Protests against me with black flags, eggs 'state sponsored': Siddaramaiah
Chikkamagaluru, Aug 19: A day after eggs were hurled at his car and black flags were waved during his visit to Kodagu, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Friday termed it a "state sponsored" protest.
Alleging that those who pelted eggs at his car were from "an organisation to which Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse belonged", the senior Congress leader and former chief minister wondered whether such people will spare him, as he was speaking against them.
"Yesterday at Titimati, there were about 10 youths shouting slogans; after that at four places they had gathered, Couldn't the police have stopped it? If the Chief Minister comes, will they let people protest with black flags? Won't they carry out preventive arrests? What was wrong with the Superintendent of Police (SP)?" Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters, he said on August 26, he along with Congress workers will lay siege to the SP's office in Kodagu, alleging that there is no law and order and that the official had "wrong intentions" and had colluded with the RSS, Bajrang Dal and Sangh Parivar and had allowed the incident to happen.
"Yesterday's was a state sponsored protest...can't we do it (protest) holding black flags? Can't our workers do it for the Chief Minister of Ministers? It was an act of cowardice, they have done it when I had gone to assess rain-related damage and hear out the farmers," he added.
Alleged BJP Yuva Morcha workers and activists of Hindu groups had raised slogans like 'Kodagina Virodhi Siddaramaiah', 'Go back Siddaramaiah' and 'Hindu Virodhi' when he was in Kodagu on Thursday to visit rain-affected areas. They were protesting against his statement asking "Why put Savarkar's photo in Muslim area?"
Noting that as the Leader of Opposition, he is a "shadow Chief Minister", Siddaramaiah said it is the duty of the government to provide proper security for him.
"It shows that there is no law and order in the state...it is a corrupt, bad and communal government. In fact there is no government at all, it is dead," he alleged.
Earlier addressing an event, the Congress legislature party leader, while speaking about Thursday's incident said, "These people 'eliminated' Gandhi. Will they leave me? They killed Gandhi, Godse had shot at Gandhi, but they worship his photo."
"Yesterday they were protesting holding posters of Savarkar, they are calling a man who apologised to the British as Veer Savarkar. I don't have any personal enmity or anger against Savarkar. He was also a human being, but his conduct was not right," he said.
ರಾಜ್ಯ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಇಲಾಖೆ ಸಂಘಪರಿವಾರದ ಕೈಗೊಂಬೆಯಾಗಿದೆ.@BJP4Karnataka ಪಕ್ಷದ ಪುಂಡರ ಗೂಂಡಾಗಿರಿಗೆ ಅವಕಾಶ ನೀಡಿ, ಕೈಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ತಮಾಷೆ ನೋಡುವ ಪೊಲೀಸರ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ಲೋಪ ಖಂಡಿಸಿ ಈ ತಿಂಗಳ 26 ರಂದು ಕೊಡಗಿನ ಎಸ್.ಪಿ ಕಚೇರಿಗೆ ಮುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತೇವೆ.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 19, 2022
ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಗೂಂಡಾಗಿರಿಗೆ ಹೋರಾಟದ ಮೂಲಕವೇ ತಕ್ಕ ಉತ್ತರ ಕೊಡುತ್ತೇವೆ.
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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.
