News18 Daybreak | Yeddyurappa to Take Oath as CM, Congress-JD(S) Moves SC and Other Stories You May Have Missed
In case you missed it
Amid controversy, the Karnataka Governor on Wednesday invited the Bharatiya Janata Party to form government first in Karnataka, ahead of the other claimant - the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) combine. BS Yeddyurappa, who has been given 15 days time to prove his party's majority in a floor test, was scheduled to be sworn in as the CM at 9.30 a.m on Thursday
Not taking the loss in its stride, however, the Congress-JD(S) combine, which has 117 MLAs, well clear of the magic mark, moved the Supreme Court late at night, approaching the Chief Justice of India with writ petitions against BSY's 9.30 am swearing in and also against the 15-day long floor test which it called was 'license for poaching'. The SC agreed to hearing the petitions at 1.45 and at 4.25 a.m. rules against staying the new CM's appointment but agreed to hear further arguments later.
The Congress, which referred to the decision to invite BJP before the Congress-JD(S) as the ‘murder of democracy', had previously warned that it would move the Supreme Court if denied the chance to form the government first.
The knives are already out against the outgoing Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The Speaker in the outgoing Assembly, K B Koliwad, has held him directly responsible for the defeat. Koliwad, who lost from Ranebennur by 6000 votes to an independent allegedly fielded by Siddaramaiah, said that Congress must reclaim the party from him.
The outgoing CM allegedly got emotional in a meeting held with new Congress legislators in the state, after facing flak for the Congress’s losses.
Amid allegations of MLA-poaching against the BJP in the aftermath of the Karnataka results, a report by the Karnataka Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has stated that out of the 221 newly elected MLAs, 215 (97%) are crorepatis. The statistics received spotlight after Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (S) alleged that BJP has been trying to poach their MLAs to gain the required 7 seats for simple majority by offering Rs 100 crore for each defecting MLA.
Ramzan Ceasefire: The Indian government has declared a ‘conditional ceasefire’ by security forces in Jammu & Kashmir in view of the holy month of Ramzan, commencing from Thursday. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the decision to suspend military operations against terrorists has been taken to help 'peace-loving Muslims' observe the holy month of Ramzan peacefully. The announcement comes just a week after J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti proposed the idea of a unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir during Ramzaan. Mufti has thanked PM Modi and Rajnath Singh for the ceasefire which, she feels, will pave the way for more sustainable peace talks. However the army clarified that the MHA’s order leaves room for the army to retaliate in case of attack and also to carry out certain specific operations.
Simultaneous Elections: In a meeting that lasted over one-and-a-half hours, the Justice BS Chauhan-led law panel has asked the Election Commission to showcase past instances of the model code of conduct influencing any functioning of either state or central government. Both bodies had met on Wednesday to deliberate and iron out issues relating to the feasibility of holding simultaneous state and general elections in the country as proposed by the Law Commission a few weeks ago.
Facebook said that it was easier for the social networking giant to filter out nudity related content from the site than to filter hate speech. Facebook’s self-assessment showed that its screening system which includes artificial intelligence algorithms and human reviewers is far better at scrubbing graphic violence, gratuitous nudity and terrorist propaganda than it is at getting rid of sexist, racist and other hateful remarks, comments, posts from the site.
Varanasi Bridge Collapse: Four officials of the UP State Bridge Corporation have been suspended after 18 people died when a portion of an under-construction flyover collapsed in Varanasi, the high-profile Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The accident in has posed a big question mark on the standard of works carried out by the UP Bridge Corporation in the recent past though many reports have blamed the recent thunderstorms for the accident.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be questioned by the police on Friday in connection with the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash in February. Prakash was allegedly attacked during a meeting at the chief minister's residence on February 19 in which the CM had been present along with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former advisor VK Jain.
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Congress’s swift and tactical reaction in joining hands with Janata Dal (Secular) in order to counter the BJP in the aftermath of the hung Karnataka election results marks the first time that the Congress has tried to pull a fast one on BJP. Post polling, Congress, in anticipation of a hung Assembly, had its Chief Minister Siddaramaiah declare that he was ready to make way for a Dalit CM if the need so arises. It’s a far cry from the Rahul Gandhi who had at an earlier Jaipur session of Congress called power a “poisoned chalice”. Today’s Rahul realises the importance of keeping the cadre enthused with results, that is, winning. Is the Gandhi scion finally ready to fight the BJP?
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