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Shivamogga : Former Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday said he is not scared of expulsion from the BJP as he reiterated his resolve to contest the Lok Sabha elections as an independent with full vigour. He said his expulsion was on the expected lines. BJP on Monday expelled Eshwarappa for six years for violating party discipline, and contesting Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate. “Ignoring the party’s directions, you are contesting as a rebel candidate from Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, causing embarrassment to the party. This is violation of party discipline,” state disciplinary committee president Lingaraj Patil said in the expulsion order. It said, “so, you have been relieved from all the responsibilities and have been expelled from the party for six years, with immediate effect.” Also Read BJP expels Karnataka ex-deputy CM Eshwarappa for entering poll fray Eshwarappa has remained steadfast on his decision to contest, spurning efforts by party lead

New Delhi : The Karnataka government’s decision to categorise the entire Muslim community as a backward caste for reservation purposes in the state has drawn criticism from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), which said such blanket categorisation undermines the principles of social justice. According to the data submitted by the Karnataka Backward Classes Welfare Department, all castes and communities within the Muslim religion have been enlisted as socially and educationally backward classes under Category IIB in the State List of Backward Classes. The NCBC, during a field visit last year, examined the state’s reservation policy for OBCs in educational institutions and government jobs. “All castes/communities of Muslim religion of Karnataka are being treated as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and listed as Muslim Caste separately under Category IIB in the State List of Backward Classes for providing them reservation in admission into educa

Belagavi : A couple was arrested after a 28-year-old married woman accused them of allegedly forcing her to convert to Islam by threatening to circulate her private photographs, police said on Monday. The victim also alleged that she was raped by the man, Rafik, in front of his wife on several occasions when she was staying with them at a rented house since 2021, police said. According to the police, the woman also alleged in her complaint that this month, the couple forced her to wear a burqa instead of “kumkum” and also forced her to perform namaaz five times in a day. Rafik also threatened to circulate her intimate pictures to her family members and others if she did not divorce her husband, convert to Islam and live with them, she said in the complaint. The victim got married in 2013 and has two children. In 2020, she met Rafik at her husband’s grocery store which he visited frequently and later befriended her. They also got involved in a physical relationship, which her husban

Bengaluru : The Karnataka unit of BJP on Monday staged statewide protests against the alleged brutal murder of a young woman in Hubbali. Neha Hiremath (23), daughter of Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was allegedly stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College in Dharwad on April 18 sparking statewide outrage. Neha was a first year student of Master of Computer Applications and the accused in the case, Fayaz, was earlier her classmate. Fayaz has been arrested by the police. The party decided to stage statewide protests accusing that the Congress government’s alleged “appeasement politics” was responsible for the incident. The party also highlighted a series of incidents such as the bomb blast in Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, attack on youths for chanting Jai Sri Ram, and reciting Hanuman Chalisa. Also Read Nadda accuses CM Siddaramaiah of ‘diluting’ MCA student murder case The BJP State President B Y Vijayendra led the protes

Bengaluru: An FIR was registered on Sunday, April 21, against BJP Office Secretary Lokesh Ambekallu and two others for illegally carrying Rs 2 crore in cash in a car, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said. The matter came to light on Saturday when the Static Surveillance Team (SST) of Chamrajpet intercepted a car here carrying cash of Rs 2 crore at 4.05 pm and intimated income tax officials, they said. According to the EC officials, the Income Tax department summoned office bearers of the BJP and concluded that there was no violation under IT laws as the source of the money was legitimate. But as per ECI (Election Commission of India) direction, cash of more than 10,000 given to party functionaries and candidates’ agents for political activities shall be done through cheque or online mode. Also Read BJP moving ahead with resolve of ‘Viksit Bharat’: Kishan Reddy ECI had also advised political parties not to carry huge amounts of cash. As there is a violation of ECI d

Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy reached Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru to take part in the Congress party’s campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He will participate in a roadshow in the city’s Sarvagnanagar at 5 pm. Then, he will also take part in a public meeting in Marathahalli junction followed by a corner meeting in South Bengaluru’s Hongasandra, the party said in a press release. He travelled to Bengaluru after campaigning for Neelam Madhu Mudhiraj, the party’s Lok Sabha seat candidate in Medak. Also Read Karnataka Congress stages empty pot protest in Bengaluru against Centre The chief minister on April 18, Thursday, had participated in the grand old party’s poll campaign in Kerala. While the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka are scheduled to take place in two phases with polling slated for April 26 and May 7, Telangana is going to the ballot on May 13, as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India. Get the latest updates in

Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress workers on Saturday staged a protest at various locations in Bengaluru holding empty pots against the ‘injustices’ meted out to the state by the central government. The protest was held ahead of the visit of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to the state. The police took the protestors, including AICC General Secretary, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and others into custody as they were staging a protest near the Mekhri Circle in Bengaluru. Surjewala stated, “The central government has done great injustice to Karnataka. In return for the demands of the Karnataka government and people for drought relief the Centre had given ‘chombu’ (empty pot, which also stands for cheating in colloquial Kannada).” “The people of the state had sought release of Rs 6,000 crore for the Upper Bhadra Project which was declared in the budget, but the central government had refused. If Karnataka gives Rs 100 as taxes, in turn it is only getting Rs 13,” Surjewala slammed. He added