Karnataka BJP will face Assembly polls under collective leadership: Yediyurappa
Belagavi (KTK) (PTI): Karnataka BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday said 2023 assembly polls in the state will be under a "collective leadership", and that he along with other leaders will travel across to bring the party back to power.
The 79-year-old former Chief Minister even stated that he is committed to travel across the state for another 10-years, aimed at strengthening the party.
"There is no question of (me taking) leadership, under collective leadership we will travel across the state and will put in all the efforts to win the upcoming polls."
"As voters are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, there will be no hurdles in our path towards victory. We don't have any doubts about it," Yediyurappa told reporters in response to a question.
The senior leader said he is ready to travel any time anywhere across the state.
"I will travel across the state for another 10 years and will see to it that no party worker is hurt. I will take everyone into confidence and work towards strengthening the party. This is my commitment," he added.
The "Lingayat strongman" had led the BJP become the single largest party in 2018 assembly elections and subsequently ensured it came to power in 2019, with the support of a few Congress and JD(S) MLAs who defected to his party.
He stepped down as Chief Minister in July last year, paving the way for his confidant Basavaraj Bommai to succeed him.
Hitting out at Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, Yediyurappa said, the Congress leader is speaking lightly about RSS and BJP leaders as he is desperate, after getting to know about Congress's "defeat" in the upcoming elections.
"He (Siddaramaiah) is speaking indiscriminately, as he is desperate. He is speaking lightly about others as he is sure about his party's defeat", Yediyurappa said.
"Speaking lightly about RSS and others has become an obsession for him; it will in no way benefit him. In fact he is belittling his position as Leader of Opposition and former CM, by his statements," he said.
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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.
