Deve Gowda ends suspense, to contest from Tumkur
Bengaluru, Mar 23: Ending days of suspense, Janata Dal (Secular) Saturday said its National President and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda will contest the Lok Sabha poll from Tumkur.
The 85-year-old JD(S) patriarch had earlier expressed doubts about contesting the polls, saying he was thinking about his "usefulness" in the national capital.
"Former PM and JDS National president H D Deve Gowda will contest from Tumkur Parliamentary constituency as JD(S)-Congress combined candidate," JD(S) Spokesperson Ramesh Babu said in a statement.
Gowda will file his nomination on March 25, he said, adding that JD(S) and Congress leaders will be present on the occasion.
Gowda ceded the Hassan seat that he had been representing to his grandson Prajwal Revanna.
Amid doubts about Gowda contesting the polls, as he had earlier indicated he would not, there was speculation that he may contest from Bangalore North.
Though there was pressure within JD(S) for their party supremo to contest from Bangalore North, it was apprehensive about Congress' complete support there as most party's MLAs there are considered close to Gowda's bete noire Siddaramaiah.
It was feared that the MLAs may seek to take revenge for the former Chief Minister's defeat from Chamundeshwari in the 2018 assembly polls.
Interestingly, JD(S)' announcement on Gowda's constituency comes on a day when Congress' sitting Member of Parliament from Tumkur S P Muddahanumegowda Saturday said he would file his nomination on Monday as the party candidate.
Muddahanumegowda's decision goes against the seat sharing arrangement reached between the Congress and JD(S), according to which Tumkur seat has gone to the regional party.
If Muddahanumegowda contests from Tumkur as a rebel, it will add to the Congress-JD(S) coalition worries as the alliance is facing backlash at several places,including Mandya and Hassan, with party workers unhappy with the seat arrangements.
In Tumkur, there is simmering discontent within the Congress' local leadership about ceding the seat to JD(S), despite party having a sitting MP there.
For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP and win more number of seats, it is crucial for the Congress to transfer its votes to JD(S) and vice-versa, including Mandya.
BJP has fielded G S Basavaraj as its candidate from Tumkur.
Gowda's other son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil is the candidate from the JD(S) bastion of Mandya.
The Congress and JD(S), that had bitterly fought against each other ahead of May 2018 assembly polls, decided to join hands to form a coalition government as the election threw up a hung verdict.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
