Bengaluru, November 01: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that they were not responsible for the BJP candidate’s decision to backtrack from contesting the by-election from Ramnagar constituency.

Speaking to reporters at Kanteerava Stadium here on Thursday after Kannada Rajyotsava programme, the Chief Minister said that Chandrasekhar's exit from the party was clear evidence on how the BJP would consider and treat leaders who come from other political parties. Another example for such treatment was SM Krishna, he said.

He would not react to the comments or allegations being made by the BJP. Sadananda Gowda has been making unnecessary allegation against him, the CM reacted on the BJP’s statement that Kumaraswamy would lose his power after November 6.

Do not neglect the election after BJP candidate’s exit from the election. Take the voters into confidence and get maximum votes from both the parties, he appealed the party workers.

“Because of the BJP attitude, Ramanagar candidate has left the party. We have not lured anybody. After filing nomination papers, I have not gone to Ramanagar and asked votes. People of Ramanagar have elected us. I will remember Ramanagar people till my last breath”, he said.

“Tiger of Mysuru Tippu Sultan Jayanti was the official programme of the previous government. But we will continue that programme”.

-          HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister

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Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.

In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.

Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.

“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.

Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.

“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.

He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.

“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.

He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.

Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.

The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”

Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.

As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.

Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.