Modi says no 'Mann ki Baat' for 2 months, promises to be back in May
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday suspended his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast for March and April, and said he will be back with the programme on the last Sunday of May, by when results of the Lok Sabha elections are expected to be declared.
In this monthly address through the radio broadcast -- the 53rd since Modi came to power in 2014 -- he said he was doing so keeping in mind healthy democratic traditions.
"Elections are the biggest celebration of democracy. In the next two months, we will be busy in the hurly-burly of the general elections. I myself will also be a candidate. Respecting healthy democratic traditions, the next episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' will be broadcast on the last Sunday (May 26) of May," Modi said.
Opposition parties have in the past demanded stopping the broadcast of Mann ki Baat during elections, saying it violated the model code of conduct as the interaction amounted to the misuse of the prime minister's programme for political purposes.
Sounding confident of his return to power, he said he will begin the series of conversations under the programme from May with the "power of your blessings" and will keep speaking to people through 'Mann ki Baat' for years.
The fate of Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast will depend on the results of the Lok Sabha elections as the programme will continue only if he is reelected and becomes prime minister.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
