‘Stung’ K’taka CM pulls out all stops to catch rivals napping
Often ridiculed by critics as Niddaramaiah for dozing off in public forums, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is on a mission to catch rivals off guard in the run-up to the assembly elections due in 2018.
The 68-year-old Congress leader has positioned himself at the forefront of the Kannada identity fight and against the Cen- tre’s perceived attempt to impose Hindi. He is also basking in the glory of conducting one of the biggest conferences on Dalit icon BR Ambedkar last week.
This is in line with some of his government’s measures that are seen as appealing to Kannada sub-nationalism tendencies. His latest move is setting up of a committee to look into the legality of having a state flag. at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Pani said this indicated Siddaramaiah had outthought rivals.
For political watchers, the Congress state unit is projecting itself as a regional force, whereas the BJP state unit has lost room to manoeuvre as part of the dominant national party.
The Kerala high court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Malayalam superstar Dileep, who was arrested two weeks ago in connection with the attack and sexual assault on a popular woman actor.
Rejecting the bail plea, the court said it was a serious case and his release at this juncture would affect the ongoing investigation. The court agreed with the prosecution that if he was released, he would influence some of the witnesses. The prosecution said many involved in the case, including his manager Apunni, were absconding. The court also approved scientific evidences presented by prosecution.
The actor had moved the high court after Angamally judicial magistrate court rejected his bail plea last week. His counsel said he would move the Supreme Court soon. Lodged in the Aluva sub jail, Dileep will be produced before the local court to extend his judicial custody.
The 31-year-old female actor was abducted by a gang of criminals and sexually assaulted in a moving car over a period of three hours on February 17. The assailants recorded the assault on their mobile phones and threatened to release the clip if she dared approach the police. During the attack, the main accused, Pulsar Suni, reportedly hinted that they were committing the crime at somebody else’s behest.
After the actor lodged a complaint, police arrested all the accused directly involved in the crime.
An investigation aimed at identifying the conspirators behind the attack finally led to Dileep’s arrest two weeks ago.