Karnataka: KP Nanjundi joins Congress hours after resignation from BJP
Nanjundi took the primary membership of the Congress party in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should live by the ideals of his father, legendary Biju Patnaik, in whose name the BJD has been formed rather than side with fascist forces, said Left party leaders as they mobilized support from all to condemn the violence in JNU campus and the CAA, NRC, and NPR.
The Left and Congress student wing activists staged protests at different places in the city here denouncing the barbaric attack on students and professors in JNU on Sunday and demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Left party and trade union leaders Janardan Pati, (CPM), RC Panda (CPI), Mahendra Parida and others met three BJD Ministers DS Mishra, Prafulla Malik, and Niranjan Pujari after the CM had deputed them to talk on his behalf.
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“We appealed to the CM to condemn the horrific incidents in the JNU campus and support the demand for a Supreme Court-monitored probe. We also appealed to him to support the trade union bandh call of 8 January,” said Pati while talking to reporters here.
The BJD should come out publicly and not just sit and tweet, he said while referring to CM Naveen Patnaik’s Twitter message condemning the violence.
He referred to Kerala Chief Minister’s appeal to Naveen Patnaik and the Kerala Assembly resolution expressing grave concern over the CAA.
Regretting that the BJD had supported the CAA, the Left leaders said, “We really don’t know the compulsions of the BJD but we can vouch for the fact that a democrat and freedom fighter like late Biju Patnaik would never have supported it.
“Why and under whose instructions were the street lights switched off, who called the masked goons inside the JNU campus and why was it that the police stood guard allowing the goons to go on the rampage,” asked Panda.
The Left party leaders reached out to OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik and held discussions with him on the action plan with regards to ensuring the success of the 8 January bandh.
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