Ajit Pawar says he didn’t seek PM’s rally as Baramati contest is within family
Pune, Nov 8: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he did not request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a campaign rally in his Baramati constituency because the fight there is within the family.
Pawar, the sitting MLA, is contesting against his nephew Yugendra Pawar, the candidate of the rival Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar.
The prime minister would be holding campaign rallies for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections starting Friday.
“Contest in Baramati is within the family,” Ajit told reporters here on Thursday when asked why the PM would not be holding a rally in his constituency.
The NCP led by Ajit Pawar is part of the ruling coalition along with the BJP and Shiv Sena.
Asked about NCP candidates also not seeking rallies of senior BJP leaders like Amit Shah in their constituencies, Pawar said it could be because there is not much time left for campaigning, and also due to the limit on election expenses.
Earlier in the day, when asked what would be his margin of victory in Baramati, the NCP chief said he would be able to tell that after moving around the constituency and talking to people. “But I can say with one hundred per cent certainty that it would be a good lead,” he said.
In the 2019 state elections, Ajit Pawar had won by a record 1.65 lakh votes, defeating BJP’s Gopichand Kundlik Padalkar.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sanju Samson ton guides India to 61-run win over South Africa
Durban, Nov 8: Sanju Samson scored a scintillating century as India inflicted a 61-run defeat on South Africa in the first T20I here on Friday.
Invited to bat, Samson blazed away to 107 off 50 balls, hitting as many as 10 sixes and seven fours to help India post 202 for 8.
The spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy (3/25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) then shared six wickets between them to bowl out South Africa for 141 in 17.5 overs.
Earlier, Samson became the first Indian to score back-to-back centuries in T20Is.
The opener notched his second T20I hundred off just 47 balls. His first had come in India's last outing against Bangladesh last month.
However, South Africa clawed their way back into the game as they stemmed the flow of runs by picking wickets in the last five overs.
Pacer Gerald Coetzee who claimed three wickets was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts.
Brief Scores:
India: 202 for 8 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 107, Tilak Verma 33; Gerald Coetzee 3/37)
South Africa: 141 all out in 17.5 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 25; Varun Chakaravarthy 3/25, Ravi Bishnoi 3/28)
