High Tension Political Drama Grips Karnataka

Ananth Kumar, Javadekar hit out at Congress ‘Chola Bhatura’ fast

From Ananth Kumar and Javadekar hitting out at Congress to Vokkaliga Supremo accusing Siddaramaiah of corruption cases, the political drama in K’Taka grips the state in election fever.

By Narayan R, Garima Dhawan, Abhishek and Bharath Manjesh

Bangalore, April 12, 2018: Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar and Union Minister Prakash Javdekar have lashed out at the Indian National Congress, terming their act on April 9 as ‘Chola Bhatura’ fast.

The Bharatiya Janta Party are on a day-long fast across the country, today, protesting against the role of the Congress in the non-functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for 23 days from March 5 to March 27.

Speaking at the event, Kumar said that the BJP and its allies have foregone the salary and allowances for the period of 23 days, and challenged Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his party members to do the same.

He also termed his party’s fast today as ‘real’, claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing that to prove a point, unlike Congress, who did it as a gimmick. A couple of days earlier, photos emerged of Congress leaders eating chola bhatura hours before their fast.

Javadekar, the Human Resources Development Minister said that the BJP wants to wipe out the Congress by winning the upcoming Karnataka elections.

Also, he added that the Congress is unable to accept the mandate of the people of the country, which gave BJP 282 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and 21 out of 28 states.

The city saw a few other political meets that sought to question the existing government and political leaders in the state.

Vokkaliga supremo calls Siddaramaiah corrupt

The Vokkaliga Jagrate Vedike along with their PresidentGangadhar has called for a new Chief Minister on the grounds that the current one is corrupt.

He added, “The vokkaligas are calling on the next CM to support us. However the current CM has been against us. He’s been in corruption. He can’t win this time.”

While showing documents pertaining to a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) corruption case, Gangadhar said that they have submitted a 2000 page document to the Lokayukta, but in vain. He said, “They’ve taken away 3000 acres of land near Banashankari out of the BDA.  The government is completely corrupt, and I am writing a letter to the CM about this.”

The Vedike has also pointed fingers at Siddaramaiah’s Indira Canteen initiative and said that they should also work towards creating jobs and providing education.

B.H Suresh, member of the Vedike has said, “The Indira Canteen is not working out, for how long will the scheme run, we have better things like educations and jobs, so many people are unemployed, we should also concentrate on that.”

While questioning the contentious Lingayat move by the present government, he added. “ Siddaramaiah is a socialist man. He should be trying to remove caste. He shouldn’t have tried to create the lingayat tag issue.”

However, it was not only the Congress that had to bear the brunt as Sakala Maratha Samaj threatens to vote against the BJP if demands not met with.

Sakala Maratha Samaj wants to jump into the fray

Sakala Maratha Samaj members said that if tickets are not given to their members from Basavakalyan Taluk, Mysuru and Haliyal then the community  will vote against BJP. The community is spread over 40 constituencies in Karnataka. They expected 15 tickets all over Karnataka, however, they have failed to receive even one.

Narayan A. Ganesh, member of Maratha Samaj in Karnataka said, “Our traditional vote always goes to BJP but we are warning BJP if they do not give tickets to people from our community. We have a population of more than three lakh people from Bidar but yet M.G Mule’s; a Maratha candidate from Basavakalyan Taluk name did not appear in the first list for candidates though he was promised by B. S. Yeddyurappa.

He continued, “Adding to that, Maruthi Rao Pawar, ex-MLA from Mysuru, another Maratha candidate has also been denied a  ticket in  the upcoming election. Another candidate from Maratah Samaj, G.R Patil from the Haliyal constituency has not got the ticket in the first list of candidates though he was being assured by Yeddurappa.”

Giving as a warning to BJP Mr. Ganesh said, “If all the three tickets are not given then Maratha Samaj will vote against BJP in the coming election.”

Umesh Wagh , a member from Sakala Maratha Samaj said, “We have 35 lakh population in the Karnataka state. We want our status to be changed from 3B to 2A. The current government did not do anything to raise our voice and to fulfill people belonging to Maratha Kshatriya caste demand. We want 10 to15 MLAs in the state assembly from our community to raise our voice from any party.  We want all the national parties like BJP, Congress and even JD(S) to give our people tickets in the coming elections.”

Backward Classes Commission recommended that Maratha, who are under 3(B) category at present, should be included under 2(A). The 2(A) gets 15 per cent reservation in education and employed while the 3(B) gets only five per cent.

However, there is one who can save the citizenry from breaking their heads over the election fever.

K’taka’s politicians and the fault in their stars

He came. He saw. And He predicted. Meet the astrologer who knows the outcome of the state’s upcoming elections.

If only the election commission comes to its senses and listen to him. It can save on some serious moolah spent during the elections. He is the answer to Siddaramaiah’s sleepless nights; he is the cough drop to the scores of politicians screaming themselves hoarse for votes.

Meet Sahhasra Sarkar, Namma Karnataka’s answer to Bejan Daruwala who can predict with the precision of a sniper. He says he knows who is going to win the upcoming Karnataka elections. He says he knows exactly how many seats each party will win and even the exact number of people who will vote—3,42,20,312.

Don’t believe us? Then hear it from the horse’s mouth.

“I’ve been doing this for thirty years now. In 1984, I accurately predicted the number of seats the ruling party and the opposition would get. There are several more. In 2008, I predicted PM Manmohan Singh would come back for a second term,” said the Bangalore-based professional astrologer.

For the upcoming Karnataka elections, Sarkar has predicted 122 seats in total for the opposition parties, BJP and JD(S), and 102 seats for the ruling Congress party.

He even predicted the voter turnout. He said 68.75 per cent of the voters will cast their ballot, 31.25 per cent of the people will vote for the Congress party and 37 per cent of the vote will go the opposition parties, BJP and JD(S).

Interestingly, Sarkar said he was talking to the media to raise awareness that the movement of the planets impacts the daily affairs of people.

However, when Sarkar was quizzed on who would come to power or become the Chief Minister, he said the process of making predictions was laborious and that he needed ten more days to find out who would become the Chief Minister or which party would come to power.

Ten more days for the stars to align in the right position to spell the next Chief Ministers name. We urge the star gazers to keep their telescopes in working order.