BJP leader's son triggers social media debate with post over Mangaluru-Udupi NH 66 woes
Mangaluru: A social media post by the son of former Karnataka Home Minister and Senior BJP Minister late VS Acharya, against the pathetic conditions of NH 66 between Udupi and Mangalore has led to a social media debate.
Dr. Kiran Acharya on Sunday wrote in his Facebook post to call out the threatening condition of the NH 66 between Udupi and Mangaluru. He shared pictures of the potholes adding that some of them can even swallow unsuspecting two-wheelers. He also added the roads also had dangerous water puddles and other road hazards, all on a tollway.
In his post, Acharya also shared a post wherein it was written “Rs 55 toll fee. For every paisa you pay, a pothole is guaranteed.”
What caught the public eye and triggered an online debate was Acharya’s conclusion of the post where he stated that there was no point in tagging any official or politician – minister as they have taken the public for granted.
Several users soon jumped into the conversation and the comment section was filled with grievances and concerns of people. Users also complained about the ignorance of the administration and ministry about the safety of common citizens.
Users also shared images and videos of huge water puddles, potholes, and traffic congestion on the NH 66 to counter the claims of Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari who has time and again claimed the NH 66 widening work was done smoothly and is nearing completion.
Some of the users tagged Nitin Gadkari and other officials in the comments section in a bid to bring the issue to their notice.
Earlier this month, a Karnataka BJP MLA from Ankola-Karwar constituency Rupali Naik had also countered Gadkiri’s claims on ‘near-completion’ of the project.
On July 2, Gadkari, the union minister of road transport and highways tweeted a series of photos, saying, "The project for 4-Laning of Goa/Karnataka Border to Kundapur section of NH-17 in the State of Karnataka is near completion". He had claimed that 94 percent of the work was done and the project would be open by December 2022.
However, Naik countered Gadkari's claim, saying “They have not completed much of the work. The company has just made roads wherever they have acquired the land. Wherever they can, they have built culverts. They have made the roads, but where are the service roads? How should the locals cross over to the other side?" The New Indian Express reported.
“In many places, the work has not started. Pedestrians, normally rural people, will be hit badly due to this. They have not installed even a single streetlight,” she alleged. “There are no drains all along the stretch. The water accumulated should be diverted. But the roads are waterlogged,” she had said.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
