JD(S) to suffer setback in up to 25 'winnable seats' due to funds crunch, admits HD Kumaraswamy
Bidadi (K'taka), May 10: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said that his party is expected to take a "hit" in up to 25 Assembly segments, where it had chances of winning, due to financial crunch, in the Karnataka elections held on Wednesday.
Despite financial constraints, his party will be ahead of Congress and BJP in terms of winning the number of seats, the former Chief Minister claimed, as he asserted that his party will be 'King' and not just the 'King maker'.
"What has pained me is that I have not been able to financially support several of my candidates. My expectation was that I might get public support in terms of funds, I have taken a hit to an extent. At several constituencies which had winnable candidates like in Chikkaballapura and Doddaballapura, I have failed in financially supporting the candidates at the final stages," Kumaraswamy said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said because of shortage of funds, in about 20-25 constituencies where he has expectations of winning, there is a setback.
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"Some constituencies have taken a good sum of money from party funds and in some winnable seats I have not been able to give enough funds and it has caused a hit. I have not been able to support them as per expectation, as the party did not get donations as expected," he said.
Further requesting the party workers not to develop a "wrong impression" on candidates, Kumaraswamy said, "I have let down candidates, it is my mistake. In about 50-60 seats where our candidates were giving a good fight, I have not been able to give funds as per expectations."
Despite all this and amid a sense that this election is "indispensable" for JD(S), he said, "I had expected more than 120 seats..... but we will still be ahead of Congress and BJP, despite financial constraints."
Asked about the scenario of the hung assembly and JD(S)' role then, Kumaraswamy said, "Let's see, I will discuss when such a situation comes."
To a question, will JD(S) emerge as a king maker in this election, he said, "Not only king maker, our party is going to be a king, let us see.
In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, JD(S) won 37 out of the total 224 seats.
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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.
