After Independent MLA H Nagesh's resignation, now Minister Rahim Mahmood Khan threatens to quit
Bengaluru: The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, which is on the brink due to a flurry of resignations, is likely to suffer another jolt with another Congress MLA and cabinet Minister Monday threatening to resign.
Karnataka Minister and Bidar North MLA Rahim Mahmood Khan said he has informed senior Congress functionaries about his grievances and will take a decision after meeting them at Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara's residence.
The resignation of 13 MLAs has plunged the government into a crisis. Twelve legislators --nine from the Congress and three from the JD(S) resigned on Saturday.
Congress MLA Anand Singh had resigned on July 1.
"My department got only Rs 15 crore budget this year and it has just now been released. Of this amount, Rs 13 crore will be paid to clear old bills.How can I carry out various projects across Karnataka with the remaining Rs two crore?" the sports and youth empowerment minister told PTI.
Khan said he did not wish to align with the rebel group but the situation has forced him to take a decision.
"I'll attend the meeting (at Parameshwara's residence ) today. If my problems aren't addressed, I will be forced to take a decision," the minister said.
The JD(S)-Congress coalition's total strength in the state assembly, including those who have put in their papers, is 118 --Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP one and two Independents, besides the speaker.
The BJP has 105 MLAs in the House, where the half-way mark is 113. If the resignations are accepted, the coalition's tally will come down to 105. The speaker also has a vote.
Another Congress MLA R Roshan Baig from Shivajinagar constituency, who has been up in arms against senior party leaders and was suspended for anti-party activities, told PTI that he has not yet decided on resignation.
"I'm busy with Hajj related preparations and have no plans as of now to leave the party," Baig said. Speculation was rife that he would also join the rebel camp.
The MLA landed in trouble when a ponzi scheme operative Mohammad Mansoor Khan, who allegedly duped thousands of people, mostly Muslims, accused him of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning it.
Baig rubbished Mansoor Khan's charge and called it a conspiracy against him by his adversaries. The government went into a huddle following the resignation of 13 MLAs comprising 10 Congress and three JD(S) MLAs.
Ten of the rebel MLAs have camped in a Mumbai hotel and have made it clear that they will not attend the Congress Legislative Party meeting on Tuesday since they have tendered their resignation at Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar's office.
The speaker would take a call on Tuesday. Hectic parleys were held in the Congress and the JD(S) camps to bail out the 13-month old government, which is facing a crisis.
Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy who returned from the USA Sunday evening straightaway held a series of meetings with leaders of the JD(S) and Congress, including the Congress legislative party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah without a break till late Sunday night.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
