Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said votes cast for Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be a vote for anarchy, economic bankruptcy, corruption, instability and it will push the country's internal security into jeopardy.
The former chief minister also claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's leadership has completely failed, and a situation has arised where no one from his party is ready to take his name, during the campaign.
This election is for the country's security and integrity, he further said, expressing confidence that the BJP-JD(S) alliance will win all 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka.
Elections in 28 constituencies in the state will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7.
ALSO READ: KS Eshwarappa predicts B. Y. Raghavendra's defeat in Shivamogga
"Congress seems to have forgotten that the Lok Sabha elections are going on. As Rahul Gandhi's leadership has completely failed, a peculiar situation has arised where no one (from his party) is ready to take his name. Congress party don't have a reliable leadership and don't have the support of the (state) government's achievements," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, Congress leaders are in the illusion of getting public support, merely by misleading the people about the Central government's grants and creating a dispute over it.
The BJP is facing this election on the basis of the ten years of achievement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.
Votes cast for Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, will be a "vote for anarchy", the former CM said and added that voting for Congress also means voting for economic bankruptcy.
"Voting for Congress also means -- a vote for corruption, a vote for the country's instability, and also a vote that will push the country's internal security towards jeopardy," he said, as he hoped that the people will vote for BJP and NDA candidates looking at PM Modi and his leadership, for a secure and stable India, economic growth, and the all round development of the country.
People will outrightly reject the INDIA bloc which has raised the voices of dividing the country on the lines of language, caste and religion, he added.
Stating that because of Congress' false promises, development has slowed down in the state, the BJP parliamentary board member said people of the country have already given their approval for PM Modi's target of "abki baar 400 paar" (over 400 seats for NDA).
"People are supporting Modi's leadership and I'm confident that they will ensure BJP and NDA wins all the 28 seats in Karnataka," he added.
Demanding answers from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government about employment generation in the state in the last ten months, Yediyurappa said, talks about setting up of industries are only limited to 'X' accounts of Ministers M B Patil and Priyank Kharge.
"In the last ten months without even giving a single job, the Congress government has set a record, this is the Congress government's achievement," he claimed.
Highlighting various achievements of the Modi government, Yediyurappa, citing the increase in the number of Bhavishya Nidhi (PF) accounts and the number of MSMEs during Modi rule, asserted that a large number of jobs have been created.
Further pointing out that Congress had indulged in a misinformation campaign that HAL will be shut, the former CM said, HAL today has got a work order of Rs 84,000 crore and talks are on towards obtaining a work order for Rs 50,000 crore, and in 2023-24 alone it has generated a record income of Rs 29,000 crore.
"Will Rahul Gandhi, who had indulged in a misinformation campaign that HAL will be shut, apologise now? Will D K Shivakumar (Deputy CM) ensure that he apologises," he asked.
Comparing infrastructure creations like national highways, railway projects among others under the Modi's NDA rule with that of the previous UPA regime, he hit out at the Congress party alleging that they were on at a slow pace then.
Listing out various achievements of the Modi government, Yediyurappa pointed out that under the PM Kisan Samman scheme, the Centre is giving Rs 6,000 per farmer every year, and that when he was the chief minister he started giving Rs 4,000 in addition to it, from the state government, "but, Congress on coming to power in Karnataka has stopped it. This shows that this government is bankrupt."
The Siddaramaiah government has not been able to even set up a primary health centre so far, leave aside setting up a medical college, "this is their achievement," he added.
VIDEO | Here's what former #Karnataka CM and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) said on NDA's prospects in Lok Sabha election 2024.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 11, 2024
"We are going to win all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. Response is very good. From today onwards, I am going to tour almost all the 28… pic.twitter.com/pwd5PdB4L0
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.
New Delhi (PTI): Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers have safely crossed the war-hit Strait of Hormuz and are headed for Indian ports even as 16 other vessels remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, officials said Monday.
LPG vessel Green Sanvi carrying 46,650 tonnes of LPG is scheduled to reach Indian port on April 7 while Green Asha with 15,500 tonnes of cargo is scheduled to touch Indian coast on April 9, said Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary in Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways at a news briefing.
"Indian maritime operations remain safe and uninterrupted amid West Asia crisis. 16 Indian-flagged vessels with 433 seafarers are in the region; two LPG carriers, Green Sanvi and Green Asha, safely crossed Strait of Hormuz," he said.
With this, eight Indian-flagged LPG tankers have safely transited through the strategic waterway, which has remained effectively shut since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28 and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
Of the vessels still stuck in the Persian Gulf, one is of a loaded liquefied natural gas (LNG), two are LPG tankers (one loaded and one empty), six are crude carriers (five loaded, one empty), three are container ships, one is a dredger, one is carrying chemical cargo and two are bulk carriers, he said.
Asked about reports of Iran charging a fee for letting ships cross the strait, Mangal said, "we have no information of such payments."
For a country that relies on imports from Gulf nations to meet as much as 60 per cent of its cooking gas needs, the arrivals will help ease the worst LPG shortage it is battling in decades. India consumed 33.15 million tonne of LPG last year, with imports accounting for about 60 per cent of demand. As much as 90 per cent of those imports came from West Asia.
The US-Israel attacks on Iran, and Tehran's sweeping retaliation have all but halted shipping through the strait - the narrow shipping lane that is the conduit for oil and gas exports from Gulf countries to the world. Iran has, however, stated that "non-hostile vessels" may transit the waterway after coordinating with Iranian authorities.
Last week, two LPG carriers, BW TYR and BW ELM, carrying combined LPG cargo of about 94,000 tonnes safely transited the region. While BW TYR reached Mumbai on March 31, BW ELM docked at New Mangalore on April 1.
Prior to that, four Indian-flagged LPG tankers had safely sailed through the strait. Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying 92,612 tonnes of LPG, reached Indian ports between March 26 and March 28. MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG, had reached Mundra port in Gujarat on March 16 and Kandla port in the state on March 17.
Originally, there were 28 Indian-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz when the war in West Asia broke. Of these, 24 were on the West side of the strait and four on the East side. Eight vessels from the west side and two from east have managed to sail to safety.
Besides the eight LPG tankers, the Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki, with 80,886 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE, reached Mundra on March 18.
Another tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, had previously safely crossed the strait and is en route to Tanzania.
