I erase hatred, fear, I'm Congress: Rahul hits back at BJP
New Delhi, July 17 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit back at the BJP over alleged "Congress is for Muslims" remarks, spelling out in a tweet the philosophy of the party that "stands with the last person in the line" whose religion or caste doesn't matter.
In a widely shared and liked tweet, Gandhi said: "I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me.
"I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress."
The tweet, not directed at any individual or a party, apparently came in response to BJP's unabated criticism over his reported remark that the Congress was a party of Muslims.
The BJP has been latching on to these remarks Gandhi reportedly made during a meeting with Muslim intellectuals. The ruling party said Gandhi and his party were indulging in communal politics ahead of the 2019 elections.
The alleged remarks were reported by an Urdu daily even as one some participants in the meeting denied Gandhi made such controversial reference.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi both targeted the Congress President over the issue.
"I read in the newspapers that (the) naamdaar (referring to Gandhi) said the Congress is a party of the Muslims. I am not surprised... When the previous Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) was in charge, he said openly that the first use of natural resources should be with Muslims," Modi said at a public meeting in Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
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IPL mega auction to be held in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on November 24, 25: BCCI
New Delhi, Nov 5: The mega auction ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025 will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25, the BCCI announced on Tuesday.
This is the second successive year the auction is being held overseas as Dubai hosted the previous one ahead of the IPL 2024.
The player registration officially closed on Monday and a total of 1,574 cricketers (1,165 Indian and 409 overseas) have been signed up for the auction, which will clash with the third and fourth day’s play of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth, which begins on November 22.
Each franchise will be able to form a maximum squad of 25 players (including respective retained players), and a total of 204 slots will be up for grabs from the auction.
The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players and 30 players from the Associate Nations.
Among capped players, 48 are from India. Moreover, 965 uncapped players of the country will also be part of the auction.
This year’s auction will feature some high-profile India stars such as Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh.
The 10 franchises will collectively have around Rs 641.5 crore to spend for the available 204 slots.
Out of those 204 slots, 70 are earmarked for overseas players.
As of now, 46 players have been retained by the 10 franchises with cumulative expenditure of Rs 558.5 crore.
Each franchise was allocated Rs 120 crore to build their squads but after the retention process, which was announced on October 31, Punjab Kings have the biggest purse -- Rs 110.5 crore.
The Punjab outfit retained just two uncapped players -- Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh for Rs 9.5 crore.
Rajasthan Royals, under Sanju Samson, have the smallest purse of Rs 41 crore after retaining six players.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have also retained six players but they have a remaining purse of Rs 51 crore.
