KPCC formally invites Rahul Gandhi to contest LS polls from Karnataka
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Congress on Monday wrote to party president Rahul Gandhi inviting him to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the state.
In a letter to the Congress chief ahead of his rally in Kalaburagi, Pradesh Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao said his candidature from Karnataka will boost the party's rank and file in entire south India.
"The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee takes pride to invite you to kindly contest from Karnataka in the coming Lok Sabha election.
"Our state has stood by the Congress party whenever we were in troubled times. The present scenario in India is that our party will emerge stronger in the ensuing elections," Rao said.
Rao said the ruling "NDA is losing its shine and our alliance in the south is on a strong wicket".
The Congress earlier this month had announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from his bastion Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday had tweeted that Karnataka unit of Congress wants Rahul Gandhi to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the state.
Calling Rahul Gandhi the "next Prime Minister of India", the Congress Legislature Party leader had recalled his grandmother Indira Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi contesting Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka in the past.
Pointing out that Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi contested and won the polls from Karnataka, Rao said, "Sir, your acceptance to contest will be enthusiastically welcomed by our party workers and this decision by you will give very good message across south India."
While Indira Gandhi had scripted her political comeback from Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka after the Emergency by winning the Lok Sabha bypolls in 1978, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had contested and won from Ballari in 1999, trouncing Sushma Swaraj.
Interestingly, the Congress has ceded Chikkamagaluru seat to its alliance partner JD(S) this time, while Ballari remains with the grand old party.
The request comes amid reports about demands within the Congress party for Rahul Gandhi to contest from one of the seats in the South.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
