, 26, is a resident of Jahangirpuri in north Delhi.
He has studied up to Class 10 and has been working as a helper with the private bus service for the past year, they said.
