Cong will win atleast 20 seats in Karnataka in LS polls: CM Siddaramaiah
Mandya (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that the Congress will win at least 20 out of 28 seats from the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
He also junked the BJP's claim of winning all the 28 seats.
"We are preparing to win at least 20 seats this time. The BJP is making exaggerated claims that they will win all the 28 seats because they have realised that people will bless Congress this time," the Congress leader told reporters at Malavalli in Mandya district.
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Regarding the Congress strategy to fight against the coalition of BJP and Janata Dal (Secular), Siddaramaiah said there are no two parties in the opposition.
"This time we have only one opposition. There are no two parties but only one party in the opposition. JD(S) has merged with the BJP and is not functioning like a separate party," he said.
The BJP swept the 2019 Parliamentary polls in Karnataka by winning 25 seats, while an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya) backed by it won one seat.
The Congress and JD(S) won one seat each.
To a question on fielding sitting ministers in the general elections, the CM said whoever the local MLAs and district level party office bearers recommend will be fielded.
On opposition parties' criticisim of the budget, Siddaramaiah replied that those who are 'anti-poor' cannot understand the budget.
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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.
