CM Siddaramaiah rejects contractors' corruption claims, challenges them to approach court
Bengaluru/Mysuru (PTI): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday dismissed allegations of rampant corruption raised by the Karnataka State Contractors' Association, asking them to take their grievances to the court.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah said, "Let them go to court."
He claimed that the contractors were being coerced into levelling such allegations.
The CM's statement comes after the association warned that it would go on an indefinite strike if pending bills worth Rs 33,000 crore are not cleared by December 1.
Association President R Manjunath said the contractors have waited for two-and-half years, but no action has been taken.
"We met the Chief Minister five times. He only gave assurances. Our bills are not getting cleared. We have been asked to wait for a month. If our problems are not solved, then we will go on an indefinite strike," Manjunath said.
He added that the association would approach the Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if the demands are not met.
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Sunetra Pawar elected as NCP's legislature party leader
Mumbai (PTI): Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday, three days after the death of her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
She is set to take oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the day.
Sunetra Pawar's name as the NCP's legislature party leader was proposed by senior leader Dilip Walse Patil and seconded by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
She was elected during a meeting of the party's legislature wing, held at the office of late Ajit Pawar on the ground floor of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai.
Ajit Pawar, who was deputy chief minister and finance minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, was killed in a plane crash in Baramati along with four others on January 28.
Sunetra Pawar paid floral tributes to a portrait of her late husband in the meeting hall. Their younger son Jay was also present.
Many ministers and legislators were teary-eyed when they entered the Vidhan Bhavan complex.
The Lok Bhavan has confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony of Sunetra Pawar as the state deputy CM will be held at 5 pm in Mumbai.
Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband's party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle.
Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.
