Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says he is Cong candidate for Channapatna Assembly bypoll
Bengaluru, Aug 15: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said that he is the Congress candidate for Channapatna Assembly bypoll.
Earlier too, Shivakumar had said that he is the candidate, irrespective of whoever contests from the party.
The Deputy Chief Minister participated in the Independence Day celebrations and hoisted the national flag in the by-poll bound Channapatna for the first time today, which was seen with political connotations.
Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress chief, is neither the MLA representing Channapatna nor the in-charge Minister of Ramanagara district, which was recently renamed as Bengaluru South, under which Channapatna taluk comes.
Later in the day, replying to reporters' question in Nelamangala on the city outskirts as to who will be the Congress candidate from Channapatna, he said, "I'm the candidate." He did not elaborate further.
ALSO READ; Traitors who supported British during freedom struggle today lecturing on patriotism: DK Shivakumar
Earlier, too, he had dropped enough hints that he might contest the by-poll from the segment.
Shivakumar currently represents the neighbouring Kanakapura segment.
Channapatna bypoll is necessitated as the seat fell vacant following the election of its representative -- JD(S) leader and now Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy -- to Lok Sabha in the recent elections.
The byelection schedule for this Assembly seat is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.
Though there were talks earlier that Shivakumar's brother and former MP D K Suresh, who lost from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment, may be fielded by Congress in Channapatna, speculations were rife in the political circles, especially the grand old party, that the Deputy CM may himself enter the fray to avenge his brother's defeat and to re-establish his clout in the region.
According to sources, if Shivakumar contests and wins from Channapatna, he may vacate the seat that he currently represents for Suresh.
Addressing the Independence Day event, Shivakumar said he would work for the development and wellbeing of the citizens of Channapatna, as he also took a veiled dig at his political bete noire Kumaraswamy for "abandoning" them, without taking his name.
"It is an opportunity for me to come and hoist the flag here. For the last 35 years I have been participating in such events in Kanakapura, also Ramanagara and Bengaluru. Today I'm doing this pious work in Channapatna before you. As there is no representative (MLA) from Channapatna segment to hoist the flag, I have come here as the son of your house. I have not come to do politics, but to show how development can be made," he said.
Stating that Channapatana was close to his heart and he liked the place and its people, Shivakumar, later speaking to reporters, said: "it is unfortunate that the previous MLA (Kumaraswamy) did not attend such celebrations (Independence Day) here...probably he did not value independence and freedom struggle."
"People have affection towards us (Congress) as the party got freedom for the country. They want to support the party and the government. People have decided it," he said, expressing confidence about Congress' win in the by-poll.
Both Channapatna and Kanakapura are part of the Vokkaliga dominated Ramanagara or now Bengaluru South district, which is Shivakumar's home turf and, for Kumaraswamy, it is the "place of his political birth", as he himself has declared several times.
It comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment from where Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law and eminent cardiologist C N Manjunath won as a BJP candidate as part of an arrangement between alliance partners BJP and JD(S), by defeating Suresh, which Shivakumar wants to avenge, according to party sources.
BJP MLC C P Yogeeshwara and Kumaraswamy's actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy's names are doing the rounds as probable candidates from the BJP-JD(S) alliance for Channapatna.
Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from the neighbouring Ramanagara Assembly segment. Interestingly, Yogeeshwara and Shivakumar shared the stage and were seated next to each other at the Independence Day event today.
Amid reports that Kumaraswamy may not cede the seat to him, Yogeeshwara on Monday said he was a strong ticket aspirant for the Channapatna Assembly bypoll and expressed hope that the BJP leadership along with alliance partner JD(S) will field him as their joint candidate.
He also said in case he fails to get a ticket, he will contest as an independent, and wants to be back in the NDA fold later. Kumaraswamy won the Channapatna Assembly seat in 2018 and 2023.
Before that, Yogeeshwara had represented the seat as a BJP and Samajwadi Party MLA. He had earlier also represented the seat both as an independent and from the Congress party.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
