Fight was between truth and lies, says UT Khader
Mangaluru, May 16: Congress leader and former minister U T Khader, who was elected from the Mangaluru constituency for the fifth time, on Tuesday said the election this time was fought between truth and lies.
People have voted against the misinformation campaign of the BJP and the Congress will form a government which will be without bias and hatred towards any section of society, Khader said, addressing reporters at the Congress Bhavan here.
He said the Congress will work hard for the development of Karnataka and restore peace and harmony and fulfil all the guarantees promised to the people.
The voters have shown the door to BJP and voted against the politics of hatred and anti-people schemes, he said and thanked the voters of Mangaluru for re-electing him for a fifth term.
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To a question, he said the party will review the setback suffered by the party in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts and try to instill confidence among the people.
Khader said the Congress will distribute benefits to all sections of the population without discrimination towards any community unlike the BJP government. The schemes announced in the party's coastal manifesto will also be implemented, he said.
Khader and Ashok Kumar Rai (Puttur) are the only Congress candidates who won from Dakshina Kannada district which has eight seats, while the party drew a blank in Udupi district, where the BJP won in all the five constituencies.
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BJP stages walkout in Karnataka assembly over 'non-disbursal' of Gruha Lakshmi payout
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.
The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.
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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.
The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.
The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.
As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.
When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.
Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.
"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.
"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.
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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.
Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.
The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.
Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.
Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.
