No political crisis at all in Karnataka: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday ruled out any political crisis, even as the rumblings within the ruling BJP have come out in the open during the visit of its national General Secretary in-charge of the State Arun Singh, amid speculations in some quarters about his replacement.
The Chief Minister said that the BJP high command will decide on action against party MLC A H Vishwanath for his recent "open statements," as he rubbished as "baseless" his allegations against his younger son and party vice-president B Y Vijayendra of interference in administration and "kickbacks" in an irrigation project.
"There is no political crisis at all...what is happening is just because one or two people (legislators) are saying something in the media, it is creating misunderstanding...these one or two people speaking against me is not new, they have been doing it since the beginning and it is getting highlighted," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, about 60 legislators have met national General Secretary Arun Singh on Thursday, but these one or two people who are making statements were not even allowed to meet him.
"There is no confusion or crisis, we are all together and united, and are focusing on the development work. None of my cabinet colleagues are disturbed by any of these things...
we will try and talk to one or two people who are involved in such activities, and try to resolve things," he added.
Speculations have been rife for some time now that a section of the ruling BJP is trying to push for unseating Yediyurappa, despite Singh ruling out replacing the Chief Minister and asserting that the 78-year old Lingayat strong man will continue in the top post.
MLA from Hubli-Dharwad West Arvind Bellad and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal who are said to be from the faction seeking Yediyurappa's replacement did not meet Singh on Thursday.
However, Tourism Minister C P Yogeshwar, who is also reportedly disgruntled, held discussions with him.
Not willing to comment on Vishwanath's statements, Yediyurappa said, the high command will decide on what action should be taken against him.
Regarding his allegation against his son and kickbacks in an irrigation project, the CM said, "these are all baseless allegations and the Irrigation Department Secretary will clarify everything...unnecessarily such allegations are being made, there is no basis for it. It is being done for political reasons."
Vishwanath has openly demanded Yediyurappa's ouster, and levelled allegations of corruption and interference in administration against Vijayendra.
This has resulted in a slugfest, as it elicited sharp reactions from the faction supporting the CM, especially his political secretaries M P Renukacharya and S R Vishwanath.
To add to this, allegations of phone-tapping and conspiracy to fix him by Bellad, had caused further embarrassment to the party and the government.
Amid speculations about replacing him, Yediyurappa had earlier said that he will continue in the top post as long as the BJP high command has confidence in him, but had subsequently asserted that there was no confusion on the issue of leadership and that he will work for the development of the state during the remaining two years of the term.
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Viral video claiming Australian PM cancelled Pakistani visas after Bondi Beach attack is fake
New Delhi: A video circulating on social media claiming that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the cancellation of all Pakistani visas following the recent terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach has been found to be false and digitally manipulated.
The six-second clip was widely shared on X and Facebook. The video allegedly showed Albanese making the announcement in the aftermath of the December 14 attack.
An X user Tyagi (@mktyaggi) had shared the video on December 14. He claimed that the Australian government had decided to revoke all Pakistani visas after the incident and the post received nearly 50,000 views. A similar claim was amplified by another X account, Tiger Raja Satire (@TigerRajaSinggh), whose post garnered over 82,000 views and without verification, the video was also shared by multiple Facebook users
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A closer examination of the clip by Alt News revealed that the visible lip-sync discrepancies and suspicion about its authenticity. No credible reports of any Australian government decision to cancel Pakistani visas following the attack were found on any platforms.
To verify the source of the visuals, a reverse image search was conducted by Alt News, using key frames from the viral video. This led to several news reports published in August 2022 by The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and The Age, which featured Anthony Albanese wearing the same attire and standing against the same backdrop. Those reports related to a parliamentary discussion on the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament and had no connection to the Bondi Beach incident.
There was no announcement regarding Pakistani visa holders during the press conference and authorities have also clarified that no link to Pakistan has been established in connection with the attack.
Police said, with roots in Tolichowki in Hyderabad, the attacker Sajid Akram had Indian lineage and had migrated to Australia in 1998 on a student visa. He had visited India only on a few occasions for family-related reasons. Officials further stated that the factors leading to the radicalisation of Sajid and his son did not appear to have any connection with India or local influences in Telangana. While Sajid held an Indian passport, his children were born in Australia and were Australian citizens.
