Bengaluru, Nov 3: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday termed the Janasevaka scheme of the state government delivering 58 services including ration at the doorstep, a gimmick.
"Supplying ration is the primary duty of the government. What they (government) are doing is a drama, a gimmick," Siddaramaiah told reporters.
He was referring to the 'Janasevaka' scheme launched in Bengaluru by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai offering 58 services at the doorsteps of citizens. Bommai had said that the same would be implemented across Karnataka from January 26 onwards.
He also sought to know what the BJP government was giving to the public after stopping the previous Congress government's populist programmes.
"They (BJP) reduced the rice quantity from seven kilograms to five kilograms to each individual a month under Anna Bhagya scheme. They closed Indira Canteens, stopped Shoe Bhagya, Shala Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya and Vidyasiri scholarships. So what are they giving to the public?" Siddaramaiah asked.
Siddaramaiah again challenged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to come to a common platform for debate with him on the achievements of the government.
He said, "I had twice challenged him (Bommai) in Hangal (where bypoll was held on October 30 and which Congress won) for debate but he did not turn up."
Demanding that the next assembly session be held at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, the Congress leader said for the past three years no session took place there.
Siddaramaiah said he used to hold the session there every year.
To a query on BJP staging demonstration against him in Bengaluru on Wednesday for allegedly insulting Dalits during his public speech in Sindgi on October 26, Siddaramaiah alleged that the accusations were baseless as he never spoke anything against Dalits.
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Ludhiana (PTI): Six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Congress leader Parminder Tiwari, who was hacked to death with an axe on Sunday in Machhiwara here.
Tiwari, the block president of the Congress party from Machhiwara in Ludhiana, was murdered on March 29 while sitting outside his rented quarters near Takhran village
Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaskaranjit Singh Teja stated the case is neither linked to politics nor gang rivalry.
The main accused, Vijay Kumar and Lucky, were apprehended in Jamalpura village in Munger district, Bihar, by a special team dispatched there, police said.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the suspects aimed to illegally occupy a piece of panchayat land in the Machiwara area, but Tiwari opposed their plans. The accused allegedly visited Tiwari at his rented quarters on March 29 and attacked him with an axe, resulting in his immediate death, officials said.
The other four individuals arrested are relatives of the main accused and were aware of the murder plot, the DCP added.
Police have recovered the axe used in the crime, as well as the motorcycle the accused used to flee the scene.
