Rahul Gandhi should become PM: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should become the Prime Minister of the country.
His statement came even as some within INDIA bloc have pitched for Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to become the Prime Ministerial face of the alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"Only Congress party has the strength to address problems of this country.....for that, Rahul Gandhi should become the Prime Minister of the country," Siddaramaiah said.
Addressing Congress' 139th foundation day event here, he said, "Nobody in the country had done something like the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Now, he (Rahul Gandhi) is taking up a Bharat Jodo Yatra's second version - the Nyay Yatra. That's because not everyone has got justice in the country."
"Everyone in the country -- backward classes, Dalits, minorities and women -- should get justice, hence this Yatra is being undertaken by Rahul Gandhi," he added.
Asking the Congress workers whether someone like Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi come to power, Siddaramaiah said, "forgetting all our differences, for the sake of the country, to protect the Constitution, to save the country's multiculturalism and sovereignty, and to provide justice to everyone, we must fight together and bring Congress back to power."
Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, Siddaramaiah had pitched for Rahul Gandhi as PM. Noting that some people talk of soft Hindutva, the CM said, "Hindutva is Hindutva. I'm an Hindu. Hindu and Hindutva are different...... Haven't we built Ram temples in our villages? Don't we worship Rama and do bhajans? I too used to go for bhajans in our village....Aren't we Hindus? We are also Hindus."
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.
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.
