INDIA bloc if voted to power after LS polls will provide statehood to Puducherry: DMK chief Stalin
Puducherry (PTI): DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday said that the INDIA bloc, if voted to power after Lok Sabha polls, will provide statehood to Puducherry.
Addressing an election rally here seeking support for Congress candidate and present MP V Vaithilingam, he said the DMK and Congress are firm that Puducherry should be made a full-fledged state.
Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy is a "puppet in the hands of the Centre," Stalin said and added, "We are keen that the rights of not only bigger states like Tamil Nadu, but also the rights of union territories like Puducherry should be protected."
Stating that Puducherry had not gained during the ten-year rule by the BJP at the Centre, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was campaigning only in the name of religion and caste.
"Modi has not highlighted any measure to ameliorate the lot of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and weaker sections, but has been campaigning in the name of religion and caste," he said.
"Fishermen of Karaikal faced hardship and arrests by the Sri Lanka navy and what measures had the prime minister taken to prevent the sufferings of fishermen," he asked.
The prime minister had not done anything to realise the promise he had held out in the past to make the union territory "best Puducherry", he said.
Expressing concern over the deterioration of law and order in Puducherry, Stalin said the recent incident of sexual harassment and murder of a nine-year-old girl in the union territory shocked the entire nation. This incident is proof of the law and order being in shambles in Puducherry, he said.
He also said that women had no protection in the country during the BJP's rule.
Stalin said that all the defunct undertakings in Puducherry would be revived if the INDIA bloc was voted to power.
Elections to the lone Puducherry seat will take place along with neighbouring Tamil Nadu on April 19.
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15 passengers sustain minor injuries after KSRTC bus overturns in Karnataka's Chitradurga district
Chitradurga (Karnataka) (PTI): Fifteen passengers sustained minor injuries after the KSRTC bus they were travelling in overturned after the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle in this district on Tuesday morning, police said.
The accident occurred near Heggare in Challakere taluk of Chitradurga district at around 7 am, they said.
According to police, the bus was en route from Raichur to Bengaluru when the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle, hit a divider and the bus overturned.
Fifteen passengers sustained minor injuries and were shifted to the Challakere Government Hospital, they said.
The accident is suspected to have occurred due to the driver losing control after falling asleep, police said.
Further investigation is underway, they added.
