Siddaramaiah makes video appeal to upset party men to ensure victory of CM's son in Mandya
Bengaluru, Apr 8: With efforts to tide over local opposition to JD(S) candidate and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil in Mandya Lok Sabha constituency bearing no fruit, state Congress strongman Siddaramaiah Monday appealed to leaders and workers of both parties through a video to work unitedly.
Upset over the party conceding the seat to JDS, the local Congress leaders and workers in Mandya have been strongly opposing the candidature of Nikhil and openly stated that they would not work for his victory.
"Nikhil Kumaraswamy is contesting as the coalition candidate from Mandya Lok Sabha constituency.
I request Congress leaders and workers and JD(S) leaders and workers to campaign unitedly and get votes for Nikhil Kumaraswamy and bless him," Siddaramaiah said in the video message.
Also appealing to voters of Mandya to bless him, he said "Deve Gowda and I on April 12 will campaign together for Nikhil Kumaraswamy."
Interestingly, the video appeal was tweeted by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
"The call by the Congress-JD(S) coalition coordination committee Chairman Siddaramaiah to workers of both parties to face the election unitedly and to ensure Nikhil's victory in Mandya is timely.
Let workers of both parties work unitedly in all 28 constituencies and strive for the victory of our candidates," Kumaraswamy tweeted along with the video.
Congress and JD(S) that have decided to face the polls together are contesting in 21 and seven constituencies respectively.
Congress leaders in Mandya are miffed over the party's decision to cede the seat to JD(S) and have stayed away from campaigning, with most of them even extending support to independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, who hasBJP's support on her side.
Siddaramaiah had recently called a meeting of Congress leaders from Mandya and cautioned them about the repercussions in Mysore if they don't support JD(S) candidate there.
Congress candidate Vijayshankar will need JD(S)' support to win in Mysore, as majority of legislators there are from the regional party, with two of them being Ministers.
According to sources, during the meeting with Siddarmaiah, Mandya Congress leaders expressed difficulty in supporting JD(S), their arch rival in the district.
Also citing Kumaraswamy himself not seeking their support as one of the reasons for their staying away, they also voiced their strong opinion against certain statements by the Chief Minister on a section of Mandya Congress leaders recently.
Several Mandya Congress leaders, including former MLAs N Cheluvarayaswamy, P M Narendra swamy and Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda have not been campaigning for Nikhil and had not even attended his nomination filing.
With no support from the Congress,Nikhil himself recently visited Siddaramaiah's residence and sought hissupport.
It is a high stakes battle for Kumaraswamy in Mandya as his son is the candidate there and winning the polls will establish JD(S)' supremacy on the Vokkaliga bastion, where all the eight MLAs are from the party.
Mandya will go to polls in the first phase on April 18.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bondi Beach shooting suspect conducted firearms training with his father, Australian police say
Melbourne (AP): A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father, Australian police documents released on Monday allege.
The men recorded a video about their justification for the meticulously planned attack, according to a police statement of facts that was made public following Naveed Akram's video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital where he has been treated for an abdominal injury.
Officers wounded Akram at the scene of the Dec. 14 shooting and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
ALSO READ: 4 of family charred to death in fire at house in Howrah
The New South Wales state government confirmed Naveed Akram was transferred on Monday from a hospital to a prison. Neither facility was identified by authorities.
The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father began their attack by throwing four improvised explosive devices toward a crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at Bondi Beach, but the devices failed to explode.
Police described the devices as three aluminium pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb containing an explosive, black powder and steel ball bearings. None detonated, but police described them as “viable” IEDs.
Authorities have charged Akram with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one count of committing a terrorist act.
The antisemitic attack at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration was Australia's worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996.
The New South Wales government introduced draft laws to Parliament on Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would become the toughest in Australia.
The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms license. That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa.
Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns. A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.
Police said a video found on Naveed Akram's phone shows him with his father "reciting their political and religious views and appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.”
The men are seen in the video “condemning the acts of Zionists” while they also “adhere to a religiously motivated ideology linked to the Islamic State,” police said.
Video shot in October shows them “firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner” on grassland surrounded by trees, police said.
“There is evidence that the Accused and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months,” police allege.
