Which slogan will replace 'batenge to katenge': Manoj Kumar Jha takes veiled dig at BJP leaders
Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Friday took a veiled dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who had earlier opposed the caste census, questioning how they would now justify their past statements in light of the Centre’s latest policy shift.
"Which slogan will replace 'batenge to katenge'?" ANI quoted Jha as saying. He noted that RJD leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav, have long advocated for the caste census, calling it a legitimate and overdue demand.
Taking aim at senior BJP leaders, Jha remarked, “I am worried about those big leaders who have been saying things like, if caste census happens, the poison of casteism will spread, how will they cover up their statement now?"
Calling for concrete action, Jha urged the government to publish a clear timeline for conducting the long-delayed census. “The census was supposed to happen in 2021. It has been four years, and there has been no initiative. Caste census, women's reservation, and delimitation are associated with the census. There should be a timeline or a roadmap for the same," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
In a major decision, the Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be incorporated in the upcoming census exercise in a “transparent” manner. The move follows persistent demands from the Opposition, including the Congress, which has made the caste census a key electoral issue.
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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.
