1. Geeta Shivarajkumar joins Congress, to campaign for her brother Madhu Bangarappa
Geeta Shivarajkumar, the wife of sandalwood actor Shivarajkumar, joined the Congress on April 28 at the party office in the presence of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar.
The daughter of S. Bangarappa, a former Chief Minister of the State, Ms. Shivarajkumar had previously identified herself with the JD(S). Now, after joining the grand old party, she would campaign for her brother Madhu Bangarappa, a Congress candidate in the Soraba constituency in the Shivamogga district. Mr. Madhu Bangarappa is contesting against his brother Kumara Bangarappa of the BJP.
2. Congress seeks expulsion of BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal for calling Sonia Gandhi visha kanya
In a bid to counter All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘poisonous snake’ remark allegedly directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an election rally in Gadag on April 27, BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, has reportedly described former Congress president and MP Sonia Gandhi as a visha kanya (venomous woman). At a campaign rally at Yelburga in Koppal district on April 28, Mr. Yatnal, who is the party candidate from Vijayapura reportedly said, “Mallikarjun Kharge called Narendra Modi a cobra… You [Mr. Kharge] call him cobra. Is Sonia Gandhi, who you heavily depended on, a visha kanya [poisonous maiden]?...”
Following the remarks, on April 28, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar hit out at the BJP and urged BJP president J.P. Nadda to expel Mr. Yatnal from the party for allegedly ‘insulting Sonia Gandhi’.
3. Former Minister K.S. Eshwarappa clarifies Muslim vote remark in line with sab ka saath, sab ka vikas slogan of PM Modi
Former Minister K.S. Eshwarappa clarified that his statement on Muslim votes does not contradict Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan— Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas.
At a media conference in Shivamogga on April 28, Mr. Eshwarappa said he always reiterated that ‘nationalist Muslims’ are with the BJP. He went on to say that we don’t want votes of anti-nationals, engaged in violence against Hindus. Speaking to presspersons in Shivamogga on April 23, the former Minister had said he never went to Muslim streets in Shivamogga city to seek their votes and and would never go in future.
4. Election Commission orders postponement of Ajjavara-Menala Makham Urs in Sullia taluk
The Election Commission, in an order issued on April 27, has directed that the Ajjavara-Menala Makham Urs and religious discourse scheduled from April 28 to May 3 at the Dargah Sharief in the village in Sullia taluk be postponed.
Though conditional permission for the event was already granted, the Puttur Assistant Commissioner reported to the District Commissioner that the land on which the Urs was proposed to be conducted is under dispute between Hindus and Muslims. The order states that if the Urs was allowed to be conducted on the disputed land, there are chances of communal disputes that would impede the ongoing election process to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
