NDA allies field BJP leaders to counter SP caste coalition
The Hindu
Strategy aimed at leveraging satraps’ Nishad, Kurmi support bases
New entrants from the Opposition parties as well as leaders associated with the BJP are being fielded by it on the symbol of its two OBC-based allies — the Nishad Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal) — as the saffron party crafts a strategy to capitalize on their Nishad and Kurmi support bases to counter the Samajwadi Party-led alliance’s caste mobilization.
Of the four candidates declared so far by the Nishad Party, three are associated with the BJP while one had recently joined the saffron party. The BJP had lost three out of these four seats in 2017.
A crowd comprising farmers, researchers, professors, students, and horticulture enthusiasts thronged the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru, on Friday for the inaugural ceremony of the Triphal Diversity Show which showcased 300 mango, 100 jackfruit, and 100 banana genotypes in collaboration with ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli.
The State government on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Director-General of Police, Manish Kharbikar of the Economic Offences division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the alleged multi-crore scam in the government-run Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
The Deputy Commissioner and the Election Officer for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency M. P. Mullai Muhilan said here on Friday that over 600 staff will be involved in the counting of votes cast in the April 26 elections, at the counting centre at the National Institute of Technology – Karnataka, Surathkal, on June 4.