Heavy rains: Landslides on road leading to Mullayanagiri
Tourists fear of closing their way back
Chikmagaluru, July 08: The heavy rains that has been lashing Chikmagaluru district for the last couple of days is causing inconveniences to vehicular movement on several roads and normal life of people. The road leading to Mullayanagiri, the hill station in the district, is facing the threat of closure of vehicular movement because of the landslides and falling of boulders on the road on Saturday evening.
The district has been receiving heavy rains for the last three days. Due to heavy rains, landslides happened in four places near the road and boulders and mud fell on the road causing inconvenience to the vehicular movement. As a result, hundreds of tourist vehicles stuck on the road as the road is blocked with boulders.
The only road leading to the tourist place from Chikmagaluru is too narrow. In spite of the boulders and mud on the road, tourists are making their way to reach the peak of the hill station. As the land sliding is still happening along the road due to heavy rains, tourists fear of losing their way back. Normally, during monsoon, the tourist place attracts more tourists from faraway places to enjoy the beauty of the nature. During week-ends, the number of tourists to the place is more. Now, the landslides and boulders may cause inconvenience to the vehicular movement on the road.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
