Minister Ashwath Narayan, Cong MP almost come to blows at public event in CM Bommai's presence
Ramanagara, Jan 3: Karnataka Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and state's lone Congress Lok Sabha member representing Bangalore Rural D K Suresh, almost came to blows in full public view at an event in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai here on Monday.
The government event was to unveil the statues of B R Ambedkar and Bengaluru founder Kempegowda, here.
This was also Bommai's first visit to the district as the Chief Minister.
In what seemed like a veiled attack on Congress leaders, Narayan made an aggressive speech targeting opponents.
He claimed that the present BJP government was here to win the trust of the people and not to betray them, and challenged others to prove their work, as he attacked those who allegedly tried to disturb the event by raising certain slogans.
This apparently enraged Suresh, and the MP, who was visibly angry making certain gestures, barged towards Narayan.
Security personnel and some dignitaries on the stage including Health Minister K Sudhakar intervened and separated the two.
Suresh, the younger brother of state Congress chief D K Shivakumar, was joined by Congress MLC S Ravi, who tried to snatch the mike that was used by Narayan, resulting in a melee, as the Minister forcefully grabbed the mike back from him.
Suresh and other Congress leaders subsequently sat down on the stage in protest.
Amid the protest, Bommai, addressing the gathering, said individual egos should not come in the way of respecting icons like Ambedkar and Kempegowda.
Pointing out that he has come to Ramanagara for the first time as CM, he said, "I have come here to contribute to development. The development will happen with everybody's cooperation and not by one individual....let's all work together for development...."
Suresh, who spoke later, said he would only apologize to the Chief Minister for what happened and not to anyone else, and attacked Narayan in his speech.
"Are you challenging us on the stage? fix the time....what culture is this? Did RSS teach this?.....Don't talk about our culture, we have culture. Mr Ashwath Narayan, we need not learn from you," he said.
As Suresh referred to RSS, BJP supporters among the audience objected to it.
Later, after the event, Congress workers tore up Narayan's posters as the mark of protest.
Bommai, later speaking to reporters, termed the incident as unfortunate and said it will in no way affect his government's commitment for the development of Ramanagara district.
"We should all work together for development....there is no need to create an atmosphere of election, much before the election," he said.
Stating that the incident is the best example to prove that Congress culture is "goonda culture", state BJP in a tweet, condemning it, said "it is ironic that an MP doesn't have the basic sense as to how to behave on the stage, where the Chief Minister is present."
Several BJP leaders including its state President Nalin Kumar Kateel and Narayan's cabinet colleagues condemned Suresh's conduct.
Meanwhile, jumping to his brother Suresh's defence, Congress President D K Shivakumar questioned Ashwath Narayan's relationship with Ramanagara. "What has he or BJP done for the district? It is sheer arrogance on part of the Minister."
Congress and JD(S) are major players in Vokkaliga dominated Ramanagara district, where BJP is attempting to make inroads.
Narayan, a Vokkaliga himself, who was earlier the in-charge Minister of Ramanagara, is at the forefront of BJP's attempts to make inroads into the district by taking on the 'DK brothers' (Shivakumar and Suresh), and today's incident is seen as a sequel to those efforts.
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita Kumaraswamy are also MLAs from the district.
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RG Kar verdict: Kolkata court pronounces accused Sanjay Roy guilty of rape-murder of on-duty medic
Kolkata (PTI): A Kolkata court on Saturday declared Sanjay Roy "guilty" of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a heinous crime that sparked nationwide outrage and prolonged protests.
The Sealdah court, where Roy’s trial was held, will declare his sentence on Monday, Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, said.
The judgement was pronounced nearly two months after the in-camera trial commenced in November last year and 162 days after the heinous crime was committed on August 9, 2024.
Roy was found guilty under Sections 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that governs rape, and Sections 66 and 103 (1) of the Act, which deals with punishments for death and murder.
Section 103 (1) of BNS entails a possible punishment of death or life imprisonment.
The judge stated that Roy was found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and strangling her to death, and that the CBI had proven all the charges against him.
Das said Roy’s statement will be heard at 12:30 pm on Monday, and the sentence will be pronounced thereafter.
At the time of the delivery of the verdict, Roy claimed in court that he was framed.
In his defense, Roy said, "I wear a rudraksh necklace, and if I had committed the crime, it would have snapped.”
After the judgement, police whisked away Roy from the courtroom to the Presidency Correctional Home under strict vigil, preventing the waiting media persons from attempting any kind of interaction with the convict.
The medic’s parents thanked the judge for the guilty verdict and said the court honoured the trust they had reposed in it.
In its chargesheet, the CBI had mentioned Roy, a civic volunteer with the city police, as the prime and sole suspect of committing the gruesome rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at the state-run hospital.
The Kolkata Police, which was investigating the case initially, arrested Roy on August 10, a day after the medic's body was recovered from the seminar room of the hospital.
The Calcutta High Court later transferred the case to the CBI, which had sought death penalty for the accused.
The in-camera trial in the rape and murder of the doctor commenced on November 12, and 50 witnesses were examined.
Hearing of the trial concluded on January 9.
The crime led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests by junior doctors in Kolkata, demanding justice for the victim and stronger security arrangements in state-run hospitals.
Opposition political parties, including the BJP and the CPI(M), protested the ghastly crime, but apolitical movements demanding justice were more visible, with members of the civil society being at the forefront.
Members of the civil society in Kolkata and some other cities of the state took out midnight rallies, calling those ‘Reclaim the Night’ to demand justice for the doctor, who was christened ‘Abhaya’ by some and ‘Tilottama’ by others.
