Arbitrary transfers hindering completion of projects: Mangaluru Corporation Mayor
Mangaluru (PTI): Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) councillors, cutting across party lines, have demanded a fair, transparent, and speedy implementation of switching to an LED street light system under the smart city project that is underway.
The council witnessed pandemonium on this issue twice during the first hour of the council meeting on Thursday.
Raising the issue, the opposition (Congress) member Vinayraj of Court Ward said: “The smart city project is going on for five years and by this time the LED street light component should have been completed by the MCC. Meanwhile, three companies that had bid for the project, including Crompton, have been kept on tenterhooks by the MCC. What is causing the delay and why? City Corporation has been kept in the dark about this."
He alleged that the Corporation might be playing a trick on the people of Mangaluru by delaying the project and also keeping the information a secret.
Vinayraj said Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur is inefficient, as he was not able to control the officials.
Objecting to his comments, ruling BJP members stood up and shouted against Vinayraj and other councillors from the Congress party.
Meanwhile, Mayor Shetty alleged that the Congress-ruled state government was transferring officials from MCC.
“Thanks to these erratic transfers, the MCC is now down to 30 per cent of the workforce. We do not have dedicated staff for the management of the electrical system in the city,” he added.
According to a senior official of the MCC, the Corporation will save not less than 50 per cent power consumption, if the entire city's 65,000 street light points are energised with LED lamps.
He said 12,000 LED lights have already been purchased and another company called Fiza-Forum Enterprises has been mandated with the project and has placed orders for 50,000 units of LED lamp. If all modalities are over, all 65,000 street light points could be energised with LED lamps by November, he noted.
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Priyanka Gandhi wins Wayanad LS seat in Kerala with margin of over 4.1 lakh votes
Wayanad(Kerala), Nov 23: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday cruised to her maiden electoral victory, from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, with a margin of over 4.1 lakh votes against CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, according to figures released by the Election Commission.
Priyanka got 6,22,338 votes which was less than the 6,47,445 votes received by her brother Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls in Wayanad in April this year, but her victory margin of 4,10,931 was more than his lead of 3,64,422 votes, despite the decline in turnout in the Wayanad bypoll.
The LS poll turnout in Wayanad, which has over 14 lakh registered voters, was close to 74 per cent in April, but had declined to 65 per cent in the by-election in November.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Wayanad, CPI's Annie Raja had secured second place with 2,83,023 votes, while BJP's K. Surendran finished third with 1,41,045 votes.
However, both fronts were unable to replicate their performance in the bypoll, despite a reduced voter turnout in the hill constituency.
Mokeri got 2,11,407 and BJP-led NDA's Navya Haridas came third with 1,09,939 votes.
Close to the announcement of the final counting results, Priyanka, in a post on social media platform X, thanked the people of Wayanad for electing her as their representative to the Parliament.
"My dearest sisters and brothers of Wayanad, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own. I look forward to being your voice in Parliament!
"Thank you for giving me this honour and even more for the immense love you have given me," she said.
In her post, Priyanka also thanked her colleagues in the UDF, leaders from across Kerala, workers, volunteers and everyone else who supported her and worked "incredibly hard" in her poll campaign, by "tolerating" her "12 hour a day (no food, no rest) car journeys, and for fighting like true soldiers for the ideals we all believe in".
"To my mother, Robert and my two jewels- Raihan and Miraya, no gratitude is ever enough for the love and courage you give me. And to my brother, Rahul, you are the bravest of them all… thank you for showing me the way and having my back, always," she said in her post on X.
My dearest sisters and brothers of Wayanad,
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) November 23, 2024
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and…
