Kalaburagi, Jan 9: Amid demands by some ministers that three deputy chief ministers should be appointed in Karnataka, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said such demands should not arise when elections are around the corner.

Denying that he has received any such demand yet, Kharge said the party leaders should focus on addressing people's woes.

When asked about the demand for three deputy chief ministers in the state, Kharge said, "Ask Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar."

Stating that the matter should first come to him for consideration, the Congress president said it has not yet been brought to him.

In a rebuke of the leaders raising the demand, Kharge said, "Such speculations should not be brought during elections. We should focus on the functioning of the government, people's problems and the implementation of the guarantees."

ALSO READ: Party high command to decide on demand for three Deputy CMs in Karnataka: D K Shivakumar

He said Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have been working towards achieving these goals.

"Till we achieve our goals, we should not talk about such things," Kharge added.

Recently Karnataka Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna raised the demand for appointing three deputy chief ministers in the state saying it would help the Congress win maximum seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

He even cited the example of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where there is more than one deputy chief minister.

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Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.