The Times Of India - Bangalore, 2/4/2020 Cropped page Page: 4

THE TIMES OF INDIA, BENGALURUTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20204 TIMES CITY

18

BERTH PANGS Surapur MLA Raju Gouda Holds Meetings With Disgruntled Colleagues, Says Making An Ex-MLA Minister Defies Logic

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: The possibility of defeated MLA CP Yogeshwar being inducted into chief min-ister BS Yediyurappa’s cabinet is causing ripples within the ruling BJP, with many legisla-tors, especially from Kalyana-Karnataka region, raising a banner of revolt.

Several MLAs led by Surapur legislator Narasim-ha Nayak, also known as Raju Gouda, held a meeting at the Legislators Home on Monday and voiced their opposition.

“When there are more than two dozen MLAs aspir-ing for a cabinet berth, mak-ing a former MLA a minister

is beyond logic,” Gouda said. “We will convey our feelings to Yediyurappa and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Ka-teel.” Murugesh Nirani, Par-anna Munavalli, Rajkumar Patil, Dattatreya Patil Revoor, Basavaraj Mattimud are among others who attended the meeting. MP Renukacha-rya, political secretary to the CM and Honnali MLA, was also present at the meeting. “Some more MLAs will join us when we meet again to-morrow,” Gouda said.

The MLAs highlighted the

issue of caste and regional imbalance in the council of ministers to further their cause. With four from Ben-galuru and three from Bela-gavi district set to take oath on February 6, the share of MLAs from these districts in the cabinet will rise to seven and five respectively. Cur-rently, 16 districts have no representation.

Sources say Yediyurappa and BJP’s national leader-ship decided to reward Yo-geshwar with a cabinet berth for his “active” role in getting 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs to resign and join the BJP, ena-bling the party to grab power.

The party also believes he has the potential to become the Vokkaliga face of the BJP in the Old Mysuru region, where the party’s organisa-tion is weak.

If Yogeshwar is inducted, he will be the second former MLA to make it to Yediyurap-pa cabinet after deputy CM Laxman Savadi, who lost the 2018 assembly polls. Several party MLAs were unhappy with Savadi’s elevation and are now upping the ante against the party leadership.

“Let Yogeshwar be made Rajya Sabha or council mem-ber. We have no problem. But making him minister is not

acceptable. If they want to make defeated MLAs minis-ters, then why not AH Vishwa-nath and MTB Nagaraj, whose sacrifices brought BJP to power?” said Gouda.

Meanwhile, Vijayapura MLA Basavanagouda Patil Yatnal urged the CM to eval-uate the performance of ex-isting ministers and drop those found non-performing. “Many ministers don’t even

come to the Vidhana Soudha. What is the use of having such ministers?” he asked.

Yediyurappa also contin-ued to face pressure to in-duct Athani MLA Mahesh Kumatalli into the cabinet. The Jarkiholi brothers, Ramesh and Balachandra met Yediyurappa separately on Monday with a request to make Kumatalli, their confi-dant, a minister.

Legislators oppose Yogeshwar’s likely induction into BSY cabinet

Lingayats 11 (8 +3)

Vokkaligas 7 (3+4)

Kurubas 2 (1 + 1)

SC 4 (3+1)

ST 2 (1+1)

Brahmin 2 (1 +1)

OBC 2 (1 +1)

Vacant: 3

POSSIBLE MINISTERS & PORTFOLIOSAnand Singh: Energy/PWD

BC Patil: PWD/Energy

Shivaram Hebbar:Agriculture

Shrimanth Patil/Mahesh Kumatalli:

Sugar/Textiles

K Sudhakar: Medical education

Ramesh Jarkiholi: Water resources

ST Somashekar:Cooperation or Bengaluru development

Byrathi Basavaraj:Urban development

K Gopalaiah: Forests

KC Narayangowda: Minor irrigation

10turncoats

Umesh Katti: Food and civil supplies/ Agriculture

Arvind Limbavali: Higher Education

CP Yogeshwar/ S Angara/Halappa Achar/Appachu Ranjan/KG Bopaiah:Cooperation/Forest

LIKELY LOYALISTS 34cabinet berths (including CM)

18 Existing ministers (including CM)

Vacancies16

CASTE EQUATION * One cabinet berth is likely to be filled by one of the communities depending on who is selected

CAUSE OF UNHAPPINESS: A file picture of Raju Gouda and CP Yogeshwar. Gouda is objecting to Yogeshwar being made minister

POLITICS& POLICY

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hubballi: Former chief min-ister Siddaramaiah of the Congress took a dig at the 11 turncoats who won the bypolls on BJP tickets, saying they should not be made ministers. He also warned the BJP that they could walk out of the par-ty as they did with Congress and JD(S).

“In my view, no MLA who was re-elected in the bypolls, should be in-ducted into the cabinet,” Siddaramai-a h s a i d . “They cheat-ed their own parties, so who is to say they won’t do it again?”

Reports say chief minister BS Yediyurappa has assured AH Vishwanath and MTB Na-garaj, the disqualified MLAs who lost the bypolls, that they would be made ministers in June. Both met Yediyurappa and secured this assurance. The two were demanding that they be inducted into the cabi-net on Thursday.

Siddaramaiah also attacked the Union government for re-ducing grants to southern states and for not releasing Kar-nataka’s allotted share of funds under the 15th Finance Com-mission. “We will lose about Rs 10,000 crore by the next finan-cial year. Yediyurappa should incorporate these thoughts in the state budget,” he said.

‘Don’t make turncoats ministers’

BV.Shivashankar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: Prevalent up-heaval in the three major political parties in the state appears to have boosted the confidence of lone-ranger Mahima Patel, state presi-dent of Janata Dal (United), who is looking to fish in trou-bled waters by attempting to revive the Janata Parivar as an alternative to Congress and BJP in the state.

Notwithstanding several failures on earlier occasions,

Patel plans to take a cue from Aam Aadmi Party, that rode on the back of the Anna Hazare movement to become a force reckon with — at least in Delhi and Punjab. He has decided to make one more attempt with centenarian freedom fighter HS Doreswa-my at the forefront.

“An alternative political platform is the need of the hour as BJP and Con-gress have failed to fulfil aspi-rations of people, especially

the younger generation. What we need is a political party that propagates caste-less and

cash-less politics,” said Doreswamy, who plans to launch an in-definite sit-in (Satyga-raha) against the Un-ion government’s ill-conceived economic policies on February 6 in Bengaluru.

Patel, son of for-mer CM JH Patel, said like-minded leaders across par-ties will leverage Doreswa-my’s movement in order to

forge a partnership before planning further course of action. “Anna Hazare’s move-ment was historic as it spawned a new wave of poli-tics in India. Likewise, Doreswamy’s Satyagraha can take politics in Karnataka in a new direction. We can push for a new kind of polarisation in the state,” said Patel.

The initiative coincides with disgruntlement in BJP ahead of the cabinet expan-sion exercise and chaos in the state Congress over appoint-ing a president of the state

unit. Incumbent Dinesh Gun-durao had resigned in Decem-ber, but there is a squabble over a suitable replacement.

Patel is hoping against hope senior BJP MLAs, espe-cially wealthy ones like Murgesh Nirani and Umesh V Katti, will join him in building a formidable alter-nate political force.

“There are some function-aries, including those from the old Janata Parivar, who are unhappy with their parties. If they all to come together on a common platform, it will be

possible to revive the Janata Parivar,” said former minister and senior JD(S) MLC Basa-varaj Horatti.

While several preliminary meetings were held at Patel’s residence, the team is plan-ning to meet again on Febru-ary 16 and 23 to discuss the way forward.

However, many leaders say it is another futile at-tempt as there is little or no scope for an alternative party in Karnataka, especially with the BJP becoming a force to reckon with.

Mahima Patel attempts another shot at reviving Janata Parivar The JD(S) is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to

revive the party, which has been dubbed a sinking ship following a string of electoral setbacks. Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is said to have quietly embarked on a mission to rebuild his party before the next assembly polls in 2023.

“The idea of reviving Janata Parivar will not transpire in the present political situation,” Kumaraswamy, JD(S) Legislature Party leader, said. “It is better if these leaders

join hands to strengthen the JD(S), which already has a strong base,” he said.

Reacting to this, senior Congress functionary BL Shankar, originally from the Janata Parivar, said the revival of JD(S) is possible only when the party is freed from the clutches of the HD Deve Gowda family. “What Kumaraswamy should first do is to ensure JD(S) is free of its family orientation. Then he must ensure a pan-caste and pan-region party by involving different leaders,” said Shankar. TNN

JD(S) EYES ADVANTAGE

TOI

TNN & AGENCIES

New Delhi/Bengaluru: The BJP leadership has taken a dim view of party MP Anantkumar Hegde’s comments on Mahat-ma Gandhi and served him a show cause notice seeking an explanation. He may also be asked to apologise.

A Union minister from BJP said the party brass, including PM Narendra Modi, was “un-happy and upset” with Hegde for his swipe at Gandhi, whose birth and death anniversaries have often been occasions for the saffron party to launch public campaigns over a vari-ety of issues.

Further action will be de-cided after receiving Hegde’s reply, the minister said. “The party has conveyed its dis-pleasure to him and asked him

to take remedial measure. Any insult to Mahatma Gandhi is unacceptable,” he added.

Hegde has been no stranger to controversy. A minister of state during Modi’s first ten-ure, he was not included in the PM’s new team because of what sources described as Modi’s unhappiness over his hardline statements.

The BJP MP said at an event in Bengaluru that the

entire freedom movement was staged with the consent of the British, and the inde-pendence movement led by Gandhi was a “drama”. He also wondered why the Fa-ther of the Nation was called ‘Mahatma’ (great soul).

Opposition slams HegdeFormer CM Siddaramaiah said the MP was “shame-less” and his remarks do not deserve comment. “Hegde was apparently present dur-ing the freedom struggle and took part in it alongside Ma-hatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhai Patel, hence he is speaking from first-hand experience,” Siddaramaiah sarcastically said.

Hegde in soup over Gandhi comments

He [Gandhi] went to the British,

told them that he will act like he was leading a freedom struggle and that they could pick him and put him in jail. It was an understanding, 20:20 [fixed].Anantkumar Hegde | MP

OFFSIDE

Meet more authors, actorsfor some eventful sessions

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: Mark your calen-dar as the Times Litfest week-end is almost here. We con-tinue with our introduction of authors and speakers whom you will get to meet and listen to on February 8-9 at Jayama-hal Palace Hotel grounds.

JAIRAM RAMESH, the keynote speaker for this year’s Times Litfest, is a Rajya Sabha member. Jairam was Union minister between 2006 and 2014 and held key portfolios, including environment and forests. He is the author of several books and his latest is A Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of VK Krishna Menon. At the litfest, he will also be a panellist in the session, Relevance of Political Biographies: Sardar

Patel, Krishna Menon and Veer Savarkar, along with writers Vaibhav Purandare, Hindol Sengupta and TCA Raghavan.

RICHA CHADHA is best known for her roles as Bholi Punjaban in the Fukrey series, Nagma Khatoon in Gangs of Wasseypur and more recently, Hiral from Section 375 and Meenu from Panga. The actor’s list of upcoming projects includes the much-awaited Shakeela biopic, season 3 of Emmy-nominated digital series Inside Edge, and Anubhav Sinha’s Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai among others.

PIYUSH JHA is a film director and author of crime novels. His films, Chalo America,

King of Bollywood and Sikandar are noted for their unconventional subject matter and relevance to contemporary society. His crime-fiction suspense novels include Mumbaistan, Compass

Box Killer, Anti-Social Network and Raakshas.

MANDIRA BEDI is a well-known actor, fashion designer, fitness icon and an author. She’s a much-recognised name in Indian TV thanks to serials like Shanti, Aurat and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and as a host of multiple cricket tournaments and series. She has also co-authored a book with Satyadev Barman called Happy for No Reason.

NANDANA SEN is a writer, actor and child-rights activist. She has written six children’s books, including In My Heart and Kangaroo Kisses which was selected by 320 UK nurseries as a “Book of Excellence”. The Harvard alumnus has worked as a book editor, screenwriter, poetry translator, script-doctor, and as Princess Jasmine in Disneyland.

TAMANNAAH is one of the highest-paid actresses in south Indian cinema. A marquee name in Tamil and Telugu films, she has also acted in several Hindi movies. Starting her career in 2005 when she was 15 with Chand sa Roshan Chehra, Tamannah’s filmography today includes hits like Ayan, Paiyaa, 100% Love, Baahubali series and the recent Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.

ASEEM CHHABRA is the author of the biographies of Shashi Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, and the recently released Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star. A film-journalist based in New York, he has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer and BBC.com. He has also been a commentator on Indian cinema on British and American television. Aseem is the festival director of the New York Indian Film Festival.

Register for free at www.timeslitfestbengaluru.com

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Benga-luru Mahanagara Palike hasopened a sports arena built to in-ternational specifications in Vi-dyaranyapura, north Bengalu-ru. It includes a swimming pool,indoor stadium and a gym. TheRs 16-crore complex is spreadover 18 acres and took more thanseven years to be completed.This is the first playground ad-ded by the civic agency in recenttimes to the city, where youngs-ters scramble for space to play.

BBMP officials said thoughthe project was initiated in 2013for an estimated cost of Rs 6 cro-re, there was no progress for twoyears as approvals were delayed.“Construction began only in 2016and the project was to be comple-ted within a year. But it was dela-yed due to transfer of engineers.In a span of two years, four execu-tive engineers and two assistantexecutive engineers were shiftedcontributing to the delay,” said asenior BBMP official.

A sports fest held on Sundayto celebrate the sports arena wasinaugurated by mayor GouthamKumar and former minister andByatarayanapura MLA KrishnaByregowda. While the pool foradults is 50 metres long and 25metres wide, for kids it’s 6x4 met-res. There is a viewers’ gallerythat can accommodate up to 400persons. The indoor sports sta-dium includes a gym area whichcan hold 100 people, a yoga cent-re, two aerobics halls, two taek-wondo halls, a table tennis halland eight badminton courts.

“Everybody talks about

sports but it is also important toprovide a sports arena for child-ren to actively participate in it.The arena allows everybody,from toddlers to senior citizens,to use the sports complex andstay healthy,” Krishna Byregow-da told TOI.

Goutham Kumar said, “Gi-ven the fact that Bengalureansare increasingly becoming he-alth conscious and there is ashortage of playgrounds, thisarena will benefit residents ofVidyaranyapura and adjoiningareas. We should add many suchcomplexes in the city.”

BBMP opens 18-acre swanky sports arena in Vidyaranyapura

DIVE IN: The swimming pool is part of the first sports arena built by BBMP

TOINithya.Mandyam@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: With the straydog population increasingrapidly, BBMP is set to writeto Animal Welfare Board ofIndia (AWBI) seeking relaxa-tion in animal birth control(ABC) programme norms asit’s unable to get agencies onboard to neuter canines un-der the prevailing regime.

As per the latest stray dogcensus figures released lastDecember, around 1.4 lakhcanines have to neutered.This figure is 46% of the esti-mated stray dog populationin the city.

AWBI rules mandate theprogramme be conductedonly by non-governmentalorganisations or animalwelfare bodies.

However, the civic agen-cy’s expression of interest(EOI) notifications have be-en getting poor responsefrom not-for-profits.

For example, in Bomma-nahalli and east zones, thePalike floated a tender thricein the past few months but noone has come forward tocatch, sterilise and immuni-se stray dogs. A senior BBMPofficial said: “We will urgeAWBI to allow us to make useof veterinarians’ services toconduct the ABC program-me,” he added.

NGOs unhappy with tender componentsAnimal welfare NGOs, onthe other hand, say they’renot happy with componentsof the tender floated byBBMP. “It has fixed Rs 1,200for neutering a dog and Rs 150per dog for administeringanti-rabies vaccination.While the cost factor is ma-nageable, there aren’t many

shelters in the city to con-duct the operations. On theother hand, shelters ownedby NGOs can conduct only alimited number of opera-tions per day. Nobody wantsto take the risk,” said Prana-mya K, an animal activist.

More ABC centresBBMP officials say they haveplans to increase the numberof ABC centres where neute-ring operations are done anddogs are kept under observa-tion before being released ontheir home turfs. “Currently,we have only one ABC centreper zone. Given that the la-test census figures put thedog population at 3 lakh, weneed at least three-four cent-res per zone or one per as-sembly constituency. We areworking to set up moreunits,” said an official.

Goa-based Worldwide Ve-terinary Service Centre(WVSC) conducted the cen-sus in December. The lastsuch exercise was conductedseven years ago.

Palike to seek relaxation of ABC normsWill Ask Board To Let Vets Take Part In Neutering ProgrammeRohith.BR@timesgroup.com CITY & ITS

STRAYS3 LAKH stray dogs in city as per latest census

2 LAKHmale dogs

RR Nagar 52,961East 44,303Mahadevapura 46,334South 39,566Bommanahalli 38,940Yelahanka 36,217West 28,481Dasarahalli 23,170

ZONE-WISE STRAY DOG POPULATION

46%Strays yet to

be covered under ABC programme

84% Neutered dogs in Yelahanka, highest

among all zones. South zone fares the worst with 33%

1.8lakh strays

as per 2013 census

So

urc

e:

BB

MP

STRAY DOG MENACE

Bengaluru: Kannada ac-tor Sanjjanaa Galrani pa-id a fine of Rs 1,000 for usingher mobile while driving acar. On Monday, she visitedthe traffic managementcentre (TMC) on InfantryRoad and paid the amount.

On Janu-ary 14, Sanj-janaa hadshot a selfievideo whiledriving anopen car bet-

ween Banashankari andMajestic.

When the actor uploa-ded it on social media, shewas trolled for using hermobile while driving andviolating traffic rules. Shevisited the TMC, producedthe registration certificateof the car and her driving li-cence before paying the fi-ne. “I am a sincere citizenand have no intention tobreak rules,” she said in arelease later. TNN

Sanjjanaa pays`̀1k fine forselfie video

while driving

CCI NG 3.7 Product: TOIBangaloreBS PubDate: 04-02-2020 Zone: BangaloreCity Edition: 1 Page: TOIBGCC3 User: chetan.krishna Time: 02-03-2020 23:35 Color: CMYK

DESICINS 'THE LAB} COUNTRY'S FUTURE

USA~+ asafeasModular n '. ' 11MODERN INTERIOR

Corp . Office : Old No .2/420, New No .1/217, 8rini.aun N g- ,Kund rafhur Main Road, Ko.ur , Channel - 602 10 1.

TIME S

I N T E G R A T I N G S O L U T I O N S

-INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING -