Udupi: The ‘Kattada Samagri Sagata Vahana Maalaka-Chalakara Sangha’ on Monday staged a protest in front of the DC office here urging to simplify the sand policy and immediately resolve the issue.

Addressing the protesters, Sangha leader Raghavendra Shetty said that the district administration is directly responsible for the sand problem in the district. Measures should be taken to resolve the sand issue immediately. Sand mining must be allowed at all the 170 sand dunes.

Former president of Kundapur taluk panchayat Bhaskar Billawa said the sand issue should have been addressed earlier. Now it has become a disaster and the district administration is directly responsible for this. The district administration must immediately come forward to resolve the issue, he urged.

More than a hundred lorries were parked on the national highway and staged the protest. Barricades have been installed in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office in the wake of the strike and the security has been beefed up everywhere.

 

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Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.

Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.

Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.

Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.

According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.

She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.

A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.

Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.

Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.