State govt neglected missing fishermen: Rathnakar Hegde

District BJP president Mattar Rathnakar Hegde said that the Union government has taken necessary measures to trace the missing fishermen along with the fishing boat.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Hegde said that the MLAs and MPs from all the three districts met Union Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman and briefed her about the situation. He added that Seetharaman has assured all help and instructed the Naval officials to speed up the search operations to trace the seven fishermen.

He added that the team from the Coast Guard has already put in maximum efforts to trace the missing fishermen but so far, they have not been traced while now the Indian Navy will also join the search operation.

Alleging that the chief minister and the district in-charge minister are least bothered, Hegde said that even state fisheries minister Venkatarao Nadagouda has not given any assurance to the families of the missing fishermen. The elected representatives from BJP are trying their best to trace the missing fishermen and support the families of the victims.

Threatening the state government on taking up indefinite protest for not taking measures to appoint an elected body in the CMC, Hegde said that the state government should take necessary steps to ensure that the elected councilors get their right to work in their wards. The elections were held in September 2018.

He said that grassroot-level preparations are being carried out for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Booth-level committees are being formed in the district to reach out to the voters, he added.