Karnataka CM Yediyurappa discharged from hospital after recovering from COVID
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was on Thursday discharged from a private hospital here where he was undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
The Chief Minister has called a meeting of his cabinet colleagues Thursday at 4 PM to discuss the pandemic situation.
Yediyurappa was discharged from the city's Manipal Hospital, where he was admitted for the last six days, his office said.
Speaking to reporters after being discharged, the Chief Minister said he has come out healthy.
"Instructions are being given to Ministers to go to their respective districts and take necessary steps to control COVID. I had been in constant touch with Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar and Law Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) for the last four days, we will discuss enforcing strict containment measures announced," he added.
Stating that the corona situation is getting aggravated day-by-day and we have come to a situation where we are unable to control it, he said, "two to three people are getting infected in a house...wearing masks, sanitizing and maintaining distance is the only solution to control the spread. I appeal to the people not to venture out of home, unnecessarily."
"Strict measures are being taken, don't give room for the police to collect fines for not wearing masks or to punish for flouting rules, and cooperate in the public interest," he appealed.
The 78-year old leader was hospitalised on April 16, after he tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time in eight months.
He had held meetings with officials and experts, also with MPs, MLAs and Ministers from Bengaluru city and had attended the all-party meeting called by the Governor to assess the COVID-19 situation in the state, from the hospital itself.
The Chief Minister was earlier hospitalised on August 2, 2020 after he tested positive for coronavirus, and was discharged on recovery after nine days.
He had got himself inoculated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on March 12, and was administered Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
Yediyurappa, who had been campaigning for April 17 bypolls to Belgaum Lok Sabha, and Maski and Basavakalyan assembly segments had developed fever while campaigning in Belagavi (Belgaum LS), but had tested negative, however during a subsequent test on April 16 he tested positive and was hospitalised.
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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
