AAP unveils UP urban local body poll plan; Promises to waive water tax, halve house tax
Lucknow, Mar 12: The AAP on Sunday unveiled its election plank for urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh, promising to halve house taxes and waive water taxes in municipal bodies it wins.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh, the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge, launched the party's slogan -- "House Tax Half, Water Tax Maaf" -- to woo the electorate during a visit to Lucknow.
He also declared in-charges for 633 urban local body seats in Uttar Pradesh and said the party will contest from every constituency.
During his visit, Singh called the ED (Enforcement Directorate) the "Entertainment Department" and alleged that central agencies are being misused to target the opposition.
Singh said the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has accepted the report of the commission set up to look into the issue of reservation to Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in urban local body polls and expressed hope that the government will soon announce the election dates, he said.
The party will reach out to the public and ask them to give the AAP an opportunity to clean their cities.
The people of Delhi gave the AAP a chance and the party gave them a clean city, mohalla clinics and the best education system. Even the Punjab government is working on the Delhi model, Singh said.
"There will be no water tax and the house tax will be reduced to half in every local body where the AAP wins the chairman's post," Singh said.
The AAP contested the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2022 but failed to make any headway.
Alleging that central agencies are being misused to target opposition leaders, Singh said, "I want to ask PM (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi that every day he is targeting opposition leaders. In Bengal, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has lodged 30 cases against the TMC; on Congress, they have lodged 26 cases; in Bihar, 10 cases has been lodged on the opposition; the BSP has five cases, the Samajwadi Party has four cases against them, the NCP has three cases; in Kashmir, the National Conference has three cases. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the government is targeting every opposition party and its leaders.
"He (Modi) should order to kill all the opposition leaders in an encounter and then he can sleep peacefully," said Singh.
The senior AAP leader also alleged that industrialist Gautam Adani is involved in a "large number of scams" but there has been no action.
Singh said Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Adani hail from Gujarat and added, "What's the relation between Adani and Modiji, I want RSS and BJP to reply."
Raising the issue of large quantities of heroin "supplied by the Taliban" being seized from Mundra port, Singh said, "This is a national security concern and I will raise this in Parliament a Joint Parliamentary Committee should be formed to probe Adani," Singh said.
The AAP leader, however, did not offer any detail into his allegations.
He also alleged that the Centre is lodging opposition leaders in jail while "feeding the supporters of Osama Bin Laden".
The government is trying to please the Taliban by giving them wheat, Singh claimed.
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T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
