Siddaramaiah's announcement causes flutters in congress
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he will not fight electoral elections anymore. He had said the same when he was the Chief Minister as well. At a time when Siddaramaiah seemed inevitable to Congress demand for dalit Chief Minister was created.
The demand was created to unseat Siddaramaiah and not to make a dalit Chief Minister of the state.
Native Congress when fired so long as Siddaramaiah was in the party they would never get a chance to become the chief minister. To dissuade the fears of native congressmen, siddaramaiah had then told he would not fight elections anymore.
With this, the Parmeshwar gang was happy that the he can become a chief minister next time.
Owing to his duty towards people he was forced to fight Vidhan Sabha elections last time.
If Congress had achieved majority, Siddaramaiah's becoming of the CM second time over was most certain. Hence in order to avoid working under him again, native Congressis ensured he lost the Chamundeshwari seat. More than his opponent's pluses, anti-Siddaramaiah gang worked to make sure he lost. However, he won with a small margin in Badami, his second seat. If he had lost that, Siddaramaiah would have been a closed chapter in Congress.
This time again, Siddaramaiah has said he won't contest elections anymore. This time the announcement has come after considering changing political scenario and realities. This is a message to most leaders in his party and also to his opponents. He has made his role clear in the coming days in a rather delicate manner. He still nurses some anger about leaders who ensured his failure in Congress during last polls.
He has even made his inevitability clear when his party and JDS came together to form coalition government.
By now, other leaders also know that Siddaramaiah's presence is inevitable to Congress. Looks like former CM Siddaramaiah has decided to quit full time politics after teaching a good lesson to people who worked to defeat him. So his announcement of not contesting elections also means he'd stay away from the fighting grounds for a while. He now wants to play the king maker. So DKS gang can rely on him without any hesitation now. Because now Siddaramaiah is in a mindset that if he doesn't become the CM, that's fine. But he will not let someone else, especially his opponent to become one.
He did not say he'd stay out of politics either. DKS recently said Cong lost because the party supported the Lingayat issue in a rather irresponsible manner. In a way, this statement has Siddaramaiah as target. This statement makes the Lingayat issue some kind of a political strategy. Congress had lost miserably many a times even when the party never went close to the Lingayat issue. Internal conflicts caused the failure of Congress this time over. Hindutva wave also caused enough damage. BJP spent money like water in the elections rendering Congress helpless. Leaders like D.K. Shivakumar who hardly know anything about Lingayat dharma or about Basavanna, cause more damage to Congress.
The party has already earned the wrath of Veerashaivas on Lingayat issue. Most of the Veerashaivas are followers of RSS or BJP. Now even Lingayats will probably look at Congress with suspicion over this. Lingayat leaders now understand that their fight has to be a separate one and this has to be fought outside the citadel of Congress. Siddaramaiah knows the history of this land.
Is political journey is free from money, muscle power and rowdyism. His space is secure in the history of Karnataka respective of his victory or loss.
He can give fresh lease of life to value based politics. Hence his decision to not contest electoral elections must give him more free space to work in the Congress.
He must now concentrate on creating new generation of leaders for the state. This would help both the party and the state as well. Congress high command must focus on using his experience and statesmanship for its growth and the future of the party in the state.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
