We will field candidate against Sorake if he is given ticket: Warn Muslim Organisations
Mangaluru, Feb 21: Congress party should not give ticket to former minister Vinay Kumar Sorake for upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Dakshina Kannada District,said Dakshina Kannada District Muslims Organisations Federation president K Ashraf.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, he said that they would not oppose if any other person is given the ticket other than Sorake. If Sorake is given ticket, the federation would protest against it and an alternative candidate would be fielded against him, he said.
Muslim voters had played a major role in his victory when he had contested from Kaup constituency in 2013. But in ZP and Taluk and Gram Panchayat elections, he has not allowed even a single candidate from Muslim community to contest from Congress ticket and thus betrayed the Muslim community, Ashraf said.
When Sorake was asked about denying ticket to Muslims, he had said that 'Muslim candidates will not win as Hindus will not vote for them' and thus insulted the secular ideology of the Congress. There were lot of examples that real Congressmen and people would not vote considering caste and religion. Though Shakti Nagar ward in Mangaluru city corporation was dominated by non Muslim community voters, former mayor Abdul Azeez was elected three times with huge majority from there. It was not fair on Sorake's part to make such statements . The party should not give ticket to Sorake, he said.
CM Musthafa, Mohammad Hanief U, Hidayat Katipalla, Siddiq Talapady, Moideen Monu, Abdul Jaleel Addaka, Muhammad Ashraf Badriya, KH Abubakar, Shabbir Talapady, VH Kareem, Fayaz Bander, KS Abubakar Pallamajalu, Ibrahim Kailar, PV Raheem and others were present.
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BMC turning blind eye to air pollution issue, says HC; questions nod for over 125 projects in city
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Wednesday castigated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for turning a "blind eye" towards the issue of air pollution in the city and for "not doing anything" to mitigate the problem.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad also questioned as to how the BMC has granted sanction to over 125 construction projects over Rs 1,000 crore in a small city like Mumbai, stating that the situation has now gone beyond the civic body's control.
The court had warned the BMC that it would pass orders restraining it from granting any further permissions for construction if the air pollution situation persists in the city.
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"How can 125 projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore be sanctioned in such a small city? That is a lot. Now the situation has gone beyond your (BMC) control. Now you are not able to manage things," HC said.
The court urged the BMC to strengthen its mechanism in such a way that the measures are preventive in nature and not remedial.
The court was hearing a bunch of petitions raising concerns over the deteriorating air quality index in the city.
"The BMC is not doing anything. Even the minimal requirement is not being done. You (BMC) don't have anything in place. There is no implementation plan," the court said.
The civic body has not applied its mind at all, it added.
"The BMC is not working at all. There is no monitoring. The BMC has turned a blind eye to the issue," the HC said, adding the measures taken have to be preventive and not remedial.
The court noted that despite having wide powers, the BMC was not doing anything.
The high court was also irked with the 91 squads of the BMC not conducting inspections at construction sites.
Senior counsel S U Kamdar, appearing for BMC, said on Tuesday 39 sites were visited. The officers of the other squads are busy with election duty, he said.
The bench then said election duty cannot be an excuse.
"You (BMC) can always make an application to the election commission seeking exemption," it said.
Kamdar told the bench that AQI on Wednesday was at 88 which is considered satisfactory. The situation last year was worse, he said.
The bench, however, said simply saying pollution has decreased does not mean the BMC was working.
When the court questioned what the corporation proposed to do in the next two weeks, BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who was present in the court, said the squads would inspect a minimum of two construction sites per day and take necessary action.
The bench said the squads should be provided with button cameras and GPS devices.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on January 20.
