Kumaraswamy prays at Mysuru temple ahead of taking oath
Mysuru, May 23 : Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) legislative party leader H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday offered prayers to Hindu goddess Chamundeshwari at a hill temple ahead of taking oath as Karnataka's 25th Chief Minister later in the day.
"Kumaraswamy flew into the city in a chopper from Bengaluru and drove up to the hill with wife Anita for Chamundeshwari blessings before taking oath as Chief Minister in the evening," a party official told IANS.
Clad in ivory colour silk robes, Kumaraswamy entered the sanctum sanctorum barefoot with wife and invoked the family deity's blessings amid chanting of Vedic hymns and temple rituals.
The 58-year-old leader has been on a temple-hopping spree since Sunday after Governor Vajubhai Vala invited him on May 19 to form a JD-S-Congress coalition government following the fall of the three-day BJP government for want of a simple majority in a hung House.
"He returns to Bengaluru post-noon via Ramanagaram where he will stop over to visit the same goddess temple for her blessings," the official said.
After a round of temples in Bengaluru on Sunday, Kumaraswamy went to his home district of Hassan, about 180 km southwest of the state capital, where he prayed at the Ranganatha Swamy and Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temples.
The third son of former Prime Minister and JD-S supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy won from Ramanagaram and Channapatna segments in the May 12 Assembly election, about 30-40 km from Bengaluru.
The JD-S leader also visited his parents' house in Bengaluru south and took the blessings of Gowda and mother Chennamma for becoming the Chief Minister for a second time.
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Main accused in Delhi Police constable murder shot dead in Sangam Vihar
New Delhi (PTI): A day after the fatal stabbing of a Delhi Police constable, the main accused in the case was shot dead in an encounter with the personnel of the force in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area, officials said on Sunday.
Constable Kiran Pal was stabbed to death by three people on Saturday while on night patrolling duty in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area. Two accused -- Deepak Max and Krish Gupta -- were arrested later in that day.
The third accused, Raghav -- who stabbed Pal with a knife -- was hiding in Sangam Vihar, a senior police officer of Special Cell said.
Acting on specific information, teams of NDR of Special Cell and Narcotics Cell of South East District, went to the area connecting Sangam Vihar and Surajkund Road late on Saturday night, the officer said.
The accused was identified and asked to surrender. He, however, opened fire at the police personnel who retaliated in self-defence and injured the accused.
"He was immediately taken to the ESIC Hospital, Okhla, where he died," the officer said.
A pistol with two cartridges have been seized, the police officer said, adding no police official was injured in the encounter.
Constable Kiran Pal, posted at Govindpuri Police Station, was on night patrolling duty when he stopped three people riding a scooty in the early hours of Saturday.
The accused threw stones at the constable to evade arrest but he managed to waylay them by putting his bike in front of their vehicle, the officer said.
The constable also took away the keys of the scooty and started questioning the trio during which the accused stabbed him, the officer added.
