PM in Mangaluru today to inaugurate, lay foundation for projects worth Rs 3,800 crore
Mangaluru (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in this coastal city on Friday afternoon to inaugurate and lay the foundation for mechanisation and industrialisation projects worth around Rs 3,800 crore, and later address a mega event.
This visit by Modi for about a couple of hours to the port city, after attending events in neighbouring Kerala, is likely to give a boost to the Karnataka BJP, which is preparing for Assembly polls next year, aiming to regain power in the state with a target of winning at least 150 of the total 224 seats.
According to party and official sources, the Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive at the Mangaluru International Airport around 1.30 pm, from where he will fly to New Mangaluru Port Authority (NMPA) premises at Panambur by a chopper.
After inaugurating or laying foundations to various projects there, he will arrive at the Goldfinch city grounds here to attend an official public event.
Nearly two lakh people are likely to attend the event at Goldfinch city grounds, they said, in addition to one lakh workers of the BJP. The district administration is also said to have invited about 70,000 beneficiaries of various Union government welfare schemes to the programme.
Party workers and beneficiaries of government programmes are likely to come from various parts of Dakshina Kannada district and neighbouring Udupi.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Prahlad Joshi, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje, a host of state ministers, BJP legislators and leaders are likely to participate in the event.
Police have made elaborate security arrangements in the city for the PM's visit.The visit to Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district is seen as significant after recent incidents of "communal" murders including that of BJP activist Praveen Nettar near here, which triggered widespread protests and spate of resignations by some of its Yuva Morcha members and workers at various places across Karnataka, accusing the state government of not standing up to protect the lives of Hindu 'karyakartas'.
Several Hindutva ideologues and organisations too had expressed their angst against the government, reflecting similar sentiments.
The visit is also coming at a time when the BJP government is facing corruption charges of "40 per cent commission" in public works by the state contractors' association, and also allegations of irregularities in several departments by certain organisations and opposition parties, especially the Congress.
The projects that PM Modi will inaugurate or lay foundations include inauguration of the project worth over Rs 280 crore for mechanisation of Berth No. 14 for handling containers and other cargo undertaken by the New Mangalore Port Authority, laying the foundation stone of five projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore undertaken by the port.
He will also inaugurate two projects undertaken by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited viz. BS VI Upgradation Project and Sea Water Desalination Plant, worth Rs 1,830 crore and Rs 680 crore respectively.
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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
