Our mission is to strengthen regional parties grouping: Mamata, Naidu
New Delhi, May 23: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Andhra Pradeshn counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said their participation in the swearing-in ceremony of H.D. Kumaraswamy was meant strengthen the coming together of regional parties and they would not allow obstacles in this effort.
"We are very happy that Kumaraswamyji is taking oath today (Wednesday) and we congratulate Karnataka's brothers and sisters. We are grateful that we are invited. All regional parties are present here to support Kumaraswamyji and his government. We hope for the best. We will keep in touch with all regional parties together so that we can work for the development of the nation," Banerjee said.
She said "If the state is strong, the centre is always strong. And that is why our mission and vision is very clear. We will meet each other, talk to each other and that will give us more strength for the future of the party. Chandrababu and I came here to strenthen regional parties and we will give do it continuously."
Banerjee said they would not leave any scope for any party to place obstacles in the coming together of regional parties. "If we make any promise, we fulfil it. We don't fear anybody. We work with courage. We will do what will be in the favour of regional parties and the country."
Asked if Congress will be kept away from this effort, Banerjee said: "Congress will do what it wants and we will do what we want. Congress is a separate party. This joint government of Congress and Kumaraswamiji is going on here (Karnataka). We came to support Kumaraswamyji because he is leading the regional party."
"If regional parties get together, they will have maximum strength. This is a simple thing that should be understood... It is said in Hindi that whoever will fight us will be destroyed (jo hamse takaraega wo choor choor ho jaega)," Banerjee said.
Naidu said this is a very good occasion and also a very important event as Kumaraswamy is taking oath. "We want to express our solidarity. TDP is ready to go to the oath ceremony with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi."
Asked about any front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party, Naidu said: "What we are doing is we are watching. We all want to promote more and more regional parties that is our and Mamatai's mission."
Prominent leaders of around a dozen political parties including UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, RLD chief Ajit Singh, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan of Makkal Needhi Maiam are all set to share the dais during Kumaraswamy's oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday in a "show of strength" of the opposition parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, in a possible line up against the BJP.
Besides these political heavy weights, Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala) are also expected to attend the oath-taking ceremony.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
