Devotees throng temples across Bengaluru to offer prayers on Ganesh Chaturthi
Bengaluru (PTI): Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated with fervour as devotees thronged temples and community pandals across Bengaluru to offer prayers to Lord Ganesha on Wednesday.
Long queues were witnessed outside prominent temples, including Dodda Ganapathi temple, where people offered flowers, coconuts and sweets to Lord Ganesha, with police making elaborate security arrangements across the city to ensure smooth conduct of celebrations.
Several residential areas and public places also saw the installation of Ganesha idols, with cultural programmes and community feasts planned as part of the festivities.
According to Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh all adequate security measures are in place for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the city.
Extra CCTVs have also been installed at major points, which have been linked with the command centre by aligning them with procession routes. Police officials at the command centre will closely monitor activities to ensure their smooth conduct, he said.
Two Rapid Action Force companies have also been deployed as additional support to the city police personnel.
Many devotees were also seen preferring eco-friendly, colourless clay idols of Ganesha instead of Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols coated with chemical paints that are considered harmful to the environment and water bodies.
Ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi, Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre had directed local bodies to strictly enforce the ban on the manufacture and sale of Gowri and Ganesha idols made of Plaster of Paris.
In view of large number of public and devotees expected to arrive for the immersion of Ganesh idols at the historic Yediyur Lake in Jayanagar, anticipating the possibility of traffic congestion on Kanakapura main road, suitable traffic arrangements have been made by the police to ensure smooth flow of traffic in and around the place of the event.
Similar arrangements and traffic restrictions have also been made at other prominent lakes in the city where immersion of Ganesh idols is expected.
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.
PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
