Five Karnataka districts going to polls face severe heat
Bengaluru (PTI): Despite sporadic rains in most parts of Karnataka, the 14 segments going to polls today are facing heat wave-like conditions, with maximum temperatures ranging between 38 and 44 degrees Celsius in most districts.
Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena told PTI that they have factored in information on north Karnataka region witnessing higher than usual temperatures and have made all necessary arrangements to ensure that people are not deterred from coming out of their homes to vote.
“Fans and drinking water in the waiting areas as well as ambulances on standby are some of the arrangements made keeping the harsh weather in mind,” he added.
The maximum temperatures forecasted for the 14 constituencies: Chikkodi (39 degree Celsius), Belgaum (38), Bagalkot (43), Bijapur
(43), Gulbarga (43), Raichur (43.2), Bidar (41.5), Koppal (43.2), Bellary (41), Haveri (35.4), Dharwad (39.8), Uttara Kannada (37),
Davangere (39.5) and Shimoga (39).
Although Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for most of the 14 districts, Karnataka State Natural
Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) has issued a red alert to five --Bagalkot, Belagavi, Dharwad, Haveri and Koppal till May 9.
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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.
