Mangaluru: Former minister Ramanath Rai has criticized the Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar for allegedly taking credit of the works done by others. “I have never seen a lazy MP like him,” said Ramanath Rai.

Rai, who attacked Nalin Kumar at a press meet held in the district Congress office on Monday, said “he is the MP who does not know what dollar is. He has set the district on fire through his hatred speeches. Besides causing tension in the area, he did no developmental works.

“He is blaming that the sand mining is taking place in the district. But the sand mining is continuing for around 15 years and not only for two to three years. It is not good to blame somebody when a problem comes.”

“I was an MLA when a bridge was collapsed in Bondantil village. The reconstruction work of the bridge was started within two days. The Bahugram drinking water project was not processed as in Bantwal. The Siddaramaiah-led government was a golden age of development over the past five years,” Rai asserted.

“There were plenty of developmental activities in the previous term. But MP Nalin Kumar is trying to make others guilty when elections are approaching. We have taken approval for several central award programs during the previous term. But, Nalin Kumar has said that I, then MLA Mohiuddin Bawa, and Abhayachandra Jain were the reason for slowing down the construction of Mangalore-Solapur road. I did not understand on what basis he has given such statement. I have conducted various meetings with land acquisition officer and completed the acquisition process. Naveen Kumar did not attend a single meeting at that time. Then why he is blaming me now?’ Rai asked.

”The Lady Goschen Hospital was initiated by the MRPL's CSR fund. At least ten meetings were held for this. The work was completed through other contractors when the first contractor escaped after taking the contract. The first phase work of Shiradi Ghat is undertaken by the state highways in coordination with National Highway. It is now handed over to the National Highway Authority. The first phase work has been completed within a specified period. The second phase work was handed over to Hyderabad contractors. The permission of the forest department has been taken well in advance. Though many works including Rs. 41 crore’s work of the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Airport Road, Ambedkar Bhavan, Veterinary Medical College, Uppinangady Community Hospital, etc. have been completed by the previous government, the MP is blaming that no developmental works were taken place,” Rai said expressing displeasure.

Mayor Bhaskar Moily, Shashidhar Hegde, Mamata Gatti, Shahul Hameed, Naveen D'Souza, Pratibha Kulai, Ashok DK, Shalett Pinto and others were present.

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Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.