Karnataka Congress holds protest against state govt
Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue at the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the state legislature here, against the ruling BJP for amending the APMC act, proposed nominations to gram panchayats by postponing elections and plans to amend labour laws, among other issues.
The opposition party also hit out at the central and state governments over their handling of the COVID-19 crisis and packages announced for those in distress.
Several state party leaders, including KPCC President D K Shivakumar, Congress Legislature Party and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, and MLAs took part in the protest, holding placards and shouting slogans against the government.
The decision to hold the protest was arrived at the CLP meeting, chaired by Siddaramaiah last evening.
"It is inevitable for us to start this protest to save this country. We are starting this from Mahatma Gandhi statue and will take it across the state in the days to come," Shivakumar told reporters here.
Alleging that there was a conspiracy to nominate BJP workers as members to panchayats without holding elections because of COVID-19, he warned the Chief Minister of state- wide wide protests in this regard, while demanding that either the elections be held or current members be continued.
"We will protest against all the anti-people policies of the government like amendment to the APMC act, which is anti farmer aimed at benefiting capitalists. It should be withdrawn immediately," he added.
Targeting the government over the treatment meted out to labourers during COVID-19 and relief not reaching them properly, the KPCC President said "they are planning to amend labour laws to woo investors from outside. we have to protect the interest of the labourers first."
Despite objections from opposition parties, the government recently came out with an ordinance that amended the laws to curtail the powers of the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC).
While the government said it was aimed at bringing in reforms to facilitate market access for farmers, opposition parties have vehemently opposed it, alleging that it would dilute the APMC laws and affect farmers' interests.
Also, the government is reportedly mulling over an ordinance relaxing labour laws in line with other BJP ruled states, that includes extension in work hours, among other things.
Alleging that both state and centre central have "failed" from the beginning in managing the COVID-19 crisis, Shivakumar hit out the stimulus packages announced, calling them "bogus".
He also accused the state government of not allowing the party to hold its legislature party meeting at Vidhana Soudha last evening.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
