Search conducted in hotels occupied by Congress, JDS leaders
Bengaluru, May 14: An election commission squad, along with income tax and enforcement directorate sleuths, Tuesday carried out searches in two hotels at Hubballi where State minister D K Shivakumar and some Congress and JD(S) leaders were staying.
The sleuths seized from the rooms in the hotels gold utensils and other materials allegedly meant for bribing voters.
The raids were carried out in connection with the bypoll in Kundgol seat which fell vacant following the death of sitting MLA C S Shivalli a few months ago.
According to government sources, the squad carried out searches at the two hotels.
While the search in one hotel was wound up soon, the search in the other lasted longer, Congress party sources said.
Karnataka water resources minister D K Shivakumar (Congress) was staying at one of the hotels when the raid took place.
Speaking to PTI, the minister said, The I-T officials had carried out searches in my room as well as in rooms of other congress cadre."
The raids were meant to curb election related malpractices, government sources said.
Two assembly constituencies in Karnataka Chincholi and Kundgol are going to poll on May 19 and the counting would take place simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.
The team seized gold utensils, party caps and photograph of former MLA of Kundgol C S Shivalli, whose widow Kusumavathi is contesting election, from a room where congress worker Shivakumar Chandrashekhar Gokavi was staying, government sources said.
Subsequently, a police complaint was lodged against Gokavi about the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, they said.
Chincholi is going for by polls as the sitting Congress MLA Dr Umesh Jadhav resigned from the assembly to join BJP and contest the Lok Sabha election from Gulbarga on BJP ticket against Congress stalwart Mallikarjun Kharge.
The BJP has given ticket to Jadhav's son Avinash to contest from Chincholi who would have a direct fight with Congress candidate Subhash Rathod.
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No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
