Karnataka Congress leaders to begin statewide 'Praja Dhwani' poll tour tomorrow
Bengaluru, Jan 10: Aiming to unseat the ruling BJP, the Congress will hit the road in poll-bound Karnataka from January 11 with an election tour titled 'Praja Dhwani', jointly led by party state unit President D K Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah.
The tour covering 21 districts will see the party sharing its ideas with the people and assuring all-round development of the state, while attacking the BJP government with a "chargesheet" it has prepared.
As part of the tour programme, both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, who are nursing chief ministerial ambitions in the event of the Congress coming to power, will travel in the same bus until January 29.
Thereafter, in the second week of February, they will form separate teams, with one group headed by Siddaramaiah set to tour Assembly constituencies in north Karnataka region, while Shivakumar will be leading the way in southern districts.
"Praja Dhwani is the voice and feelings of the people. To inform people about the failures of the BJP's three-and-half years rule and what we (Congress) do, to better the lives of the people, this yatra is being organised," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the tour will begin on Wednesday in Belagavi, where Mahatma Gandhi had historically presided over the Congress session in 1924.
"We seek your (people) blessings as we will script the way forward for the Congress' victory and for a change in Karnataka," Shivakumar said, as he targeted the BJP government for corruption and '40 per cent commission', and highlighted its alleged "misrule", "scandals", and investments flowing into neighbouring states.
Announcing details of the tour, the party on Tuesday released a "chargesheet" of sorts against the government in the state titled "BJP's Paapada Purana" (Epics of BJP's sins), listing out price rise and various corruption allegations.
It also launched a website to collect inputs from the people of the state for the manifesto, and unveiled the 'Praja Dhwani' campaign logo.
Siddaramaiah, who is also the Congress Legislature Party leader, calling Basavaraj Bommai "the most weakest" chief minister Karnataka has seen said: "Not only is he corrupt, he is also a coward in front of the Union government... This 40 per cent commission government, the government of 'Ali Baba and the 40 thieves'."
He also took a dig at the state's BJP MPs for not putting pressure on the Union government to give Karnataka Rs 5,495 crore special grant recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, as he charged that the special grant was "rejected" by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Further alleging that the state was in deep debt, the former chief minister said the BJP government has borrowed Rs 3 lakh crore loans in just four years.
"They have borrowed so much that even interest payments are tough. The loan burden will add up to Rs 83,000 per person... Can the state survive?" he asked, as he made the case for Congress to come to power.
ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಮಹಾ ಯಾತ್ರೆ ಮೂಲಕ ಈ ವರ್ಷ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಪ್ರದೇಶ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಶುಭಾರಂಭ ಮಾಡಿದೆ. ಪಕ್ಷದ ವತಿಯಿಂದ ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಪ್ರಜಾಧ್ವನಿ ಯಾತ್ರೆ ರಾಜ್ಯಾದ್ಯಂತ ಸಂಚರಿಸಲಿದ್ದು ಇಂದು ಯಾತ್ರೆಗಾಗಿ ಸಿದ್ಧವಾಗಿರುವ ಬಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಕಚೇರಿ ಬಳಿ ಪೂಜೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಅಸಲಿಯತ್ತನ್ನು ಬಯಲು ಮಾಡಲು ಈ ಯಾತ್ರೆ ಸಹಕಾರಿಯಾಗಲಿದೆ. pic.twitter.com/IIijTY1uar
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) January 10, 2023
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.
3 held in Kolkata for trying to dupe man of Rs 5 lakh by posing as functionaries of TMC MP's office
Kolkata (PTI): Three persons were arrested here for allegedly trying to dupe a 64-year-old man of Rs 5 lakh by impersonating functionaries of the office of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, police said on Friday.
The man, a resident of Kalna in Purba Bardhaman district, lodged a police complaint, alleging that the accused demanded the money on the pretext of a false promise of providing various facilities by "applying political influence", a senior officer said.
Acting on the complaint, the police arrested the three accused at MLA hostel on Thursday, he said.
“They impersonated functionaries of the office of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and misled the complainant with forged documents. They demanded Rs 5 lakh as part payment on the pretext of a false promise of providing assorted facilities by applying political influence," the officer said.
According to the complaint, the accused used a WhatsApp number with Banerjee’s photograph being used as a profile picture to establish credibility and deceive the man.
The case was registered at Kalna police station on December 25 under the various sections of the BNS Act, 2023, and the investigation is underway, the officer added.
