Dialogue with central government successful: Truckers call off strike
Bengaluru, July 27: The lorry owners who were on indefinite strike for the last one week seeking fulfillment of their demands including toll-free traffic, bringing diesel under GST and other demands, called of their strike on Friday following the central government’s intervention in the strike.
For the last one week, total 90 lakh lorries including 6.5 lakh lorries in the state were off the roads. Because of the strike, the goods lorries were standing in queues on the national highways. This has affected the export and created scarcity of essential commodities. The prices of vegetables, fruits and other provisions were increased due to shortage.
Along with the essential commodities, the industries were also affected as the raw materials like chemicals, paper, cloths, and others were not supplied. Those, who dependent on goods vehicles for their livelihood across the country suffered a lot. Both lorry owners and the government have incurred a loss worth crores as the strike has affected both export and import.
As the government has agreed to fulfill some of the demands in the meeting held on Friday, the lorry owners called of their strike and the goods vehicles would run from Friday night.
“Lakhs of lorries stayed off the roads seeking fulfillment of their demands for the last one week. All goods vehicles owners have extended their support to our strike. Now, the government has agreed to fulfill some of our demands. In view of this, we have decided to call off the strike temporarily”.
- GR Shanmugappa, State Lorry Owners Association president
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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.
