Karnataka crisis: Congress steps up efforts to persuade Ramalinga Reddy
Bengaluru, Jul 13: The Congress on Sunday intensified efforts to persuade another rebel MLA Ramalinga Reddy to return to the party fold, in a desperate bid to save the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka teetering in the wake of resignation of its legislators.
Sources in the Congress told PTI that the party's state working president Eshwar Khandre and H K Patil have headed to Ramalinga Reddy's residence.
Reddy, BTM Layout Assembly MLA, is said to be maintaining a silence and has not been responding to the party's attempts to appease him. He is also among the MLAs who have resigned.
On Saturday, a team of BJP leaders led by Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath and Padmanabha Reddy had called on him at his residence.
"Ramalinga Reddy has neither gone to Mumbai, nor he has given any statement that can be considered as anti-party activity. It is incumbent upon us to persuade him. We are sure he won't leave the party," said party spokesperson Subhash Agarwal.
The coalition government is on a sticky wicket with 16 MLAs 13 of the Congress and three of the JD(S) resigning from the Assembly. Besides, two independent legislators, who were made ministers recently to provide stability, have quit the cabinet.
The independents H Nagesh and R Shankar have also withdrawn support to the coalition government and are now supporting the BJP.
The ruling coalition's strength in the House is 116 (Congress 78, JD(S) 37 and BSP one), besides the speaker.
With the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House.
If the resignations of the 16 MLAs are accepted, the ruling coalition's tally will be reduced to 100. The speaker has a vote too.
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.
Woman, 2 sons found dead in Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): Three members of a family were found dead inside their home in southeast Delhi's Kalkaji on Friday, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, officials said.
Police said the incident came to light around 2.47 pm when a police team reached the premises to execute a court order related to possession of the property. When repeated knocks went unanswered, the staff used a duplicate key to open the door.
Inside, officers found Anuradha Kapoor (52) and her sons, Ashish Kapoor (32) and Chaitanya Kapoor (27), hanging from the ceiling, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said in a statement. All three were declared dead.
A handwritten note was recovered from the room, suggesting the family had been struggling with depression.
"The handwritten note indicates emotional distress faced by the family due to which the family may have taken the extreme step," the officer said.
The bodies have been shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) mortuary for post-mortem and other legal formalities under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), police said.
Residents of the neighbourhood said they were shocked to learn about the deaths, adding that the family kept largely to themselves.
Pankaj Kashyap, a resident of Girinagar, said he learnt about the deaths while leaving for work. "I live and work here and was leaving for work when I saw many people standing outside and talking. That is how I got to know that three people had committed suicide. I also saw several police vehicles outside, but I do not know much beyond that," he said.
Baldev, another neighbour, said the family had been living in the newly constructed house for around two years. "We only knew that a mother and her two children lived there. They had moved into the newly built house around two years ago. We did not interact much with them. Today we heard that all three have committed suicide, and whatever we know is based on what people here are saying," he said.
Another neighbour, Ramesh Kumar, claimed the family had earlier attempted suicide.
"About fifteen to twenty days ago, the two sons in the family had attempted suicide and police and ambulances had come. That was when I first got to know who they were. I do not recognise them by face, but we saw the ambulances and police take the two sons that day. Today again we saw ambulances and police arriving, so everyone came out to see what had happened. I do not know how long they had been living here, but this is all we know," he said.
Police said they are examining the family's financial condition, social circumstances, and other factors that may have contributed to the incident. Further investigation is underway.
