Karnataka

The state Brahmin association has given a call to the community members not to sit quiet with the ruling BJP's plan of allocating the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities which have 16 per cent and 17 per cent of the population in the state.

Clarifying his statement, Siddaramaiah said, "I have asked him (Chief Minister) to show courage in the interest of the state. The Central government has not given enough funds for the development of the state rather it has been reduced. My statement was issued in this direction, it does not have any other objective."

Law Minister J.C. Madhuswamy stated that the state Cabinet has decided to do away with categories 3A and 3B under which these communities got reservation in education and jobs. Both communities sought reservation under Category 2A, but the government has created Category 2C and 2D to fulfil the demand. He also clarified that reservation to different caste groups under Category 2A won't be touched and continue in the same form. The remaining quota in 10 per cent reservation under EWS will be shifted to 2C and 2D categories. However, it is not clear on how much quota of reservation would be allotted to Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities.

"Just like China has entered (India), we will also enter (Karnataka). We do not need anyone's permission for this. We are keen to resolve it (the dispute) through negotiations, but the Karnataka Chief minister is igniting the fire," Raut said grimly. Charging that there is a "weak government" in Maharashtra which is not taking a stand, he pointed out that the border row is 70 years old and "we have nothing against the people of Karnataka, but it is also a question of humanity".

The sleuths raided the National Education Foundation located in Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru and conducted verification of documents. Shivakumar is the chairman of the foundation and his daughter Ishwarya is the secretary. Shivakumar stated that CBI has conducted raids on his educational institutions.

To repeat the feat in Karnataka, the saffron party is planning to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state three to four times in January and February. Union Minister for Coal, Mining and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi has announced that PM Modi will inaugurate the prestigious IIT-Dharwad in January first week.

Sources close to Janardhana Reddy said that he had already decided to launch a new party called 'Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha'. They also said that he was leaving for New Delhi to get his party registered with the Election Commission.

National General Secretary and BJP MLA C.T. Ravi had attacked Siddaramaiah and called him 'Siddramullah Khan'. Later the ruling BJP party supported him on his statement. "BJP has made lies, propaganda and assassination of character as part of their political propaganda. It's attempt to give me the Muslim name, Sidramullah Khan, is not surprising," he said.

"We are looking ahead to the opening of the temple," he says. Prakash was part of the movement launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party to build the Ram Mandir and went from Karnataka with his family to Ayodhya as a young man. Now, he is a senior leader in the state BJP. "First of all it was not Babri Masjid, it was a disputed structure and the dispute is over," he says. "There is an absolute sense of satisfaction today. If the issue was not to be raised, the court would not have taken the decision of handing over the property to the original owners. Our efforts did yield results," Prakash asserts.

"If Muslims had opposed Hindus during the Mughal rule not a single Hindu would have been left in India...They could have killed all Hindus. Though they ruled over for hundreds of years, why Muslims remain a minority?" said Mulasavalagi. The retired judge made the controversial statements in a seminar titled 'Has objectives of the Constitution been fulfilled?' at Vijayapura city in the state. The statement went viral on social media. The seminar organised by Raastreeya Souharda Vedike and other organisations was held on Thursday.