Enough, won't contest elections anymore, says CM Siddaramaiah, cites advancing age
Mysuru, Apr 2: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he has decided not to contest in elections anymore, as he won't have the health and enthusiasm needed to work after four years with advancing age.
During the 2023 assembly polls itself, he had declared that it will be his last election, but he will continue to remain in politics.
"People in Varuna want me to contest once again for Assembly polls from there, but I have decided not to contest in elections anymore. Now I'm 77 year old , still I have four years time (assembly tenure), I will be 81-82 year-old by then. I won't have health, and I will not be able to work happily. Can I work with enthusiasm? Enough," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "By 2028 (when Assembly elections are due in Karnataka), I will be 82-year-old, and I will complete 50 years in politics. In 1978, I became the taluk board member."
When told he doesn't look old, he said, "I may not look old, but who can experience aging, you or me?"
Siddaramaiah during May assembly polls last year had emerged victorious in Varuna constituency, entering the Assembly for the ninth time.
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Siddaramaiah, the then sitting chief minister, had lost in Chamundeshwari in 2018. He, however, won in Badami, the other constituency from where he had contested, and went on to serve as Leader of Opposition.
Making his debut in the Assembly in 1983, Siddaramaiah had got elected from Chamundeshwari on a Lok Dal Party ticket. He has won five times from this constituency and tasted defeat thrice.
After neighbouring Varuna became a constituency in 2008 following delimitation, Siddaramaiah represented it till he vacated the seat for his son Dr Yatindra in the 2018 assembly polls and went back to his old constituency of Chamundeshwari. In 2023 Yathindra returned the favour to his father by vacating the seat.
Ahead of the May 2018 Assembly polls, Siddaramaiah had said it would "most likely" be his last election.
Earlier, during the 2013 Assembly polls too, he had said that it was his last election and went on to become Chief Minister after the polls.
Amid speculations about leadership change, Siddaramaiah on Monday asked the people of his Varuna assembly segment to give the Congress candidate a lead of at least 60,000 votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, to ensure that he remains in the post.
Downplaying his statement, Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said: "I was not emotional, I just said that for all the development work to continue, I should be there, that's all. Because if BJP comes, they will stop all this. With that intention I said. I have got a lead of 48,000 votes, I asked for an even bigger lead for Sunil Bose (Congress candidate from Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha segment under which Varuna comes)."
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Over 17,000 people went missing in Delhi in 2024: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 23,058 people, comprising 9,482 men and 13,576 women, were reported missing in Delhi in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total, 5,491 were children below the age of 18 — 1,571 boys, 3,920 girls.
The city recorded 17,567 fresh adult missing persons cases in 2024, comprising 7,911 men and 9,656 women.
According to the NCRB data, released on Wednesday, 14,637 men, 18,238 women and six transgender persons were still missing from previous years.
At the latest count, in 2024, Delhi had a total of 55,939 missing persons cases — 24,119 men, 31,814 women and six transgender persons.
In 2024, police traced or collected 28,392 missing persons, including 12,182 men, 16,208 women and two transgender persons.
Only half of the men and half of the women who went missing could be traced.
A total of 27,547 missing persons – 11,937 men, 15,606 women, four transgender persons — were yet to be untraced by the end of the year, the data showed.
The data also revealed that 5,352 children from previous years remained untraced at the beginning of 2024.
The number of still missing boys was 1,621, and the number of missing girls was 3,729. Two transgender children were yet to be found.
After adding the pending cases from previous years, the total number of missing children cases handled in 2024 rose to 10,843.
The police traced or recovered 6,762 missing children — 2,030 boys, 4,732 girls.
The recovery rate stood at 63.6 per cent for boys and 61.9 per cent for girls, while no transgender child was traced.
By the end of 2024, a total of 4,081 children remained untraced, 1,162 of them boys, 2,917 girls, and two transgender children.
