COVID-19 cases in Karnataka exceed 2.7-lakh mark
Bengaluru: Karnataka recorded 7,330 fresh COVID-19 cases and 93 deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of the infected past the 2.70-lakh mark and the dead to 4,615, the health department said.
The data released during the day did not include Mysuru district as the doctors there have gone on strike protesting over the suicide of the Nanjangud Taluk Health Officer Dr S R Nagendra after alleged harassment by his superiors.
The spike in cases and deaths was reported from Bengaluru Urban district, which recorded 2,979 fresh cases and 28 deaths.
According to the bulletin, 533 fresh cases were reported in Ballari, 348 in Udupi, 312 in Belagavi, 277 in Davangere, 253 in Dharwad, 228 in Dakshina Kannada, 221 in Shivamogga, 170 in Koppal, 165 in Kalaburagi and 151 in Vijayapura.
Fresh cases were also reported in Hassan, Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Mandya, Kolar, Bengaluru Rural, Gadag, Haveri and other districts.
The department said there were seven deaths each in Ballari and Dharwad, six each in Koppal and Tumakuru, five in Davangere, four each in Bidar, Shivamogga and Dakshina Kannada.
Deaths were also reported in Belagavi, Raichur, Vijayapura, Mandya, Yadgiri and Uttara Kannada, among others. While majority of those who died were above 50 years of age, the rest were young people. There were two people in their 30s and 15 in their 40s.
Most of those who died had severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) or the influenza-like illness.
There were 2,71,876 infections in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic. That comprised 1,84,568 discharges, including 7,626 during the day, the department said in a statement.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
