Who is responsible for stampedes in UP, Maharashtra?: D.K. Shivakumar hits back
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has responded sharply to BJP’s criticism over the recent stampede incident near Chinnaswamy Stadium.
When asked about BJP's demand that the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister take responsibility for the incident, Shivakumar retorted, “Stampedes have occurred in railway stations in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. In UP, hundreds died in a temple stampede. Who is responsible for those? Did I blame the central government when I was in Ahmedabad just two days ago?”
Speaking at a World Environment Day marathon event organized by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board near Vidhana Soudha, he added, “They have always done politics over corpses. Be it during bandhs or in the Gangadhar murder case, they have a history of this.”
“The government has already taken action in the recent stampede case. An inquiry commission has been appointed. Such incidents have happened across the country, but the Congress party has never politicized tragedies.”
Taking a dig at BJP’s constant targeting of him, he said, “The stronger you are, the more enemies you have. If you’re weak, there are fewer. If you have no strength, you have no enemies. They are scared of us. If the media stands with us, we’ll take oath again at Vidhana Soudha in 2028.”
When asked if he would be the next CM, he replied, “The Congress government will take oath again.”
On being asked about the High Court’s interim stay on the garbage disposal re-tendering process, Shivakumar responded, “How can we keep the city clean if we don’t act? I’ll review the judgment. Previously, there were 89 tenders. The same people formed a group, a mafia. They think they can derail us, but we’ll explain the matter to the court.”
He added, “A group is using PILs and stay orders as intimidation tactics. But this won’t work with our government. We’ll remove the old players and give opportunities to new ones.”
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EC orders probe into voting by foreigners in TN polls, 10 held in Chennai
Chennai (PTI): The Election Commission has ordered a probe into the allegations of foreign nationals "deceitfully" voting in the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly election, an official said on Saturday.
The EC's action follows a report submitted by the police recently after they arrested ten foreign nationals who attempted to board a flight. The airport officials became suspicious when they noticed indelible ink on their index fingers and alerted the police.
The Chennai police said ten foreign nationals were arrested in nine cases for allegedly casting votes in the Tamil Nadu 2026 Assembly polls. They were detained at the Chennai and Madurai airports. Police enquiry revealed that these nationals were from Sri Lanka, the UK and Canada.
"They had used fraudulent Indian ID documents to cast the votes. The indelible ink was noticed on their fingers when they attempted to fly out," the police official said.
The police Central Crime Branch registered cases and is probing, the official said and added that as per EC rules, an overseas elector must be a citizen of India who has not acquired citizenship in any other country. Those who have renounced Indian citizenship are barred from voting.
Non-Resident Indians can register to vote under Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act and they are required to produce their original Indian passport at the polling booth, he added.
