Demand for toll-free movement
Indefinite lorry strike from July 20
Bengaluru, July 18: Owners of the commercial goods lorries called for an indefinite strike from July 20 across the country demanding toll-free movement and reduction in insurance premium and bringing diesel under GST.
Speaking to reporters at the Press Club here on Wednesday, Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association president GR Shanmugappa said that despite submitting memorandums to the central government several times seeking fulfillment of their demands, no action was taken. This attitude of the government has forced the lorry owners to call for indefinite strike once again, he said.
The country has total 412 toll-gates and annually, the lorry owners have to pay Rs 1.2 lakh crore as toll fee. They were ready to pay the toll fee, but the payment method should be changed. Around one crore commercial vehicles were passing through toll-gates. They were ready to pay the 50 per cent of the toll fee in advance and they should be given free movement in all toll gates. This would help the government get thousands of crores revenue annually, he said.
If the government imposed just Re 1 cess per litre of diesel of commercial vehicle plying in the country, the government could have collected Rs 13,000 crore and if it was doubled, the cess revenue would be Rs 26,000 crore. With this, the government could make toll-free movement. Normally, the lorries would have to stop at least 15-20 minutes in tollgate. A lorry which travels from Bengaluru to New Delhi has to waste around 14 hours in tollgates due to which, the diesel was being wasted. Around Rs 84,000 crore was being wasted on diesel, vehicle repair and tollgate maintenance, he said.
All associations like Bus Owners Association, Vegetables Transportation Lorry Owners Association and others have extended their support to the indefinite strike. Except the service of essential commodities like medicines and milk, more than 90 lakh lorries in the country and 6 lakh lorries in the state would stay off the roads, he said.
Demands
- Goods vehicles should be made toll-free
- Diesel price should be brought under GST and adopt tri-monthly review system
- TDS should be cancelled and advance payment method should be introduced.
- Problem in the e-way bill system should be sorted out.
- Tourist vehicles and buses should be given national permits.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
