Demand for Muslim candidate in Bhatkal constituency gains pace on social media ahead of K'taka polls
Bhatkal: With over 55 thousand votes, the Muslims in the Bhatkal-Honnavar Constituency have lately been raising demands of fielding a Muslim candidate in the constituency. WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages have been created to garner support for demanding a Muslim candidate among the locals.
The general perception among the Muslim youngsters in Bhatkal is that the community has not been able to groom even a single Muslim political leader for over forty years now after the late Jukaku Shamsuddin and SM Yahya. The debates on social media have also revolved around how the secular parties have exploited the Muslim votes in the region but have never allowed a Muslim candidate to contest the assembly elections.
The majority of the members of the WhatsApp groups that have been created to discuss the issue ahead of the local socio-political organization Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem extend support to any of the candidates in the fray, collectively opine that even if it means losing the election, the Tanzeem should support a Muslim candidate and put a show of the strength and significance of its votes.
The Muslim community in the constituency has 55,000 votes, second only to the Namdhari community which has over 65,000 voters. The majority of the political parties have traditionally preferred Namdhari candidates or other candidates over Muslims to contest on their tickets.
Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem in 2013, supported JD(s) leader Inayathullah Shabandri in the 2013 assembly elections. Shabandri secured the second position in the elections and polled over 27 thousand votes against the 37,319 votes polled by independent candidate Mankal Vaidya who won the election that year.
In 2018, Mankal Vaidya contested the election on a Congress ticket backed by Tanzeem and lost the election to Sunil Naik of the BJP. Shabandri, who is now the president of Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem, had to withdraw his candidature after failing to secure Tanzeem’s support for the election.
With the 2023 assembly polls in sight, the locals are upping their demands to support a Muslim candidate. While some are against these demands and believe fielding a Muslim candidate will ensure the victory of the BJP, the number of people bolding the gamble to field a Muslim candidate is higher.
With Election Commission expected to announce the dates of the election later this month, it will be interesting to see how these demands of locals influence political parties.
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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.
