BJP hijacked local body polls in Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Cong
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Sunday accused the BJP of hijacking the local body polls in Dadra and Nagar Haveli by conspiring with officials to get about 80 per cent of its candidates' nomination papers rejected.
The opposition party said it will raise the matter with the poll authorities responsible for local body polls in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and also approach the Bombay High Court on the issue.
Congress' in-charge for Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Manikrao Thakare, alleged that electoral "rigging" is taking place in the UT.
There was no immediate reaction from the UT election commission or the BJP on the Congress' claims.
"A major scam has been exposed in the local body elections. Going beyond vote theft, the entire election has been stolen in this region. The BJP planned so well that no one contested against it, thus hijacking the entire election," Thakare said at a press conference here.
He was accompanied by AICC secretary co-incharge Anjali Nimbalkar and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Congress president Prabhu Tokiya.
The nomination dates for the elections were announced from October 10 to 17 and therefore, the nomination forms should have been posted on the website so that they would be available to everyone, Thakare said.
However, on October 10, there was no mention of any such form on the commission's website, he claimed.
"On October 13, a list of documents was provided. When people went to collect these documents, they were told that the staff had gone for election training. Not only this, even those who somehow managed to fill out the forms, their forms were rejected during scrutiny. A conspiracy was hatched to prevent people from filling out the forms," he alleged.
Not a single BJP form was rejected in the civic elections, while nearly 80 per cent of Congress forms were rejected in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli local body polls, Thakare said, adding that a similar scenario took place in Daman and Diu.
"The BJP has stolen the entire election with the help of officials. The public is suffering from this oppression," Thakare alleged.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
