Yogesh Kathuniya bags second consecutive Paralympic silver in men's discus throw F-56 event
Paris, Sep 2: India's Yogesh Kathuniya clinched his second consecutive Paralympic silver medal in men's discus throw F-56 event with a season's best effort 42.22m at the ongoing Games here on Monday.
The 27-year-old hurled the discus to the podium-clinching distance in his very first attempt to add to the silver he won in the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.
Brazil's Claudiney Batista dos Santos registered a hat-trick of Paralympic gold medals, creating a new Games record with an effort of 46.86m in his fifth attempt.
Greece's Konstantinos Tzounis won the bronze with 41.32m.
The F-56 classification covers limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power and impaired range of movement.
At the age of 9, Kathuniya developed the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition which causes numbness, tingling and muscle weakness that can progress to paralysis.
He was bound to the wheelchair during his childhood but overcame the odds with the help of his mother Meena Devi, who learnt physiotherapy to help him regain muscle strength to walk again. His father has served in the Indian Army.
Kathuniya is a commerce graduate from Delhi's prestigious Kirori Mal College.
Besides two Paralympic silver medals, he has three world championship medals, including two silver and a bronze.
On Monday, Kathuniya won't be satisfied with his performance given that he won the silver in Tokyo with a much better effort of 44.38m.
Kathuniya's toughest competitor, the 45-year-old Dos Santos broke the Paralympic record twice on Monday, first registering 46.45m in his second attempt and then hurling the discus to 46.86m in his penultimate throw.
Dos Santos is a three-time world championships gold-medallist, and has also held the Paralympic record of 45.59m in this category which he achieved in the last edition in Tokyo.
Slovakia's Dusan Laczko finished fourth and last with a best effort of 41.20m.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
