Siddaramaiah hears out people's woes; solves problems rightaway for many attending 'Janata Darshana'
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah won the hearts of several citizens who approached him at 'Janata Darshana', the grievance redressal program held at his residential office 'Krishna' in the city on Monday, by providing 'instant solutions' to their problems.
People from various parts of Karnataka who visited the event informed the CM of their woes. In cases where senior citizens complained of government officials denying them payment of pension, the CM immediately told the head of the Directorate of Social Security and Pension to check for and solve possible technical hitches. The CM also instructed the Director to take action against staff of the Directorate who were preventing the payment of pension to senior citizens.
Vendor Ningamma complained of harassment by police and BBMP officers to the street vendors and pushcart owners in the city.
Siddaramaiah called the concerned officers of the BBMP as well as the Police Department, instructing them to ensure such harassment by officers of their respective departments to Ningamma was prevented.
Next, a senior citizen told the CM that BBMP officers had been extorting fine from her although she had paid property tax, harassing her to approach the government by retaining the receipt of tax payment. Greatly upset on hearing this, Siddaramaiah called the concerned BBMP officer, ordering that the officer look into the matter personally and ensure that the issue was resolved by Monday evening. The CM also told the BBMP officer to personally report the matter to him by evening.
A statement issued earlier by the Additional Chief Secretary to the CM had said that, 20 counters had been put up for receipt of the people's complaints, with two of the counters reserved for senior citizens and people with special needs. The complaints submitted by the people would be sorted and recorded online, department-wise. The applicants would be given acknowledgement letters before the CM heard their complaints, said the government statement had added.
The official had also sent circulars to all government officers at various levels, instructing them to attend the 'Janata Darshana'.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
