QBengaluru: NA Haris Gets Poll Ticket; No Cash Crunch in K’Taka
A quick look at top stories from Karnataka.
1. NA Haris Gets Ticket, Choksi’s Lawyer Dropped
Brushing aside the public outcry that erupted following the pub brawl involving his son Mohammed Haris, Congress has decided to field two-time MLA NA Haris from Shantinagar constituency in Bengaluru.
Congress, which released its second and final list of candidates on Sunday, has replaced candidates in six constituencies including Badami, where it has named Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as the candidate in place of Devaraj Patil. Siddaramaiah has been given the tickets to contest from Chamundeshwari and Badami.
In Madikeri, the party has replaced H S Chandramouli with K P Chandrakala following objections against him for being part of the legal team of Mehul Choksi.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
2. Apartment Dwellers Bring Forth Their Issues in Citizens’ Charter
Apartment dwellers in the city, in a first, collectively released a citizens’ charter on Sunday during a discussion with representatives of different political parties. They asked the political leaders to commit on specific issues listed in the charter.
The citizens’ charter mainly argues against discriminatory tariffs for services for apartments as against individual houses, and retrofitting sewage treatment plants (STPs) in old apartments.
The charter states that apartment residents pay almost 300% higher water cess and electricity tariff than individual houses and are forced to pay solid waste management cess and sewerage charges, despite they themselves dealing with the waste they generate and installing STPs.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Karnataka CM Claims he has no Social Media Accounts, BJP Asks EC to Reject his Nomination
BJP leaders in Karnataka on Sunday slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not disclosing his social media accounts in his election affidavit.
CM Siddaramaiah has a verified Twitter handle, @siddaramaiah, and Facebook account by his name, but none of these feature in his affidavit as part of his nomination papers for Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru.
In the run-up to the polls, Siddaramaiah has been using his verified Twitter and Facebook accounts to attack his political opponents and also propagate government programmes started during his tenure as CM.
In his affidavit, however, Siddaramaiah stated that he does not have a WhatsApp number, email ID, Facebook or Twitter account. In fact, he specified ‘nil’ against social media accounts.
(Source: The News Minute)
4. Election Commission, Facebook tie up to Push Voter Turnout
In a bid to popularise the #AllToPoll campaign, the Election Commission has tied up with Facebook to improve polling percentage in the assembly elections on 12 May.
Chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar said Facebook recently approached them to create awareness among voters.
“Our messages and videos will reach more voters this way, particularly the youth. We are also using #AllToPoll hashtag campaign on Twitter and Instagram, but we are yet to have any partnership with them,” he added.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Crunch Elsewhere but Cash Flowing in Karnataka: I-T Dept
While there are reports of cash shortage in some parts of the country, money seems to be flowing smoothly in poll-bound Karnataka, according to the Director-General of Income Tax, Investigation, Karnataka and Goa.
“Though the election process is just beginning, the I-T department has already seized Rs 4.13 crore in cash and 4.52 k.g. of gold jewellery valued at Rs 1.32 crore. Among the seizures, Bengaluru tops the list with Rs 2.47 crore followed by Ballari with Rs 55 lakh,” said a statement from the department.
All the seizures were reported after 27 March, when the poll dates were announced for Karnataka, sources in the I-T department said.
I-T officials said that cash seizures in most cases were in denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Rain Offers no Relief, Soaring Heat Leaves Bengaluru Sizzling
The blistering heat during the day and sudden showers in the evening have left many Bengalureans perplexed. While Prathap N K, a banker in Hebbal, complains of fever due to the fluctuating temperature, Nandini R of Rajarajeshwari Nagar is faced with an everyday crisis — to put her washed clothes outside to dry or not. “You never know when it rains,” she says. The quantity of rainfall (54mm) recorded this season from 1 March to 18 April has been more than double the average normal rainfall (26mm) during the same period.
(Source: The Times of India)
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