Chandrababu Naidu meets Deve Gowda over EVM issue
Bengaluru: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday met former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda as part of his efforts to mobilise opposition parties on the controversy over alleged manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Confabulating with Gowda for over an hour here late Tuesday night after a meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi on the EVM issue earlier in the day, Naidu said 23 parties were raising the issue and demanding transparency and accountability.
"Earlier, even the BJP had opposed EVMs," he said. "In Uttar Pradesh, we are seeing EVMs in hotels and homes... strong rooms are being changed," Naidu alleged.
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacking the bogey of EVM raised by the opposition, Naidu said, "Why is the PM opposing? There is EVM and VVPAT. You have spent Rs 9,000 crore... Why are you not showing transparency and accountability?"
"This means you are doing mischief. You are manipulating EVMs," he alleged.
Gowda said he too had written about the EVMs to the Election Commission in 2006 itself and added that he felt ballot papers should be brought back to avoid these complications.
Already locked in a battle with the EC over the reliability of the EVMs, the opposition parties have pressed for their demand of increasing the tallying of the paper trail of votes (VVPATs) with EVM figures and have submitted a memorandum to the poll panel in New Delhi.
In the memorandum, leaders of 22 opposition parties, including from the Congress, DMK, TDP and the BSP, have demanded that verification of VVPAT slips of randomly identified five polling stations in an assembly segment should be done prior to the initiation of counting of votes and not after the completion of the last round of counting.
Asked about the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition in the event of anti-BJP parties getting the numbers, Naidu said, "We will sit together and discuss the PM candidate after the results on May 23."
On the JDS backing Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the top post, Naidu said, "There was nothing wrong with it. (However) We will sit together and decide.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
