Karnataka govt is working hard to realise these aspirations of the Constitution: Governor
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Friday said the state government is working hard to realise the aspirations of the Constitution, as he highlighted that it has fulfilled the commitment by implementing the five guarantees successfully, and its management of the drought situation.
The Governor was speaking after unfurling the national tricolour at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground here on the occasion of Republic Day.
"The Preamble of the Constitution provides to all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. The Constitution of India has envisaged all its citizens equal opportunities and equal status to develop themselves with self dignity and thereby to contribute to the development of the nation. My government is working hard to realise these aspirations of the Constitution," Gehlot said.
In his address, he said, "My Government had assured the people of Karnataka that we would implement the five guarantees Shakti Yojane, Anna Bhagya, Gruha Jyoti, Gruha Lakshmi and Yuvanidhi programme. I am happy to state that we have implemented all the five guarantees in the State."
The Congress in Karnataka had promised to implement five 'guarantees' ahead of the Assembly polls in the state 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), additional 5 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
Further noting that as per norms and procedures delineated in the Drought Manual 2020, Karnataka has declared drought in 223 out of 236 taluks out of which 196 are categorised as severely drought affected, the Governor said, the State government had sought funds from NDRF for undertaking drought relief and mitigation measures in the 195 drought affected taluks.
"To alleviate the distress of farmers an interim relief of input subsidy of up to Rs 2,000 per farmer in the drought declared taluks is being released by the State Government directly to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of farmers. The process to transfer about Rs 580 crore to about 30 lakh farmers is underway," he said.
He also highlighted various measures taken by the government in managing the drought situation in the state.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ministers of his cabinet, legislators, officials were among the dignitaries present at the event, which saw a march past parade by security forces, police, NCC and contingents from various schools, followed by cultural programmes.
Listing out various programmes being implemented by the government in various sectors, Gehlot said, "Brand Bengaluru", an ambitious project of the Government of Karnataka has been formulated with an idea that the citizen's voice is the government's voice for all-round development of the city of Bengaluru and making it a global hub.
"Under this concept, advice was sought from experts and the public on 8 key issues. Discussions were held with public associations, civil defence forums, industry sector experts. Accordingly, more than 70,000 suggestions were collected and a committee is examining the suggestions and will make recommendations," he said.
Keeping in view the comprehensive development of Bengaluru and realising the need to lay more emphasis on smooth traffic, a Rs.2000 crore project has been launched and the process of inviting tender for white topping of major roads has been initiated, he further said, in order to find a permanent solution to the congestion of the city, it is proposed to construct tunnel roads at selected places.
"The process of preparation of a Detailed Project Report with the help of an international agency for construction of a tunnel road of 2 km area has been initiated," he added.
The Governor said arrangements have been made to incorporate a photo of the design of the preamble of the 'Indian Constitution' in all the schools of the State and to read the preamble during daily prayers.
For the first time a scheme providing loan from Karnataka State Financial Corporation to minority community entrepreneurs at 6 per cent interest rate up to to Rs 10 crore is implemented, he said, adding during the current year, the government is taking steps to distribute various equipment to the differently-abled persons at a cost of Rs 54.40 crore.
On the occasion of the completion of 50 years of renaming as Karnataka, "Karnataka Sambhram-50" programmes are being celebrated all over the State throughout the year, he pointed out.
State-level Single Window Clearance Committees have approved 165 investment projects, wherein, Rs.45,325 crore investment will be made and will create employment opportunities to 42,292 people, the Governor said.
Pointing out that 42 per cent of the software exports from the country are contributed by Karnataka, he said, the State government regularly revises its policies to suit the changing requirements of IT & BT sectors and to upgrade the skills in the most advanced and emerging technologies.
Gehlot in his address, also noted that action has been taken to hand over the compensatory afforestation land to the Forest Department for speedy implementation of Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project and to speed up planning works and land acquisition process.
The implementation of the prestigious Upper Krishna Project Stage-3 of North Karnataka will be expedited with priority for land acquisition and rehabilitation & resettlement activities under the project, he said.
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TVK falls short within touching distance; what next to ensure majority
Chennai (PIT): With TVK falling 10 short of a majority, its leader Vijay has the option of forming a minority government in Tamil Nadu without any outside support, analysts said on Tuesday.
Senior political analyst Sumanth Raman told PTI that the TVK is likely to opt to be a minority government with outside support.
"Since it is the single largest party, TVK has the option to go for that. I don't think he (Vijay) will opt for official support from other political party's MLAs", he said.
"If he opts for minority government, the only thing is that, Vijay will have to prove the support once again after six months".
Raman also pointed out that in 2006 when DMK won only 92 seats, the then party president, the late M Karunanidhi formed a minority government with outside support.
In a completely unexpected turn of events in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the TVK has emerged victorious, putting an end to the almost six decade-long dominance of the two major Dravidian parties--DMK and AIADMK.
By clinching victory in its debut electoral contest, the party has elevated its status to that of a recognised political entity. However, the Vijay-led TVK did not secure a mandate large enough to form a government with an absolute majority on its own, requiring another 10 to cross the finish line. Experts have varied opinions.
Specifically, to attain a simple majority, a political party must win at least 118 out of the total 234 constituencies. The TVK, however, secured victory in 108 constituencies. Given that the TVK fell short of the majority mark, what might unfold next?
TVK leader Vijay has won in both constituencies he contested--Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli East. As per the election commission rule, he will have to resign from one of these seats. TVK sources said that the leader is likely to surrender the Tiruchirappalli assembly seat.
If Vijay does so, the party's total tally of seats will decrease by one. Then it will be 107. Adding to the number games, TVK appointed Speaker of the Assembly will be ineligible to cast a vote during a confidence motion and the party's effective voting strength will be reduced by yet another seat, which comes to 106.
Accordingly, the TVK requires the support of an additional 12 members to demonstrate its majority. As of now, within the DMK alliance, the Congress party has secured five seats, the two Communist parties have won two seats each (totaling four), while the DMDK has secured one seat, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has won two seats and the VCK has secured two seats.
Within the AIADMK alliance, the PMK has grabbed four seats, the BJP has won one seat, and the AMMK has secured one seat. Going by the calculations, if TVK gets the support of other parties within both alliances, it would gain an additional 21 seats.
TVK could potentially secure a total of 129 seats (108 + 21). However, the TVK does not require the support of all those parties, and the backing of just 12 members would suffice.
As Vijay is expected to visit Lok Bhavan on Wednesday (May 6) to meet the governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to stake claim to form government, the governor is expected to offer the TVK two options.
First, he may summon the TVK chief and instruct him to demonstrate his majority on the floor of the legislative assembly. Alternatively, he might ask Vijay to gather letters of support from "allied" parties and submit them to him.
If the TVK secures support exceeding 118 seats, the governor would invite the party form the government. If TVK fails to garner support from other political parties, it will be denied the opportunity to form the government.
In such a scenario, the governor has the option to invite the DMK, the party holding the second-highest number of seats to form the government.
If DMK too is unable to form a government, the state of Tamil Nadu will come under governor's rule for the subsequent six months. Following this period, fresh legislative Assembly elections will be once again held across all 234 constituencies.
Another political analyst Durai Karuna ruled out that TVK will go for a minority government.
"If he (Vijay) gives an appeal, many political parties including Congress, VCK and left parties will join TVK", he claimed. "In addition, the AIADMK, which has decided to organise MLAs meeting on Wednesday, might also announce that it would support TVK unconditionally".
He said a clear picture on Vijay's decision will emerge in a couple of days.
Tharasu Shyam, political critic, claimed that Congress was "holding talks with Vijay."
"From now on, the DMK must change its approach and this applies equally to the AIADMK," he said in an apparent reference to some reported difference of opinion between allies DMK and Congress over seat-sharing and power-sharing ahead of the April 23 polls.
Incidentally, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, on Tuesday admitted that the Congress party leadership's decision to stick with the DMK alliance went against strong grassroots sentiment favouring the TVK.
"The local leaders, the grassroots level leaders, were suggesting if Rahul Gandhi, who has a large acceptance in Tamil Nadu, joins the campaign with Vijay, it will create a big impact and we can sweep the Tamil Nadu polls, and get somewhere around 180-190 seats," Chodankar told PTI Videos.
