Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti backtracks after receiving flak for comment on BPL cards
Bengaluru, Feb 16: A day after his statement on Below Poverty Line ration card holders sparked a row, Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister Umesh Katti on Tuesday did a U-turn, saying there were no definite parameters for BPL and APL card holders over availing benefits.
The minister emphasised that the BJP government in Karnataka headed by B S Yediyurappa was pro-poor and was committed to distributing more BPL cards.
It will continue to give free foodgrains such as Ragi, corn and rice, he added.
Having come under attack from the Congress and the JD(S), Katti told reporters here there were no definite parameters for BPL and APL (Above Poverty Line) and there was no need for anyone to worry as the government has not issued any statement in this regard.
Retracting from his previous statement, the minister said, "I had only shared the information from Delhi with media. Neither those parameters (motorcycle, TV, fridge and land) were mine, nor the Chief Minister has given any such orders. I am not an irresponsible minister."
However, he did not elaborate.
Stating that his statement did not pertain to the BPL card holders, he said further confusion on the matter was uncalled for.
He said there were no definite parameters to identify the BPL families, Katti said "I have not issued any order without consulting the Chief Minister. BPLs are BPLs and APLs are APLs."
Katti had on Monday said in Belagavi that those owning components such as motorcycle, TV, fridge and five acres of land are not entitled to hold a BPL card and they have to surrender them to the government by March 31, or else the government will take action.
The opposition Congress and the JD(S) had come down heavily on Katti and the BJP government calling it anti-poor and anti-people.
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Bengal awaits May 4 results; TMC looks to retain power, BJP aims historic win after record turnout
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal heads into verdict day on Monday after over a month of frenzied campaigning, as it waits with bated breath to see whether the TMC manages to hold on to power or the BJP makes a historic breakthrough and claims the state for the first time.
As the EVMs open at 8 am, the CPI(M) and the Congress will be watching with equal keenness, hoping to reclaim a foothold in the state's electoral map after five years in the wilderness, following their wipeout in the 2021 polls.
Counting of votes will take place across 77 centres in the state, with elaborate security arrangements and a charged political atmosphere setting the stage for the declaration of results in 293 of the 294-seat House.
The Election Commission countermanded polls in the entire Falta constituency in South 24 Parganas district, citing “severe electoral offences and subversion of democratic process during polling in a large number of polling stations”.
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The fresh poll in that seat and the counting will take place on May 21 and May 24, respectively.
The two-phase polls in the state ended on April 29, with what the election watchdog said was the state's highest-ever voter turnout of 92.47 per cent since Independence.
Repolling in 15 booths in South 24 Parganas concluded on Saturday, with around 87 per cent turnout recorded, officials said.
The state’s political climate bordered on the vicious, even after the conclusion of polls, leading to fervent anticipation ahead of the announcement of results, with both primary contenders TMC and BJP, claiming they were dead certain about their victory prospects.
Courtesy the tight security arrangements – with over 2.5 lakh central paramilitary personnel on the ground, besides the presence of a thoroughly reshuffled state police force – electoral violence remained at a minimum, and no deaths were reported for the first time in the state’s election history of recent decades.
This was also the first election held in the state in twenty years, conducted after an extensive, albeit controversial, SIR exercise that revised the electoral rolls, removing over 9 million voters.
The jury is out on the impact of the exercise on the electoral fortunes of all parties across the board, prompting pollsters to burn the midnight oil to make sense of the likely choice of voters and keeping the public greatly enthused about what verdict the result day would deliver.
The campaigns recorded the BJP unleashing its full might, with top leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launching all-out attacks on the TMC over corruption, law and order, infiltration, women’s safety and unemployment, while promising welfare measures.
The TMC’s retaliation, with the CM and party MP Abhishek Banerjee leading the charge, focused on SIR harassment, Bengali persecution and ‘outsider’ plank, accusing the BJP of failing to deliver on its national commitments and upholding TMC’s development report card.
Polling for the elections was held on April 23 and April 29, with a total electorate of over 3.21 crores.
The poll body has scaled down the number of counting centres this year to 77 from 87 announced earlier, and 108 in 2021, while putting in place a multi-layered security grid.
“Comprehensive security arrangements have been made to ensure that counting is conducted in a peaceful, transparent and orderly manner,” a senior EC official said.
The run-up to counting, however, has been marked by high political drama, with TMC leaders, helmed by CM Mamata Banerjee, rushing to strongrooms in Kolkata, apprehending counting malpractice and alleging attempts to tamper with the sealed EVMs.
The EC rejected those allegations, maintaining that all electronic voting machines are kept under strict surveillance with round-the-clock security and CCTV monitoring.
“Strongrooms are secured under a three-tier security system, and candidates or their representatives are allowed to keep watch as per protocol. There is no scope for any tampering,” another poll panel official said.
Closer to the counting date, security outside strongrooms has been further tightened, with the EC deploying 165 additional counting observers and 77 police observers to oversee the process and ensure adherence to norms.
In Kolkata, counting for 11 assembly constituencies will be conducted across five locations - Ballygunge Government High School, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University, Shakhawat Memorial School, Netaji Indoor Stadium and St Thomas Boys’ School.
Counting for the Bhabanipur seat, arguably carrying the highest symbolic weight where Mamata Banerjee is taking on senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in a prestige fight on her home turf, will be held at the Sakhawat Memorial centre.
The EC has introduced stringent access control measures, mandating entry only through QR code-based photo identity cards issued via its ECINet system. Mobile phones have been barred inside counting halls, except for returning officers and observers.
The counting exercise will be conducted under a framework upheld by the Supreme Court, which on Saturday declined to pass further directions on a TMC plea challenging the deployment of central government personnel.
The elections saw the TMC contesting in 291 seats and its ally Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led by Anit Thapa, fielding candidates in three seats in the Darjeeling hills.
The BJP, Congress and the Left Front are gunning for all 294 segments, with parties like Humayun Kabir’s AJUP and Asaduddin Owasi’s AIMIM also trying their luck in some crucial pockets.
BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Roopa Ganguly and Nishit Pramanik are in the fray, while prominent TMC candidates include Firhad Hakim, Kunal Ghosh, Madan Mitra and Udayan Guha.
