Attacks being planned on Rahul Gandhi, others in foreign land: Shiv Sena
New Delhi: After Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, suggested that an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid against him might be imminent, Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, has extended its support to him. The party also voiced concerns about potential attacks on Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders due to their outspoken criticism of the BJP-led central government.
On Friday, Rahul Gandhi claimed that his "chakravyuh" speech in Parliament on July 29 had irked the ruling BJP, which was now allegedly planning to retaliate using the ED. In his speech, Gandhi had drawn a parallel between the plight of Indian youth, farmers, women, and small business owners, and the way the Kauravas had entrapped Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata's Kurukshetra war.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has now alleged that a conspiracy against opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, is being plotted abroad. "Not just Rahul Gandhi, but all those who are raising their voices against the government to save democracy, are under threat. This conspiracy is being hatched in a foreign land. Anything can happen; there could be an attack on all of us, there could be an attack on Rahul Gandhi," Raut stated.
He further added, "Over the last one month, we have all been challenging the government under Rahul Gandhi's leadership. This has caused the government to lose sleep."
In a related statement, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi warned of strong protests from all partners of the INDIA bloc if any baseless action is taken against Rahul Gandhi. "The BJP has not learned its lessons. Our central agencies are being used as tools by the BJP. They are scared of Rahul Gandhi because he is the Leader of Opposition in Parliament and is raising the voice of the common people of India. But the BJP is threatening him with ED raids. His [Rahul Gandhi's] insider sources have informed him about the planned raids," Chaturvedi said.
The comments from Shiv Sena leaders come amid growing tension between the opposition and the ruling government. The INDIA bloc, a coalition of opposition parties, has been vocal in its criticism of the BJP's policies and actions, accusing the government of using central agencies to target political adversaries.
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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.
