As Congress govt completes 100 days in office, BJP lists "100 failures" of Siddaramaiah regime
Bengaluru, Aug 29: The opposition BJP in Karnataka on Tuesday brought out a booklet on the ''100 failures'' of the state government, which has just completed 100 days in office, in fulfilling its promises.
The party also charged the Congress government with pursuing politics of vengeance, while also alleging glaring financial indiscipline has resulted in delayed salaries to a section of the government employees.
When asked to comment on the BJP ''charge-sheet'' (booklet), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hit out at the J P Nadda-led party asking: ''What moral right they have? They were drowned in corruption during their tenure.''
Siddaramaiah denied that his government is targeting the previous BJP government. He said the Congress, when it was in the opposition, had demanded a probe into alleged scams during the BJP regime like ''Police Sub-Inspector recruitment scandal'' and ''40 per cent commission charge'' but they were not investigated.
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The Congress government has now ordered probe into such scams which it had demanded when it was in the opposition, the Chief Minister said.
Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, state BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel and former Minister Govind Karjol released a booklet titled 'Kai Kotta Yojanegalu-Hali Tappida Adalita' (washing hands of schemes-Derailed Administration) explaining the '100 failures' of the Siddaramaiah government.
The Siddaramaiah government, which assumed office on May 20, has betrayed people by not fulfilling its promises, Kateel alleged at a press conference.
He said that before coming to power, the Congress had announced five 'guarantees' (pre-poll promises) and made ''speeches on corruption''. However, by putting conditions on these guarantees later, the government has backtracked from its promises, Kateel said.
Kateel alleged there are two ministers facing corruption charges but the government did not take any action against them.
According to him, investors are also moving out of the state due to inadequate power supply. ''There is drought in the state. There were no rains due to which farmers are forced to block roads. The farmers are staring at power outage. The government did not announce any pro-farmer scheme,'' Kateel said.
The BJP leader explained that Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi under which Rs 6,000 is credited into the account of farmers every year.
When Bommai was the Chief Minister, he decided to add Rs 4,000 more from the state government to the Central scheme. This way, farmers were getting Rs 10,000 every year, he added.
''The Congress today has curtailed the scheme. This is an anti-farmer government. Corruption has spread its tentacles from Panchayat office to the CM office,'' Kateel charged. ''More than anything, this government is pursuing the politics of vengeance. It is jailing those writing anything on social media against it. There is a sort of emergency here,'' he alleged.
Addressing reporters, Bommai said the government has failed in financial discipline.
''We had presented a surplus budget in February this year but when they (Congress government) came to power, they borrowed Rs 8,000 crore. They have increased taxes exorbitantly,'' the former CM claimed.
According to him, there were repercussions of the financial indiscipline.
''There is a delay in the salaries paid to government employees. Many board and corporation employees are not getting their full salaries. This government did not construct even a kilometre road after coming to power be it rural roads, national highways or state highways. Not a single km road they built,'' Bommai charged.
He also alleged that during the previous stint of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister from 2013 to 2018, more than 4,500 farmers died by suicide. ''Now again the trends are showing up''.
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Israel again intercepts Gaza-bound ship carrying activists, humanitarian aid
Tel Aviv, Jul 27 (AP): The Israeli military has intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship seeking to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory, detaining 21 international activists and journalists and seizing all cargo, including baby formula, food and medicine, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said Sunday.
The coalition that operates the vessel Handala said the Israeli military “violently intercepted” the ship in international waters about 40 nautical miles from Gaza, cutting the cameras and communication, just before midnight Saturday.
“All cargo was non-military, civilian and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation and medical collapse under Israel's illegal blockade," the group said in a statement.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Israel's Foreign Ministry posted on X early Sunday that the Navy stopped the vessel and was bringing it to shore.
It was the second ship operated by the coalition that Israel has prevented in recent months from delivering aid to Gaza, where food experts have for months warned of the risk of famine. Activist Greta Thunberg was among 12 activists on board the ship Madleen when it was seized by the Israeli military in June.
The ship's interception comes as Israel faces mounting international criticism over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, with concern growing over rising hunger in the territory amid Israeli restrictions on aid.
A regional human rights group, Adalah, said the raid on the vessel violated international law. It demanded the immediate release of the 21 activists, including lawmakers and human rights campaigners, from 10 countries.
“The flotilla never entered Israeli territorial waters, nor was it intended to do so; it was headed toward the territorial waters of the State of Palestine, as recognised under international law," Adalah said in a statement. “Israel has no legal jurisdiction or authority over the international waters in which the vessel was sailing.”
Adalah demanded immediate disclosure of the activists' location and legal status.
Lawmaker Nicola Fratoianni, of a left-wing environmentalist party, called on the Italian government to ensure the safety of the two Italians on board.
Also on board were seven US citizens, including a human rights attorney, a Jewish US war veteran and a Jewish-American activist, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
