Kalaburagi police detain BJP leader Manikanth Rathod for charges of assault against Priyank Kharge
Kalaburagi: BJP leader Manikanth Rathod was taken into custody by officers of the Chowk Police Station on charges of misrepresenting an injury from a road accident as a case of physical assault by Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge.
The police acted after a previous round of interrogation of Rathod's supporter revealed that Rathod's injuries were the result of a road accident and not a physical assault, contrary to the claims made by the BJP leader.
Reports indicate that police officers detained Rathod from his residence on Humnabad Ring Road just before a scheduled press conference where he intended to address Minister Priyank Kharge's counter-allegations against him. The police denied Rathod permission to speak to reporters during his arrest.
Earlier in the week, Kharge refuted Rathod's assault allegations, asserting that the injuries claimed by the BJP leader were a result of a car accident and not an assault. Minister Kharge labeled Rathod's accusations as false, citing police investigations that had already debunked the BJP leader's claims.
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Maharashtra Congress chief Patole meets Kharge, dismisses resignation talk as 'rumours'
New Delhi, Nov 25: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday dismissed as "rumours" talk of his resignation following the assembly polls debacle and stressed on "collective accountability" for the defeat.
Patole made the remarks after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during which he conveyed that the result had not reflected the sentiments of the people of Maharashtra.
"Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other national and state leaders were leading Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from the forefront during the assembly polls. So, we were sure that the trends were in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi, even the citizens believed that," the Maharashtra Congress chief said.
"If I talk about Nanded, the Lok Sabha bypolls and assembly elections were held on the same day. In Lok Sabha bypolls, our candidate was winning in six assembly seats, whereas, in the assembly elections, we are not winning even a single seat," he said, adding that there cannot be such a "huge difference".
This is the sentiment among the people also and they have stated that this government in Maharashtra was not being formed on their votes, he claimed.
"So, I spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge on this," he added.
Asked whether he had offered to resign or the party had asked for his resignation after the Maharashtra assembly polls defeat, Patole said, "These are all rumours and there is no truth in them. There is collective accountability."
Patole also said he will meet Rahul Gandhi in a day or two and discuss all issues.
"Democracy is being finished. We have discussed that... there was no talk of resignation," he said.
The MVA alliance, comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT), was restrained to 46 seats by the Mahayuti that reaped a rich harvest of 230 seats in the 288-member House.
