Be alert on counting day, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi tell Cong's LS poll candidates
New Delhi, Jun 2: Stay alert and put in place measures to check any attempts of rigging on vote counting day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi told the party's Lok Sabha poll candidates on Sunday, according to sources.
Kharge and Gandhi interacted with Congress candidates during a virtual meeting which was also attended by party general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, legislative party leaders and state unit chiefs to review preparations for June 4 -- the day when votes of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls will be counted.
The sources said a standard operating procedure has been shared with the candidates for counting day.
Gandhi and Kharge asked Congress workers and leaders to not leave counting centres till all formalities are completed. They also called on Congress leaders to keep the morale high and stressed that the exit polls were aimed at demoralising the party cadre.
Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.
Terming the exit polls "bogus", the Congress on Sunday said they were a "deliberate attempt to justify rigging" of the elections and part of "psychological games" being played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lower the morale of the INDIA bloc workers. Former Congress president Gandhi dubbed the exit polls as "Modi media poll".
Ramesh said that the exit polls were "orchestrated and masterminded by the man whose exit is inevitable and guaranteed on June 4".
"These are all part of the psychological games being played by the outgoing prime minister (Modi) and the outgoing home minister (Amit Shah). The outgoing home minister called up 150 district magistrates and collectors yesterday. The results that the exit polls have come up with, bear no relation to reality," the Congress leader said.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties had also met here on Saturday and took stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and asserted they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
The leaders of the alliance dwelt on a host of issues, including the precautions to be taken on the counting day on Tuesday, Kharge had told reporters after two-and-a-half-hour confabulations at his residence.
He had said they have instructed their party workers to not leave the counting halls till all formalities are completed.
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
