Udupi : The developmental works carried out by District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj are not tolerable for the BJP, said Janardhan Bhandarkar, Secretary of Congress District Committee and nominated councilor of Udupi CMC.
He was speaking during a protest organised by the Youth Congress, Udupi district unit here on July 6 against the stay order brought by BJP leaders on operating 55 JnURM KSRTC buses in City as well as in some routes of Udupi district.
He said, “Oscar Fernandes, during tenure as Union Surface Minister in UPA government, had taken a special interest in sanctioning JnURM buses to Udupi. Later it was due to Pramod Madhwaraj’s hard work and efforts that new buses were allotted to the district with the intention of providing better services and reduced ticket fares for the students, senior most citizens, SC/ST among the others. It was possible to operate the government buses since Pramod Madhwaraj took on the private lobby. The BJP leaders in the bus operators association have however succeeded in bringing a stay order on the movement of JnURM buses citing timings and irregular prices.
While earlier, three chief ministers of BJP were unable to provide suitable KSRTC bus terminals in Udupi, it is under Pramod Madhwaraj’s leadership that three hi-tech bus terminals would come up in Udupi city soon. BJP leaders only deliver talks on serving the people but haven’t done anything for the people of Udupi. Now they have succeeded in bringing stay order on the movements of JnURM buses. It is unfortunate from the poor people’s point of view. We condemn the BJP leaders’ act in this matter and if they have any morality, they should join the protest,” he said.
Amrith Shenoy, senior Congress leader and senate member of Mangalore University said that Pramod Madhwaraj could live his life very comfortably but his intention was to serve the poor people of Udupi district with sincerity which the opposition can’t tolerate. “Since the time he was elected as MLA in Udupi he has tried his best to serve the poor people without any caste or religion bias. Under his leadership, KSRTC buses were introduced in the district with the intention to provide better service to students and other people”, he added.
“Raghupathy Bhat, former MLA, had announced various schemes for the district and laid foundation stones but he failed to get necessary financial resources from the government for the said projects. But due to Pramod Madhwaraj’s efforts, these pending projects have been completed with necessary finance from the government. Vast developments like indoor stadium, sports ground and many more, the list of which is long have been undertaken.
His initiative put a brake on the private bus operators’ reckless operation against the people’s needs. The popularity of the government bus services in the city increased. We are not against the court’s judgment but we are against the initiative of the bus operators. Hence we are gathered here to show our solidarity for the JnURM bus services in the district,” he said.
Veronica Cornelio, Women’s Congress President of Udupi district; Nithyananda Shetty, Brahmavar Block Congress President and other party leaders also spoke.
Vishwas Amin, Youth Congress President; Vignesh Kini, Secretary of District Youth Congress; Meenakshi Madhav Bannanje, CMC President; Chandrika Shetty, Women’s Congress Udupi Block President; Congress leaders Prakyath Shetty, Yathish Karkera, Prashanth Poojary, Udupi District President of NSUI Christian D’Almeida, District Women’s Congress Vice President Jyothi Hebbar and others were present.
