M'luru: Rahul Gandhi announces 5th poll 'guarantee': Free travel for women in public transport buses
Mangaluru, Apr 27: Announcing the fifth poll "guarantee" of the Congress ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised free travel for women in public transport buses, if the party is voted to power in the state.
Rahul Gandhi is in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, campaigning for the party's candidates in the upcoming elections.
He hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saying that the Congress would not fulfil its guarantees.
"Narendra Modi says Congress party will not fulfil its guarantees. We have given you (people) four guarantees and they will be implemented on the first day, in the first cabinet meeting. Modi ji, you said four guarantees will not be fulfilled, I'm adding more to it. We will not fulfil four guarantees on the first day, but will fulfil five," Gandhi said.
Addressing a public meeting here, he said, "We will add another guarantee to four existing guarantees. It will be for women. Modi ji, listen carefully. As soon as Congress comes to power, on the very first day the fifth guarantee will also be implemented -- women across Karnataka will travel free in public transport buses."
"Your (BJP) people looted money from Karnataka's women with 40 per cent commission, it is your work. While our work is to give Karnataka's women the state's money. So immediately after winning the election, whenever you meet a woman in buses, they would not be paying a single rupee to travel in buses," he added.
Congress has already announced four guarantees' 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), and Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), on coming to power in the state.
Asking the voters to limit the BJP to 40 seats in the state, as they were a party that ran a "40 percent commission government", Gandhi said, "The number is comfortable for them."
He alleged that the BJP had made "stealing" a habit and were betraying all sections of people including the youth, farmers and fishermen. The BJP could not provide employment to the youth as promised. Inflation increased under the BJP rule and several small-scale industries were closed during the regime, he said.
A decision on all the promises in the Congress guarantee card would be made at the first cabinet meeting of the next government, Gandhi said, adding that the Narendra Modi government had not kept any of its promises including providing two crore jobs for the youth in a year and Rs 15 lakh to every household by rooting out corruption.
"The BJP is not keeping the promises to the poor, youth and farmers and has not done anything for them, whereas they have kept the promises made to Adani," Gandhi charged.
READ ALSO: Rahul Gandhi promises fishermen Rs 10 lakh insurance cover, Rs 25 subsidy per litre of diesel
He said he was disqualified from Parliament for asking questions about the link between the BJP government and Adani. "The ruling party has not given answer to my question yet," he said.
Congress' fifth poll promise, interestingly, came on a day, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing Karnataka BJP workers virtually made a strong pitch for ending "revdi culture" (culture of distributing freebies).
Accusing the Congress of engaging in "revdi culture" in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, Modi said their poll guarantees have still remained unfulfilled. "Congress means guarantee of corruption, guarantee of nepotism," he had said.
"Congress has reached a stage where it cannot give true guarantees, you are aware that Congress's warranty has expired, then what is the meaning of its guarantees," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
