Former Congress MLA Srinivas Murthy joins BJP
Former Congress MLA from Pulakeshinagar here, R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy joined the BJP on Wednesday. He had quit the Congress after being denied a ticket to contest the Assembly elections last year. Murthy subsequently entered the fray on a BSP ticket but lost. He was welcomed into the party fold by BJP veteran and former
Chief Minister B S
Yediyurappa and
Union Minister Shobha
Karandlaje, among other leaders.
Pulakeshinagar
Assembly constituency comes under Bengaluru North Lok Sabha segment, from where Karandlaje is contesting in the coming Lok Sabha elections. “Srinivas Murthy joining BJP before the elections has given the party a big strength,” Yediyurappa said on the occasion.
Cyber attack against Shailaja: IUML activist booked
Amid the high-octane poll campaign in Kerala, an activist of the Indian Union Muslim League has been booked for allegedly making fake and objectionable remarks through social media platforms against K K Shailaja, senior CPI(M) leader and candidate for the Vadakkara Lok Sabha seat.
The New Mahi police here registered a case on their own against Aslam, a local functionary of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), amid widespread criticism against the intense cyber attack against Shailaja for some days. IUML is a key member in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Shailaja is trying her luck in the Vadakara Lok Sabha seat against Congress’ Shafi Parambil and the BJP’s Praful Krishna. While the ruling CPI(M) alleged that the objectionable campaign was with the knowledge of the UDF candidate, they rejected the charges. “We registered a case on our own against the accused the other day under Section 153 of the IPC and 120 (O) of the Kerala Police Act,” a police ocer said. An investigation is going on, and further action will be taken soon, he added.
CPM’s nuke-free promise: Rajnath seeks Cong response
Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Wednesday questioned the intention behind the CPI(M)’s poll manifesto promise to dismantle the nuclear weapons in the country and demanded to know the stand of the Congress on this issue. Singh alleged that talks of dismantling India’s nuclear weapons amount to playing with national security. He also alleged that there was a “deep rooted conspiracy to weaken the country”.
Speaking at a public meeting in Kerala’s
Kasaragod, Singh demanded that the
Congress should indicate its stand on the
CPI(M)’s promise in the manifesto to dismantle nuclear weapons as it was the Indira Gandhi government which kicked o the country’s nuclear programme. He said India worked hard to become one of the 11 nuclear power nations in the world and dismantling its nuclear weapons will weaken the country whose neighbours Pakistan and China are nuclear powers. The CPI(M) in its manifesto has said that there will be “complete elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons”. Singh alleged that it appears that the Left and the Congress were trying to weaken the country.