Archives for 2019

Nasheman News :  Accusing ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of avoiding meeting legislators from the Opposition, state Congress President Girish Chodankar on Friday said if Parrikar continues this, the Opposition party would raise a ruckus in the forthcoming state Assembly session.

“Parrikar has been skipping office regularly. When it comes to meeting him, it is only the ruling MLAs and BJP leaders that get preference. Despite repeated official requests, Parrikar has not even had the courtesy of meeting our Leader of Opposition, let alone any Congress MLA,” Chodankar told reporters here.

“If he dodges meeting the Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar on Monday during the Assembly Business Advisory Committee meeting, then the Congress MLAs will raise the issue of his inaccesibility in the Assembly session,” he added.

In the Business Advisory Committee meeting, the agenda for the upcoming three-day Budget Session of the state Legislative Assembly, scheduled to be held later in January, is expected to be finalised. 

Both Parrikar, as Chief Minister and Kavlekar as Leader of Opposition, are part of the six-member Committee.

Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and New York since February 2018. While the former Defence Minister, strapped with medical paraphernalia, has been making public appearances now and then, public access to the Chief Minister is limited, much to the chargin of the Opposition members.

According to sources in the Goa Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Parrikar is expected to attend the Assembly session which begins on January 29. 

“The Chief Minister will take part in the Assembly proceedings and will table the budget too, irrespective of health concerns,” a party functionary said on condition of anonymity.

N Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday accused the government of compromising national security and asked why it bought only 36 Rafale fighter jets instead of 126 required by the Air Force.

His comments come in the wake of fresh revelations on the Rafale deal in a media report which claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to but 36 aircraft instead of the 126 asked for by the Air Force pushed the price of each jet up by 41.42 per cent.

“In the light of new facts and revelations in media, the question gains greater urgency: why did the government buy only 36 Rafale aircraft instead of 126 aircraft required by the Air Force?,” Chidambaram asked in a tweet.

“The Government has compromised national security by denying to the Air Force the 7 squadrons (126 aircraft) that it desperately needs,” he said.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia also took to Twitter to demand answers from Modi on the increased cost of aircraft. “The PM’s unilateral decision to buy 36 Rafales resulted in a price escalation of 41.42 per cent per jet. When will the prime minister answer? he asked.

Addressing a minorities convention in Bengaluru on Thursday, the former Prime Minister said JD(S) is committed to facing the Lok Sabha elections along with Congress to defeat BJP. 

Janata Dal (Secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Thursday asked the Congress to cooperate in his fight to defeat communal forces in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a minorities convention in Bengaluru on Thursday, the former Prime Minister said JD(S) is committed to facing the Lok Sabha elections along with Congress to defeat BJP. 

Gowda said (Chief Minister H D) Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony in May 2018, which was attended by leaders of all secular parties, had sent a strong message that secular forces across the country 
were coming together to defeat the BJP.

Kumaraswamy said he has joined hands with the Congress to keep communal forces away from the power and in the Lok Sabha elections, JD(S) and the Congress will together win all 28 seats in the state. 

Over a fortnight ago, 40-year-old Shivanna, a farmer from Kammagondanahalli in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district was going about his daily routine when he noticed an earth mover bulldozing its way into his farm.

The contractor in-charge of the widening of NH 206 had sent his workers to mow down the four-acre plot he owns in order to begin construction. Just before the earth mover could touch the first coconut tree demarcating his land, Shivanna stood between the vehicle and the tree, and refused to budge.

“How dare you come here and think you can usurp my land. Ask the government to send me my money first or give me another plot of land. Then I will allow you to mow down my precious trees,” Shivanna said.

Just like Shivanna, hundreds of farmers in Tumakuru, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts are about to lose their land for the Union government’s ambitious project to convert NH 206 into a four-lane drive. The National Highways Authority of India (NHA) has taken up the widening of NH 206 along a 215-km stretch, which passes through Tumakuru district’s Tumakuru town, Gubbi, Tiptur and Arsikere, Shivamogga, and Kadur and Tarikere areas in Hassan district.

 Farmers in these regions allege that the government is refusing to pay them the market value for the land they are about to lose. Since January 11, over 150 farmers from these districts have launched an indefinite strike against the government’s decision to go ahead with the project by offering them a “pittance” in return for their land. The farmers have camped outside the Assistant Commissioner of Tiptur’s office and are demanding to meet the NHAI officials.

“More than 80% of the properties they are acquiring is agricultural land. The NHAI is violating laws and not paying us the right amount of money for our land. I own three acres and 10 guntas of land. The central government is saying it will pay me only Rs 5,000 per gunta. I will be getting Rs 1.5 lakh for my land. My family’s livelihood depends on the vegetables and millets we grow. I will not be able to buy even a few guntas of land with this money elsewhere,” says 43-year-old Manohar, a farmer from Tiptur.

Manohar has spent Rs 13 lakh to install borewells on his land and says that the market value for his land is Rs 2 lakh per gunta.

“I own a coconut farm and I also grow areca nuts and vegetables. My family and I have lived happily until now. We will lose everything and will be left in lurch if we do not get compensation. We are not saying that we are opposed to the project. But we need to be able to buy land elsewhere. Either the government gives us the right amount or allot other agricultural land for us,” Shivanna says.

It has been seven days since the farmers began their indefinite strike. The disgruntled farmers have set up a camp along the footpath outside the AC’s office and are even cooking meals and sleeping at the protest venue. Protestors say that they will not allow a single earth mover to begin work until they are rightly compensated.

Speaking to media, Yashoda, the land acquisition officer appointed for the project says that the Centre has fixed the rates in compliance with the Land Acquisition Act 2013. “We have taken the average market value of the land for the year 2016, since that’s when the project was announced. The land value varies from place to place and if notifications have been issued incorrectly, it will be rectified. If the farmers have any problem with the rates, they can approach the court and appeal,” Yashoda added.

Farmers also allege that the NHAI did not conduct an environmental impact assessment and that the new alignment of the highway will cut across three eco-sensitive areas. Farmers also say that if the project is implemented, the man-animal conflict in the region will increase.

“The elephant corridor in Tumakuru will be disrupted. Chowdalapura and Konanakavalu forests in Tiptur and the Bukkapattana forest in Gubbi will be affected. Since environment impact assessment was not done, the government has not even counted the number of trees they will cut down. There is a lot of man-animal conflict in Tumakuru district and several leopards, foxes, snakes and elephants have died. If this road comes in the forest area, there will be increased threat,” Manohar adds.

BENGALURU: Amid Congress’s attempt to show its might with a party meeting on Friday, state Bharatiya Janata Party chief BS Yeddyurappa seemed unfazed.

“I’m not bothered about their Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting. That is left to Congress and JDS. Why should I comment about it? They’re telling many things, I’m not responsible for that,” said Yeddyurappa.

“Our 104 MLAs are worried about our party and preparing for Lok Sabha elections,” added the senior BJP leader.

Amid accusations of poaching MLAs, Yeddyurappa – who returned to Karnataka on Thursday – asserted that his party was not involved in any operation to topple the government.

Our party MLAs were also flying back from Gurugram, where they are staying for the past few days, he added.

Political turmoil hit Karnataka on Monday after both the ruling coalition of Congress-JD(S) and BJP hurled charges of horse-trading against each other.

The BJP has strongly denied the poaching allegations and said that its legislators were in Delhi last week for a party meet with national leadership, at a private resort in Gurugram, Haryana. The party further claimed that the coalition was attempting to poach its legislators.

Amid the exchange of horse trading charges by the three major parties in the state, two legislators withdrew their support to the coalition government on Tuesday. They were R. Shankar of Karnataka Pragnavantha Janata Party from Ranebennur Assembly segment in Haveri district and H.Nagesh, an Independent from Mulbagal constituency in Kolar district.

The coalition partners, however, continued to maintain that the government was stable and that they had the support of all their legislators. 

In the 225-member Legislative Assembly, including one nominated member, the Congress has 80 legislators, JD-S 37, and the BJP 104, while one Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA continues to support the coalition after one Independent Nagesh and the KPJP legislator Shankar withdrew their support.

The coalition government thereby has 118 legislators on its side, while BJP has 104.