Two caught napping on duty!
You can’t have your 40 winks while on duty. A teacher and a head constable learnt it the hard way when they were caught napping, literally, at Mallasamudra checkpost. The static surveillance officials - Huluganna, the teacher, and Honnur Sab, the head constable - were posted there to check vehicles. Instead they fell asleep. When Assistant Returning Officer B Anand saw them dozing off, he did a double take. He, however, did try to wake them up but gave up after sometime. He then reported the incident to Returning Officer R Vinoth Priya, who ordered the suspension of the two. They were perhaps jolted awake when they learnt of the suspension order.
Many a slip between Kamala and Kai
This is what comes of jumping ship. Mysore Congress Lok Sabha candidate CH Vijayshankar, who dropped his saffron coat for the secular hues of the Congress, slipped up badly during his election campaign on Wednesday. Exhorting the crowd to cast their votes for his party symbol, the freshly minted Congressman blurted out, “Please vote for Kamala gurutu (Lotus symbol)” and realising his faux pas, smacked his own forehead and continued with “Kai gurutu (Hand symbol)”. Two supporters flanking him literally froze and looked down in embarrassment. As the saying goes, old habits die hard. Especially for Vijayshankar, who served as BJP MP for two terms, in 1998 and 2004.
Poll vigilance team on ‘Modi Sari’ chase
After the Modi kurta, Modi jacket and Modi beard, comes the Modi sari. While no one has yet been spotted draped in such a six-yarder, election vigilance officials on Tuesday evening swooped down on the famed Jayalaxmi Silks at Udyavar in Udupi, where eager women were reportedly exchanging tokens given by a political party, for the prized saris. Election officials got a tip-off from a bill for ‘Modi Sari’ issued by the store. Anitha Bhaskar, nodal officer for the Model Code of Conduct in Kaup, and her team ran into aggressive shop staff who objected to their action, questioned them and even abused them. Flashing her Election Commission identity card didn’t help matters either. Until the Karkala police arrived and booked cases against Ravindra and Virendra, the store owners. The team could trace only two such saris, as the remaining stock was quickly smuggled out to the store’s godown. Police seized CCTV footage for a clearer picture.