LS poll rout; Kumaraswamy calls informal cabinet meet Friday
Bengaluru, May 23: With the Congress-JDS alliance in Karnataka facing a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has called an "informal" cabinet meeting on Friday.
The Chief Minister has also convened a JDS legislature party meeting to review the results, party sources said.
"An informal cabinet meeting has been called tomorrow, May 24, 2019 at 12:30 PM, at cabinet hall in Vidhana Soudha (the state secretariat)," an official intimation sent out to Ministers said.
At the meeting, the Chief Minister, along with his cabinet colleagues from both parties, are likely to discuss the Lok Sabha poll outcome and the way ahead for the coalition, sources said.
As the Congress-JDS government completed one year Thursday, it is on the edge with the Lok Sabha results widely expected to have a bearing on its stability.
The meeting gains significance in the backdrop of both Congress and JD(S) facing a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls by winning just one seat each, indicating that the alliance between the two parties has not worked.
Though coalition leaders decided to jointly fight the polls and reached a seat sharing agreement of 21 and seven seats for Congress and JD(S) respectively,it was not something grass root level workers of both parties were okay with, especially in old Mysuru region, where they are arch rivals.
BJP had contested 27 of 28 seats and supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya.
According to sources, despite efforts by both parties to pacify their cadres and ensure transfer of votes to each other, the alliance did not work in constituencies of old Mysuru region, that has had implications on the poll outcome and in turn may affect the stability of the government.
Voices have started emerging in the Congress to end the alliance, holding the partnership with JD(S) as the reason for the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
The alliance also fears disgruntlement within and possible attempts by the BJP to "poach" its MLAs, aimed at destabilising the government.
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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.
