Creation of Vijayanagara district aimed at development: Health Minister Sriramulu
Bengaluru, Nov 26: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Thursday said the government's decision to create Vijayanagara as the state's 31st district, carving it out from the mine-rich Ballari, was administrative in nature aimed at development, as he appealed for withdrawing protests against it.
The Minister, who is a native of Ballari, had earlier opposed the plan for creating the new district.
"Ballari is a big district....there have been voices in favour and against (bifurcation). After our government came to power, we left it to the discretion of the Chief Minister.The CM and the cabinet recently gave in principle approval to it, when it again comes before the cabinet we will discuss in detail," Sriramulu said.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said, the Chief Minister has tried to convince BJP's Ballari City MLA G Somashekar Reddy and other legislators who have been opposing the decision and that he will also talk to them on the matter.
"We will abide by the Chief Minister's decision.... the decision is administrative not political, the Chief Minister and the government's decision is right. I appeal to those protesting to withdraw and let's all work together for the sake of development," he added.
Meanwhile, Ballari bandh called by a few local organisations on Thursday opposing the bifurcation of the district failed to evoke much response as normal life remained unaffected, official sources said.
Movement of public and private transport remained normal.
Also shops and establishments remained open, they said.
The Karnataka cabinet on November 18 had given in principle approval for the creation of Vijayanagara district, carving it out from Ballari.
Ballari, which is also politically significant, comprises nine assembly segments of which the Congress had won five and the BJP four in the 2018 polls.
The cabinet in its next meeting is likely to discuss in detail and decide about the formation of the new district.
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Three central armed police force personnel suspended for playing carrom in TMC office
Kolkata (PTI): The Election Commission suspended three central armed police force personnel after a purported video went viral showing them playing carrom inside a Trinamool Congress (TMC) office at Suri in West Bengal's Birbhum district, a senior official said on Sunday.
A departmental inquiry has been ordered into the matter, he said.
"As of now, these three personnel have been removed from poll duty. We have initiated an inquiry into the incident. The authenticity of the video recording is being checked thoroughly," the poll body official said.
The disciplinary action was triggered by a purported video which went viral on Saturday, showing one personnel playing carrom with three local youths, another standing, and a third seated on a chair inside the TMC office in Suri.
PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
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This was the second such disciplinary action taken against the central forces deployed in Bengal in the run up to the to the state elections by the poll body in four days for violating commission's guidelines.
On March 25, the EC transferred seven paramilitary personnel deployed on election duty in Murshidabad district out of the state for allegedly attending an iftar party in violation of guidelines.
The jawans, along with two policemen, had allegedly attended an Iftar on March 8 hosted by local TMC leader Samim Sheikh, husband of Aliara Bibi, pradhan of Nimtita gram panchayat in the Samsergunj area of Murshidabad.
Responding to the latest development in Suri, BJP candidate for the segment, Jagannath Chatterjee, condemned the incident, calling it "extremely reprehensible and disappointing."
"It is unclear how and where the central forces are being deployed. If the local administration or police had a role in this carrom game, strict action should be taken against them as well," Chatterjee said.
Congress Birbhum district president Sanjay Adhikari expressed similar concern, saying, "Playing carrom is not a crime, but doing so inside a political party's office is inappropriate."
Responding to the controversy, TMC leader of Birbhum district Malay Mukherjee said, "Those who were working here understand that casually interacting with TMC is not a crime. That is probably why they were talking and playing carrom."
The EC had previously issued directives prohibiting the deployed CAPF from accepting any form of hospitality or participating in social and private gatherings during poll duty while putting in place strict monitoring mechanisms, including GPS tracking and body cameras, to oversee movement and activities of the forces.
