DVS dares Sriramulu to topple government

Reacting to Sriramulu’s threat to topple the BJP-led government in Karnataka, Gowda said: “He (Sriramulu) had made similar abortive attempts earlier. Let him repeat, we will face it.”

He said the senior BJP leaders, who backed Sriramulu, have returned to the party fold in Bellary, which is going for bypoll. Sriramulu, whose resignation necessitated the byelection, is contesting as an Independent candidate.

Drought relief

In a memorandum to Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar, the chief minister asked the Centre to send a delegation to assess the drought situation and release a grant of Rs 723 crore to take up relief programmes. Damage to crop in 99 drought-hit taluks is estimated to be around Rs 4,544 crore.