Rahul Gandhi hits out at Centre over privatisation, says unemployment today highest in 4 decades
Haveri (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, accusing it of promoting privatisation of state-owned companies and reducing the number of government jobs in the country.
Addressing a public meeting here in Haveri district, he attacked the government on the issues of corruption, price rise and unemployment.
Government companies were being privatised one by one, and government jobs were being reduced, alleged Gandhi, who was on a visit to the state to campaign for the party ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls.
"When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, he said two crore youth would be given jobs every year. (But) unemployment is highest today in 40 years," he said.
In the healthcare and education sectors, the government was supposed to build institutions but instead they were all being privatised, Gandhi said.
"We don't want such a Hindustan, We don't want an unemployed India, we don't want a poor India, we want justice," he said.
He appealed to the people to give the Congress at least 150 seats (out of a total of 224) in the elections. "Don't give them (BJP) more than 40 seats," Gandhi said,
Gandhi reiterated the "40 per cent sarkar" charge against the Basavaraj Bommai government, adding that former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who recently quit the BJP and joined the Congress, was not given a chance by the ruling party to contest in the elections as he did not indulge in corruption.
Earlier in his interaction with sugarcane farmers at Ramdurg in Belagavi district, he said India's progress depended on the progress of its farmers, labourers and small businesses.
Gandhi said his conversations with farmers in Karnataka and across India had given him insight into the "ordeals brought upon them by the corrupt BJP regime, which is only focused on helping 2-3 of its 'mitr'".
Farmers and small business owners must be protected and empowered, not assaulted with "flawed policies like the BJP's GST", he said. "The Congress party is committed to scripting such a growth story, which brings prosperity for all," he said.
"Karnataka is all set to bring in this change," added Gandhi.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
