Himanta Biswa Sarma's DNA is Cong DNA, now he has changed his blood: DK Shivakumar's dig at Assam CM
Bengaluru: In the lead up to the upcoming Karnataka elections, a war of words has erupted between two prominent political figures in the state. Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar has made a controversial statement about BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, claiming that his DNA is "Congress DNA" and that he has now "changed his blood".
Speaking at a rally, Bengaluru, Shivakumar said, "Himanta Biswa Sarma's DNA is Congress DNA. He should know that his blood is Congress' blood, Gandhi's blood. Now he has changed his blood."
ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi rides scooter with delivery boy in Bangaluru during election campaign
Sarma, who was a former Congress leader in Assam, had joined the BJP in 2015 and has been a key figure in the party's rise in the Northeast. He has often been critical of the Congress party and its leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Reacting to Shivakumar's statement, Sarma said, "I have not changed my blood, but I have changed my ideology. I left the Congress because I felt that the party was no longer committed to the development of Assam and the Northeast."
The Karnataka elections are set to take place later this year, and both the Congress and the BJP are gearing up for a tough fight. The Congress, which lost power in the state in 2019, is hoping to make a comeback, while the BJP is looking to retain its hold on the state. With the war of words between Shivakumar and Sarma heating up, it remains to be seen how it will impact the election outcome.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
