CM Siddaramaiah blames Centre for price rise
Belagavi (Karnataka), Apr 12 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday lashed out at the BJP-led government in the Centre for the price rise in the country.
Siddaramaiah ridiculed the Karnataka BJP unit's ongoing 'Janaakrosha Yatre', the public anger march.
The 16-day agitation where the BJP will take out march in all the districts against the anti-people and the alleged minority appeasement politics of the Congress government is aimed at awakening people.
Speaking to reporters at Sambra Airport in Belagavi, Siddaramaiah charged that the BJP leaders have no sense of dignity or decorum.
"Who is responsible for the hike in petrol, diesel, and LPG cylinder prices? What answers do BJP leaders have for this price hike? The Narendra Modi government is directly responsible for the price hike," the chief minister said.
He said the decision taken by his government had increased the state revenue by around Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore in the form of additional tax.
Siddaramaiah also said that the hike in milk prices did not bring money to the government treasury as it goes directly to the farmers. "If BJP protests on giving money to farmers, then they are anti-farmers," he said.
The CM said the Centre increased the LPG cylinder price by Rs 50, which was a burden on the common citizens.
He challenged the BJP leaders to speak up against the central government's price hike.
"BJP has no moral right to protest. All these price hikes happened due to the BJP. Check the price of an LPG cylinder now and what it was during Manmohan Singh's time. It has doubled," Siddaramaiah alleged.
On BJP's allegation that the Karnataka government is financially bankrupt, he sought to know whether salaries, pensions and retirement benefits have been stopped.
"During BJP's time, even after claiming there was no money, they issued tenders and misused funds. Now they are trying to lecture us," the chief minister said.
According to him, if Karnataka is financially bankrupt today, the previous BJP government is directly responsible for it.
He blamed the BJP governments led by former Chief Ministers Yediyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraj Bommai for the financial woes.
Siddaramaiah said, "We have presented a budget of Rs 4,09,500 crore this year. Last year, we presented a budget of Rs 3.71 lakh crore. This is an increase of Rs 38,000 crore. If the state is bankrupt, could we have increased the budget like this."
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
