K’taka bypolls: Cong accepts Minority dept chief’s resignation amid claims of ‘internal conspiracy’
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Sunday accepted the resignation of party Minority Department chairman K Abdul Jabbar and dissolved the committees constituted under him.
Jabbar announced his resignation on Saturday, a day after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of “conspiring” to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
In his letter to the party, Jabbar said minority voters and office-bearers are the backbone of the Congress and deserve better.
Later, speaking to reporters, he expressed shock at the party office being used by some minority community leaders as a platform to attack senior leaders from the same community.
Jabbar, an MLC, was an aspirant for the Congress ticket from the Davanagere South Assembly segment.
“K Abdul Jabbar has tendered his resignation from the post of chairman, KPCC Minority Department. The resignation has been accepted, and he stands relieved of the post with immediate effect. Further, the KPCC Minority Department committee stands dissolved with immediate effect,” Shivakumar said in a statement.
A rift surfaced within the Karnataka Congress on Friday, a day after bypolls to two Assembly constituencies, as a group of Muslim leaders alleged an “internal conspiracy” by some senior party leaders to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South, where the minority community has a significant presence.
They said the party had named Samarth Mallikarjun as the candidate after considering all factors and taking Muslim leaders into confidence. Despite this, a campaign—allegedly involving some within the party—projected the Congress as having “betrayed” minorities by denying them the ticket.
Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Saleem Ahmed, MLAs Rizwan Arshad and Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, MLC Bilkis Bano and other leaders addressed a joint press conference on Friday, alleging an “internal conspiracy”.
Though the leaders did not name anyone, party sources said their remarks were directed at State Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, Jabbar, and MLC and Political Secretary to the Chief Minister Naseer Ahmed.
Khan, who had openly demanded the Davanagere South ticket for a Muslim candidate, initially stayed away from campaigning in the constituency, citing commitments related to the Kerala polls. However, he later addressed a press meet with Samarth’s father and Minister S S Mallikarjun at the request of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Jabbar, too, had not actively participated in campaigning, despite hailing from Davanagere.
Meanwhile, MLA Arshad said on Sunday that the party leadership was aware of those who allegedly tried to divide Congress votes and help the BJP. “But, thankfully, none of this has had any impact, and the Congress candidate will win,” he said.
He also alleged that Muslims lost the Davanagere South ticket because some senior minority leaders demanded it exclusively for Jabbar, rather than for any other eligible candidate from the community, despite Jabbar not being acceptable to all.
“Some leaders in the Congress think they are the only voice of the minority community and that there is no one else,” said Arshad, who represents the Shivajinagar constituency in Bengaluru.
Bypolls for Davanagere South and Bagalkot were held on Thursday. The elections were necessitated following the deaths of sitting MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively. Samarth is the grandson of Shivashankarappa.
Muslim disgruntlement appears to be a concern for the Congress in Davanagere South. With 14 of the 25 candidates in the fray belonging to the community, the party fears a split in votes that could benefit the BJP.
Given its significant presence in the constituency, the Muslim community had strongly demanded the Congress ticket. Some party factions had opposed giving it to the Shamanur family.
Although the Congress persuaded rebel candidate Sadiq Pailwan to withdraw, he remained in the fray as the move came after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
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Two incidents of betting over IPL cricket matches in Mysuru: Five men arrested
Mysuru: Police have arrested five people in two separate cases where betting for the IPL cricket matches was going on, and have confiscated various equipment used by the arrested men for the illegal activity.
In the first case, Hebbal Police arrested two men who were reportedly found betting during the IPL cricket matches, and have confiscated one laptop and three mobile phones from the arrested men.
The arrested men are identified as Pradeep (39) and Praful (21) of Naidu Nagar.
The police team is learned to have conducted the operation on the third floor of a hotel within the Hebbal Police Station limits on getting information of betting over the IPL matches going on. The gamblers allegedly were getting citizens to invest money online and betting illegally on IPL matches over mobile phones and laptops in order to illegally earning money from them.
Pradeep and Praful were taken into custody by the police who have filed a case and are investigating it.
The second incident occurred near the Town Hall on Thursday, May 7, when Devaraja Police arrested three men who were gambling.
The police have arrested Kumar (33) of Mandimohalla, PV Vinod (32) of Ilava and Likhith Kumar (27) of Paduvarahalli.
The three men were reportedly carrying out their criminal activity inside a car parked behind the Town Hall on Thursday, in order to earn money from the IPL tournament through a mobile phone. They were also found to have gotten citizens to invest money online and off-line in the cricket matches.
They were found and arrested by policemen who were on beat in the area near the Town Hall. In addition, one car, Rs 15,900 in cash and three mobile phones were seized from them.
A case has been registered by the Devaraja Police officers, who are investigating the case.
