Mangaluru, May 21: The demand for deputy chief minister’s position to North Karnataka in the JDS-Congress combine is becoming stronger. This demand is justifiable. If the North Karnataka needs equal share in the development, it should get the post of deputy chief minister.

In the same way, Coastal Karnataka is also important place for the Congress. Interestingly, the Congress has only three MLAs from the entire Coastal Karnataka and out of 13 constituencies in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, the Congress has got only one seat. In the last Assembly election, the Congress had 10 MLAs, but this time it has reduced to one.

It is said that Hindutva and Modi wave has worked behind this result. If it is true, UT Khader is the only person who swam against these two waves to become MLA. With this, Khader has saved the face of the Congress in the Coastal area.

Facing all challenges, Khader has won for the fourth time in a row. For this, the Congress has to encourage him. In order to induce confidence among party workers, Khader should be given an important portfolio. In the last government, Khader has drawn the attention of the entire state through his work and efficiency as the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies department. He is able to handle any portfolio if given.

His plus point is that he takes people of all religions together. Even in the election, he has taken people from all communities into confidence due to which, he was supported by all sections of people. For this reason, he should be given an important portfolio as the party would require him more.

 

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New Delhi (PTI): Air India Express has cancelled "scores of flights" due to a shortage of cabin crew members as a section of them are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, according to sources.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.

The sources on Wednesday said several cabin crew members started reporting sick since Monday evening and as there are not enough cabin crew members, "scores of flights" have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Bangalore.

Late last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

Many passengers took to social media on Wednesday complaining about the sudden cancellation of flights.

In response to a passenger's post on X about flight cancellation, Air India Express apologised and said the flight was cancelled "due to operational reasons".

"As part of our service recovery process, you can either opt to reschedule the flight within the next 7 days or request a full refund through our chat bot Tia...," the airline said in a post on X.

The development at Air India Express comes a month after Tata Group full-service carrier Vistara witnessed pilot woes, forcing it to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily.

As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India.