KPCC should have postponed oath taking ceremony: Pralhad Joshi

In the wake of a few Congress MLAs who attended Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar's oath-taking ceremony turning positive for Covid-19, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday opined that the organisers should have thought carefully, and could have conducted online event or postpone it.

"When technology has become so modernised to connect a large number of people at different places at a time, gathering nearly 200 people at one place without proper precautions was not correct. Politicians mix with more people, and they should be more careful to prevent Covid-19 infection. I do not attend any event where more people are gathered," he said.

BJP is taking proper precautions, and we conducted conference through video conferencing, asking our workers and leaders to watch it over their phone, he noted.

Replying to former minister H K Patil's move of writing a letter to State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) complaining about negligence in Covid-19 treatment and lack of dignity in handling Covid-19 deaths, Joshi said, "H K Patil is never a serious person, and he never suggests what correct should be done. He has no position in Congress and that party has neglected him. Therefore, he does such works just to draw attention," he criticised.

Regarding Union Ministry of Environment & Forests (MOEF) asking the State Government to submit a fresh proposal for forest clearance for Kalasa-Banduri project, Joshi stated, we would get that done. "As the proposal is 17-year-old, a new proposal is asked naturally. I have spoken to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, and that proposal would be cleared. There will not be any problem," he added.

In reply to indefinite strike by Asha workers, Joshi expressed confidence that the government would hold talks and solve the problem.