MP Sumalatha Ambareesh meets J P Nadda; speculations rife about pitch for Mandya seat
Bengaluru, Feb 8: Independent Lok Sabha MP and actor Sumalatha Ambareesh on Thursday met BJP national president J P Nadda and party general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh giving rise to speculations about her pitching for a BJP ticket.
The Mandya MP, who defeated JD(S) scion Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, called on the two BJP leaders in New Delhi, and later posted photographs with them on the social media website X'.
"Today I met BJP National President J P Nadda and BJP National General Secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh informally and discussed about Mandya constituency and Lok Sabha elections. I thank Nadda Ji and Santhosh Ji for giving their precious time and listening to me. Thanks again for your kind words," Sumalatha said in her post.
Sumalatha has been cozying up to the BJP and is aspiring for a ticket from the party, sources close to her said, adding that she has kept her options open in case she is rebuffed.
In a recent interview to a news channel, she had said that some senior Congress leaders were also in touch with her.
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Mandya constituency has become a contentious issue for the BJP, its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) and Sumalatha for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, which is about two months away.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Sumalatha disturbed the political equations of the JD(S) and Congress in Mandya after she announced that she would contest the election.
Mandya was traditionally considered as a JD(S) bastion as it is dominated by the Vokkaliga community, which the JD(S) first family of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda belong to.
In the 2019 polls, the JD(S) tried to use the Mandya seat as a political launch pad for Gowda's grandson and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil. However, Sumalatha poured cold water over their plans by defeating him.
The latest speculations of Sumalatha seeking a BJP ticket to contest from Mandya is likely to be a vexatious issue in the 2024 polls for JD(S), which is now an ally of the BJP.
JD(S), which had won all the seven seats in 2018 assembly elections from Mandya district, suffered another serious setback in 2023 when it lost six seats to Congress and its ally.
Despite this, the party is not keen on giving up its stronghold.
With its tally in the state assembly reducing from 37 seats in 2018 to a mere 19 in 2023, the JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year after a meeting between H D Kumaraswamy, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda in New Delhi.
Both parties have said they would fight the coming Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka together.
ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಜೆ.ಪಿ ನಡ್ಡಾ ಅವರನ್ನು ಹಾಗೂ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಪ್ರಧಾನ ಕಾರ್ಯದರ್ಶಿಗಳಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಬಿ.ಎಲ್. ಸಂತೋಷ್ ಅವರನ್ನು ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕವಾಗಿ ಇಂದು ಭೇಟಿ ಭೇಟಿ ಮಾಡಿ ಮಂಡ್ಯ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ ಲೋಕಸಭಾ ಚುನಾವಣೆ ಕುರಿತಂತೆ ಚರ್ಚಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.
— Sumalatha Ambareesh 🇮🇳 ಸುಮಲತಾ ಅಂಬರೀಶ್ (@sumalathaA) February 8, 2024
ತಮ್ಮ ಅಮೂಲ್ಯ ಸಮಯವನ್ನು ನೀಡಿ, ನನ್ನ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಆಲಿಸಿದ… pic.twitter.com/T4qP7cdyNd
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
