Cong to hold Padayatra from Nelyadi to BC Road from Jan 14-16: Ramanath Rai
Demand for resuming NH works from Addahole-BC Road
Mangaluru, Jan 3: Former minister Ramanath Rai said that the District Congress would take out a padayatra from January 14 to 16 demanding the government to resume the works of national highway from Addahole to BC Road on Bengaluru-Mangaluru road.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Rai said that party senior leaders would participate in the padayatre. On January 14, the padayatre would start from Nelyadi and reach Uppinangady where it would stay. The next day, it would resume its journey and conclude at Mani and on January 16, it would converge at BC Road. In all the three places, public rallies would be conducted, he said.
Bengaluru-Mangaluru national highway was like a lifeline. It would connect the two cities. Then UPA government had approved the works from Hassan to BC Road and then union minister Oscar Fernandes had sanctioned for the 63 km road from Hassan to Marenahalli-Gundya. After first round of works, NLT Company had taken up the second phase work. As the company was bankrupt, the work was suspended, he said suspecting that the company might have bankrupted due to wrong economic policies of the Narendra Modi government.
The NHAI had to clear dues worth crores to the company which stopped the works due to paucity of funds. The incomplete work has been causing inconvenience to the people. So, the road works should be completed before rainy season. In order to draw the attention of the central government, the Congress has organized the padayatre, he said.
The district had seen lot of development works during the tenure of Srinivas Malya. But during the BJP government at the centre, the development works have come to grinding halt in the district. Airport and the port were facing the threat of privatization, he said.
MLC Harish Kumar, former MLA JR Lobo, Mayor Bhaskar K, Party leaders Shashidhar Hegde, Shalet Pinto, Naveen D’Souza, Venkappa Gowda, Dhananjay Addangaya, Shahul Hameed and others were present.
‘I won’t politicize Sabarimala issue’
Responding to a question Sabarimala issue, Rai said that he would not comment on the Supreme Court order and its pros and cons. When he was young, he had visited Sabarimala for more than 18 times. He had visited the temple with devotion, confidence, belief and harmony.
But now, he would not speak about the issue and its impact. He would not politicize the Sabarimala issue, Rai clarified.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
