Give up power if you can't rule, Yeddyurappa tells Cong-JD(S) coalition
Bengaluru, Jun 7: Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa Friday asked the Congress-JD(S) to give up power if it cannot run the government and asserted that his party would govern in case the coalition collapses and would make sure there is no mid-term polls.
The former chief minister said no one has confidence that the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government would last long.
"Kumaraswamy's son (Nikhil) has asked JD(S) workers to prepare for election. I'm saying that there won't be election at any cost. It has been just a year (since assembly elections). We (BJP) have 105 legislators, if they can, let them govern, if they can't let them give up, we will govern," Yeddyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters at Hubballi, he said, "There is no question of going for fresh elections for any reason. We will not agree to it. We will go to election only after five years. No one has confidence that this government will continue for long, let's wait and see."
Yeddyurappa was reacting to a video doing the rounds on social media in which Nikhil can be heard purportedly asking JD(S)workers to prepare themselves for assembly polls, saying one doesn't know when it would come.
Boasting about BJP's performance in the state in the Lok Sabha polls, Yeddyurappa had last week said, it would be "better" if the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in the state dissolves the assembly and goes for fresh polls.
However, he had subsequently retracted, saying the BJP would wait for the Congress-JD(S) government to collapse on its own due to "infighting".
Buoyed by the party's victory in the Lok Sabha polls, Yeddyurappa Friday began his three-day tour to drought-hit areas of north Karnataka, aimed at cornering the coalition government over its alleged failure in managing the situation.
The Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly hit out at Chief Minister's scheduled 'Grama Vastavaiya' (overnight stay in villages) programme to make the administration more effective, and termed it as "political circus".
"Is there any meaning to CM's Grama Vastvya? Last time (in Kumaraswamy's previous tenure as CM) when he did Grama Vastavaiya he had promised to give Rs 1 crore to villages he visited. but he did not give. What is the situation of those villages today?" he questioned.
"Instead, the CM should visit drought-affected areas, understand the issues there and solve them, other than that staying overnight at village schools and claiming that- I'm doing Grama Vastavaiya. Is it necessary today? He has to question himself. People won't like it. It's a kind of political circus to shift focus of the people from core issues," he said.
Kumaraswamy is scheduled to begin his Grama Vastavaiya from June 21 at Gurmitkal taluk in Yadgir district. The next day, he is scheduled to be at Afzalpur taluk in Kalaburagi district.
On June 28 and 29, he will be at Sindhanur of Raichur and Bidar's Basavakalyana, respectively.
Continuing his party's opposition to the government's decision regarding the sale of 3,667 acres of land to JSW Steel in Ballari at a low price, Yeddyurappa, alleging some kind of foul play in it on part of Kumaraswamy, said the BJP has planned massive protests against it on June 13, 14 and 15.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
