Fasting Hardik's supporters prevent Medha Patkar from meeting him
Ahmedabad, Sep 1 : Anti-Narmada dam activist Medha Patkar was in for a surprise on Saturday when supporters of fasting Patidar leader Hardik Patel heckled her and prevented her from meeting him.
The 25-year-old Patel quota stir warrior has been on an indefinite fast for over eight days. Medha Patkar, who is an unwelcome face for many in Gujarat due to her stand on the Narmada project, which is hailed as the lifeline of Gujarat, was heckled and slogans were raised against her when she reached Patel's residence on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
Hardik Patel's supporters prevented Patkar from entering the premises. When the situation worsened, one of the close associates of Patel, Manoj Panara, requested her to return.
Although she maintained that she had reached the quota leader's place on an invite from him, she had to drop the idea of meeting him. However, two of her close associates and veterans, Jyotibhai Desai and Danielbhai, later went in to meet Patel.
Meanwhhile, Hardik who is on the eighth day of his fast, has stopped taking water for the last two days. Medha Patkar said, "If Hardikbhai's health deteriorates, then the fight won't reach its logical end. He should start drinking water. I am here to support Hardik for his demands for farmers. We have an alliance of 200 farmer unions demanding total debt waiver and right price for their produce."
Manoj Panara, however, claimed that no invite had been sent to Medha Patkar. "She had called Hardik, but that was just to ask his well-being. There was no talk about her meeting him," Panara said.
Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda too called on Hardik and extended his support.
Meanwhile, Patel on Saturday began consuming water at the instance of a religious leader who had come to visit him. This was after medical check-up showed that sodium and potassium levels in his body had been disturbed and there was a rise in acetone in his blood, which could harm his kidneys.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
