Pics: Franklin D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network – Kaup (FD/JD)

Kaup, Apr 26: “Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Uchila here on April 27 and will be partaking in a conference of fishermen community,” said Vinay Kumar Sorake, Kaup Congress candidate.

Addressing a press briefing regarding Rahul Gandhi's visit, Sorake said, “Rahul Gandhi will arrive at Adi Udupi at 3:40 pm on April 27. Later, he will visit Uchila for interaction with the fishermen of the coastal region. The interaction will be held at Mahalaxmi temple hall. A road show will also be held in Katapady and from Mulur to Uchila.

“The BJP government has ignored the fishermen community completely. The Congress party has given kerosene to the fishermen on subsidy. But since the last six months, no kerosene has been provided to the fishermen. Apart from that, many problems require solution. The BJP government has not provided any benefits to the fishermen. They have used them as a vote bank. We, the members of the Congress, have allotted Rs 2500 crore per year for the betterment of all the fishermen in the coastal districts of Karnataka. The fishermen from Byndoor, Udupi, Kaup, and Mangaluru are taking part in this programme. The outcome of this programme is to draw a separate plan for resolving the fishermen community problems. Nearly 2000 fishermen representatives from different fishermen committees all over the coastal districts of Karnataka are taking part,” he said.

District Congress president Ashok Kumar Kodavoor said, “Most of the general public think that the fishermen community is just restricted to Mogaveeras alone. But it is not so. The SC, ST, Muslims, and all the other caste take part in fishing and its associated activities.”

TN Prathapan MP from Kerala, Manjunath Sonegar president fishermen Congress Karnataka, KPCC secretary MA Gafoor, KPCC member Rajashekar Kotian, Noushad chief secretary Kerala Congress, publicity committee President Hareesh Kini, youth Congress president Rameez Hussain, block Congress president Naveen Chandra Suvarna, former president Naveen Chandra Shetty, Congress leaders Wilson Rodrigues, Jethendra Furtado, Deviprasad Shetty, Shanthala, Fakruddin, Dinesh and others were present.