BSY to lead BJP agitation from July 4 against Cong govt demanding implementation of poll guarantees
Bengaluru , Jun 25: Announcing that BJP will hold protests both inside and outside the Assembly during legislature session, demanding the Congress government in the state to implement its poll guarantees, veteran party leader B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said he will lead agitations in front of Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha, from July 4.
The former Chief Minister also called on the party workers and leaders to prepare for 2024 Lok Sabha and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections and ensure that BJP wins.
"In Karnataka elections people believed in their (Congress) guarantee card, they got deceived, as a result of it we (BJP) could not win in over 100 seats. We will protest both inside and outside the Assembly against this government's anti farmer and anti people policies, and its failure in implementing five guarantees within 24 hours, as promised," Yediyurappa said.
Addressing the party meeting here, he said the government so far has implemented only one guarantee of free travel for women in public transport buses, with lots of conditions, which is an insult to women folk.
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"We have to organise protests or agitations at every step against this Congress government which has betrayed the people and teach them a lesson. We have 66 members in the Assembly, which is not less, so we have to fight inside the House," Yediyurappa said, as he recalled how he single handedly fought against the policies of the government as the lone BJP MLA in the past.
Calling on the party leaders and workers to ensure that the party wins the Lok Sabha polls and comes to power in the BBMP elections, he asked them to come on to the streets, demanding the Congress government to implement their guarantee card in toto.
"It has already been one-and-a-half months since coming to power. You (Congress) are still dilly dallying," he said.
"I call on our workers to spread awareness among people going door to door," he added.
"As soon as Assembly session starts, after the Governor's address -- from July 4, along with thousands of our workers I will hold demonstration in front of Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha, from morning till evening, until the session ends, demanding Congress government to implement five guarantees promised, or to quit from power," Yediyurappa said.
The Legislature Session is scheduled from July 3 to 14, which will also see the new government tabling a fresh budget.
Speaking about Siddaramaiah government's 'Anna Bhagya' scheme, which promises to provide 10 kg free rice for poor, the BJP parliamentary board member said, "5kgs of rice is being given by Modi government, your promise of 10 kg rice should be in addition to the what is being given by the Centre."
"You (Congress) have to keep up your promise, if not quit from power....intoxicated by power those in government are speaking whatever they want, this won't be allowed to continue," he said.
All party leaders will participate in the agitations, along with workers from every part of Bengaluru each day, to caution this government. "We should make people aware and ensure that they remove this government at the earliest," he said.
Yediyurappa also asked the party cadres and leaders to prepare for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections.
"Lok Sabha polls are ahead of us and we have the responsibility to make Narendra Modi, who is loved globally, the Prime Minister once again, and I have the confidence that we will make honest efforts to win all the Lok Sabha seats and will be successful in that," he said.
Noting that he is turning 81 years of age, he said, "I will be travelling across the state with all our leaders together, aimed at winning all the seats and giving it to Modi as a gift, and in the same way win the BBMP elections with a clear majority and run the administration in the city."
Pointing out that BJP is in power in 14 states in the country, while Congress in only five, Yediyurappa said the party which has a leader like Modi, who is respected across the globe should not face a setback.
Taking a dig at leaders of opposition parties, who met in Bihar recently, he said, "your conspiracies won't work, people of this country are aware, they have the capability to decide what is right and wrong ....if you were honest you should have said that Modi, who is respected and loved globally, should be elected as PM unanimously."
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
