Farmers, families end lives - Is this 'Achhe Din'? : Shiv Sena asks Modi
Mumbai, June 25 : Referring to suicides in Maharashtra by farmers and others, the Shiv Sena on Monday pointedly asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi: "Is this your promised 'Achhe Din'?"
Blaming the BJP-led governments at the centre and in Maharashtra, the Sena said that all these people took the extreme step of ending their lives due to poverty, lack of resources to survive and financial burdens resulting from the government's economic policies.
"The reality is that Maharashtra is in the grip of a severe crisis, people are going hungry, unable to make ends meet and entire families are resorting to suicides, not only in mofussil areas but even in Mumbai," the Sena said in editorials in the party mouthpieces 'Saamana' and 'Dopahar Ka Saamana'.
It cited the suicide of Mumbai couple Pravin Patel and Reena and their 11-year son. The family had taken huge loans for the cancer treatment of their 14-year old daughter who died recently and they could not afford to repay the loans, driving them to suicide.
The Sena said Mumbai was again stunned last week by the suicide of a government employee, Rajesh Bhingare, who ended his life along with his wife and two children as they couldn't afford their own home in Mumbai for years.
In Pandharpur in Solapur district, a 21-year-old engineering student, Alisha Navate, committed suicide as she was pained to see her parents struggling to pay for her education.
A poor farmer of Ahmednagar district's Pokhri-Baleshwar village, Santuji Fatangre throttled his two minor daughters and then committed suicide as he could no longer earn enough to feed the family.
"Until now, we heard only of debt-ridden farmers of Vidarbha killing themselves, but now suicide reports are coming from all over the state including Mumbai. People are despairing under poverty and hunger and choosing the last option - suicide," the Sena said.
Attacking the Prime Minister as well as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Sena said both travel abroad frequently and upon return make tall claims of bringing huge development and prosperity which it said was visible nowhere.
"If there's any impression left that PM Modi will do something for the poor, we have to come out of it. There is only talk of all-round 'vikas', increase in GDP, but the poor continue to suffer, their lives have no value," it pointed out.
Referring to the recent 'Sampark to Samarthan' initiative launched by the BJP, the Sena said they are "in touch with Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Tatas, Birla," but have lost their "contact with the poor in the country" and fail to understand the burning problems confronting the masses.
"The government is bringing forth expensive projects like Bullet Train, Metro Rail and Hyper Cities for the rich but if it cannot stop the poor people from committing suicides. Then burn these big ticket projects," the Sena demanded.
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Fit KL Rahul set to open in Perth; Rohit Sharma to miss first Test as Bumrah handed captaincy
Perth, Nov 17: KL Rahul allayed concerns surrounding his fitness with an extended net session here on Sunday, indicating his readiness to open in the first Test against Australia as skipper Rohit Sharma will join the team only in Adelaide after spending time with his new-born baby.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team in Rohit's absence.
Rahul had left the field for medical attention on Friday after sustaining a blow on his elbow by pacer Prasidh Krishna while batting in an intra-squad practice match at the WACA ground.
The first of the five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin at the Optus Stadium from November 22, while the second Test at Adelaide starts from December 6.
In all likelihood, the team management will pair Rahul with Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the 32-year-old's recovery has come as a massive relief after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the first Test with a fractured thumb.
Rahul batted without any major discomfort for a considerable time and participated in all the drills during the three-hour net session on this day.
"I had got a bad hit on Day 1 of the game. I am feeling good today, getting ready for the first game. Happy that I could come here early and get used to the conditions," Rahul said in a video shared by BCCI on X.
"Yeah, I got a lot of time to prepare for this series and I am excited and looking forward to it," he added.
In fact, head coach Gautam Gambhir too had indicated a promotion up the order for Rahul during the pre-departure press meet in Mumbai in the event of Rohit missing the opening Test.
Team Physio Kamlesh Jain said Rahul has responded well to the treatment.
"The key for us was to ensure that there is no fracture there. It's 48 hours since the impact and he has responded well to treatments. He should be ready to go," said Jain in the video.
Yogesh Parmar, the support physio, said the treatment was based on "controlling the pain."
"I took him for X-ray and scan and based upon the report I was more confident that he should be fine.
"It was a matter of controlling the pain and giving him some confidence. From a medical point of view, he is absolutely fine," said Parmar.
The Indian team, meanwhile, finished its block of training at the WACA ground and the visitors will now move to the Optus Stadium for match drills from Tuesday, after a scheduled rest day on Monday.
Devdutt, 3 pacers to stay back in Australia
Meanwhile, the Indian team management has decided to keep top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal in Australia as a batting back-up along with three seamers from the India A squad.
Devdutt was part of the India A squad that played two four-day matches against their Australian counterparts recently.
The left-hander, who was recently named in Karnataka's squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, had lukewarm outings during the 'A' tour, making 36, 88, 26, 1.
The three pacers are: Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini, who were all part of the India A squad.
Saini had also played at Sydney and Brisbane Tests during the last tour Down Under, till date his only two matches in the traditional format.
"It is more to do with the familiarity with the Australian conditions as they have played here recently," a source close to the development told PTI.
"Devdutt was highly impressive while facing Jasprit Bumrah at nets, and the management took that also into consideration," the source added.
The 24-year-old had made his Test debut against England earlier this year at Dharamsala and made a 65 while batting at No. 4.
