BJP drops leader Kirit Somaiya as Candidate over ally Shiv Sena’s objections
Names candidates against Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam, Akhilesh Yadav
New Delhi, Apr 3: The BJP on Wednesday dropped its sitting MP Kirit Somaiya, whose name was opposed by ally Shiv Sena, as its candidate from Mumbai North East and also announced its nominees for the Lok Sabha election against key opposition leaders like Sonia Gandhi of the Congress and SP's Akhilesh Yadav.
The BJP has pitted well-known Bhojpuri actor and singer Dinesh Lal Yadav against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Azamgarh.
It has fielded Prem Singh Shakya against Yadav's father Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri.
The BJP has named Dinesh Pratap Singh, a local strongman who had left the Congress to join it last year, as its candidate against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
The seat has long been a bastion of the Gandhi family with the former Congress president representing it in Lok Sabha since 2004.
The party has replaced sitting Machhlishahr MP Ram Charitra Nishad with V P Saroj.
On Mumbai North East constituency, Shiv Sena had been bitterly opposed to Somaiya's candidature. And the BJP's decision to replace him with Manoj Kotak underscores its keenness to keep its Hindutva ally in good humour.
Somaiya, an old BJP hand and one of its leading speakers on economic issues in Parliament, had been a trenchant critic of the Sena.
The BJP named Chandra Sen Jadun as its candidate from Firozabad. The SP had won from Azamgarh, Mainpuri and Firozabad in 2014, with members of its ruling Yadav family emerging victorious.
With the latest list of candidates, the BJP has named its nominees on 383 Lok Sabha seats for the election to 543-member House.
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KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
