Shivamogga (Karnataka) (PTI): Rebel BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa on Friday filed his nomination from Shivamogga for the May 7 Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate to take on official party nominee B Y Raghavendra, who is seeking reelection from the segment.

In Kalaburagi, Radhakrishna Doddamani, son-in-law of Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, also filed his papers. He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress chief D K Shivakumar.

Raghavendra is the son of BJP veteran and member of the party's Parliamentary Board and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

BJP leaders had appealed to Eshwarappa to desist from contesting but he remained steadfast on his decision.

Eshwarappa, who had also served as the party's state unit president, is miffed over his son K E Kanthesh being denied the ticket from the neighbouring Haveri segment.

The 75-year-old had alleged that Yediyurappa had promised to get the ticket for his son but betrayed him.

Eshwarappa, who has raised a banner of revolt against the party's state unit, has repeatedly attacked the Lingayat strongman Yediyurappa, saying the BJP is in the grip of his family.

Karnataka is going to the polls in two phases. While 14 Lok Sabha segments in the southern parts of the state will vote on April 26, the remaining 14 constituencies in the northern parts will vote in the second phase on May 7.

 

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Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.