Will not contest from Chamundeshwari seat in next assembly polls: Siddaramaiah
Mandya, Mar 13: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is reluctant to contest the 2023 assembly election in the state from the Chamundeshwari assembly segment in Mysuru district where he had lost in 2018.
As the sitting chief minister back in 2018, he chose to contest from Chamundeshwari and vacated his 'safe seat' of Varuna in Mysuru district to son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah.
While his son emerged victorious, the senior Siddaramaiah lost to JD(S) leader G T Deve Gowda with a margin of about 34,000 votes in Chamundeshwari seat.
People are calling me to contest from four to five places. I have not decided yet, Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
When asked whether he would try his luck from Chamundeshwari seat in 2023, the Congress leader said, I will not contest from there.
Replying to a query on the possibility of elections being held ahead of schedule following the BJP's victory in four out of five assembly polls recently, Siddaramaiah said he did not think it will happen.
He added that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa and other leaders have also ruled it out. Calling such questions speculative, he said there was no reason for holding early elections when the polls are due in April 2023.
However, Siddaramaiah, who is Congress Legislative Party leader said: In case there are early elections, we are ready to face. People are in our favour.
To a query on the rumours that many Congress leaders were ready to switch sides, the CLP leader asked people to wait and watch to see many BJP leaders joining the Congress.
Siddaramaiah also claimed that the Janata Dal (Secular) MLA G T Deve Gowda has spoken to him seeking ticket for himself and his son. I have told him that I have not yet spoken to the party high command, the CLP leader said.
On the possibility of BJP and the JD(S) forming an alliance, the former chief minister said: "We are not bothered if they form an alliance, come to an understanding or even go for match fixing.
Regarding former Union minister C M Ibrahim's allegations, who resigned from Congress and is expected to join the JD(S), Siddaramaiah said there was no need to give value to the allegations made by a person who has quit the party.
"Ibrahim was given ticket to contest the assembly election from Bhadravathi assembly constituency by denying ticket to a sitting MLA Sangamesh in 2013 but he lost. I made him, a defeated candidate, planning board chairman. Further, I made him an MLC. What injustice has happened to him from the Congress?" Siddaramaiah hit back.
These things happen when a man becomes overambitious, he said.
The former chief minister also said there will be no effect on the party after Ibrahim's exit.
Siddaramaiah said Ibrahim wanted to be the leader of the opposition in the (Legislative) Council but the party gave B K Hari Prasad the responsibility.
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Money-dispute angle emerges in Delhi bus gangrape case
New Delhi (PTI): Police probing the alleged gangrape of a 30-year-old woman inside a private sleeper bus in Outer Delhi have found that there was a dispute over money between the victim and the accused, sources said on Friday.
The woman was allegedly dragged inside the bus and raped by the driver and the conductor in the Mangolpuri area here on May 11. Both the accused were arrested the following day.
According to the police sources, the woman, in her complaint, has stated that there was a dispute over money with the accused.
The sources also said that one of the accused did not flee the spot after the incident and the victim later used his mobile phone to call police.
The woman has also told police that her husband is suffering from a medical condition and is unable to work. The couple have four children and she has been working to support the family, the sources said.
Police are probing the case from all angles and have already seized the bus. CCTV footage from the route taken by the vehicle on the day of the incident is also being examined.
The case was registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) dealing with rape and gangrape, police said.
