1. HDK Claims Poaching bid, BJP Corrals 104 MLAs in Gurugram
With the BJP deciding to keep all its 104 MLAs penned in Gurugram and three Congress MLAs reported missing, speculation escalated about former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa activating his standard operating procedure to bring about a regime change.
The saffron MLAs, in New Delhi for a meeting of the party’s national council, have been asked to stay put at ITC Bharat in Gurugram and were not able to spend sankranti with their families. It was an extraordinary situation given the importance of the festival among Kannadigas, which confirmed CM HD Kumaraswamy’s worst fears.
“There is no doubt Operation Lotus 3.0 has started. The BJP has been desperately trying to lure our MLAs. I know how much money and what gifts are being offered. I also have information in whose name the BJP had booked rooms for Congress-JD(S) MLAs in Mumbai,” said the CM, adding they were offering Rs 50 crore for a minister’s post and Rs 30 crore to contest the polls.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Bengaluru Voters’ Strength up by 1.6 Lakh; Over 17k Are First-Timers
Nearly 1.6 lakh more Bengalureans are eligible to vote in the upcoming parliamentary polls likely to be held in April-May this year. More than 10% of them, 17,686 to be precise, are first-time voters.
With the special summary revision of electoral rolls complete, election authorities in Bengaluru are publishing the draft voters’ list on Wednesday, 16 January, inviting requests for corrections, if any. There are 89,57,750 voters in Bengaluru, including 46,76,994 men and 42,72,205 women. They are spread over 28 assembly constituencies. During the assembly elections in 2018, there were 87,98,335 voters in Bengaluru. Bengaluru South assembly constituency has the highest number of voters at 5.9 lakh, while Shivajinagar has the least at 1.9 lakh.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Cong Declares 3-day Padayatra in Mangaluru
Congress leaders in Karnataka have announced a three-day padayatra in Mangaluru to protest against the halting of the roadworks on National Highway 75, which connects the port city to the state capital Bengaluru.
The protest, which began on Monday, 14 January, will see Congress leaders cover a 42 km stretch of the highway in the district by foot.
"We want to ask the government to save lives of people by re-starting the roadwork on National Highway 75. The highway to Bengaluru should be a four-lane highway," Congress leader and former Karnataka Minister Ramanath Rai said at the start of the protest in Nelyadi.
He was accompanied by UT Khader, former legislators Vinay Kumar Sorake, JR Lobo, MLC Harish Kumar, Ivan D'Souza, Gopalswamy, Hassan District Congress President Manjunath Javagal and HK Mahesh.
(Source: The News Minute)
4. Shift 3 Lankesh Murder Accused to Mumbai from Bengaluru HC
The Bombay High Court Monday, 14 January, ordered that the three accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case be shifted from a Bengaluru jail to Mumbai's Arthur Road prison to enable them to file affidavits and defend a petition by the Maharashtra ATS seeking their custody in an arms haul case.
Justice Mridula Bhatkar gave the direction when hearing an application filed by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad seeking custody of the three accused — Amol Kale, Amit Baddi and Ganesh Miskin.
The three are currently lodged at the central prison in Bengaluru after they were charge-sheeted for their alleged role in the killing of writer-journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017
(Source: The Week)
5. Manipal Group: Manager Siphoned Off Crores for 9 Years
Sandeep Gururaj, accused of defrauding Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), adopted elaborate methods to route Rs 62 crore to the family of a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair.
The police said Gururaj, the former general manager of finance in MEMG, transferred the money over a period of nine years. Nearly Rs 52 crore of the stolen money was sent to Vishal Somanna, the brother of his lover Amrita Chengappa.
Gururaj (38) joined MEMG in 2004 and took over financial transactions after winning the trust of MEMG Chairman Ranjan Pai and Director Shruthi R Pai. Amrita Chengappa was an HR manager in the company during that time.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
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