Former Congress MP, Karnataka leader K C Ramamurthy joins BJP
New Delhi, Oct 22: Days after quitting the Congress and his Rajya Sabha membership, Karnataka leader K C Ramamurthy joined the BJP on Tuesday, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
He claimed that there was a conflict between what his "conscience" wanted to do and what the Congress asked its members to do in Parliament, leading to his decision to quit the party on October 16.
Modi is taking many good decisions for the country, he added.
BJP general secretaries Bhupender Yadav and Arun Singh, besides the party's Karnataka unit president Pralhad Joshi, were present at the press conference as Ramamurthy was inducted into the saffron organisation.
Ramamurthy later met BJP working president J P Nadda.
The BJP is likely to win the Rajya Sabha bypoll to the seat vacated by him. The party may field him on its ticket from Karnataka where it enjoys numerical advantage over its rivals.
The BJP has launched a concerted drive since it came back to power in May to win over Rajya Sabha members of rival parties in its bid to negate the advantage the opposition had in the House.
In the recent past, Bhubaneswar Kalita and Sanjay Singh, both from the Congress, had resigned from the upper house to join it.
Neeraj Shekhar, Surendra Singh Nagar and Sanjay Seth had recently quit the Samajwadi Party and given up their Rajya Sabha membership to join the BJP. They were later re-elected to the Upper House on BJP tickets, boosting the strength of the ruling party in the Rajya Sabha where it lacks majority.
In June this year, four Telugu Desam Party members from Rajya Sabha had joined the BJP.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
