BJP fumes as Shiv Sena 'hijacks' Palghar Lok Sabha seat
Palghar (Maharashtra), May 8: Amidst a massive show of strength, Shiv Sena candidate Srinivas C. Vanga on Tuesday filed his nomination for the by-election to the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency, virtually hijacking the seat from its fuming ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
The May 28 bypoll was necessitated after the sudden demise of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Vanga on January 30, who was the party's face and strongman in the predominantly tribal district bordering Gujarat.
This afternoon, Srinivas Vanga, accompanied by several Shiv Sena ministers and other leaders, arrived in an open truck procession with a sea of saffron flags and turbans in front and behind, thousands carrying posters and banners of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, to file his candidature.
The development came five days after the Vanga family met Thackeray in Mumbai and decided to join the Shiv Sena after accusing the BJP of "ignoring" them after Chintaman Vanga's death.
A rattled BJP leadership attempted to mollify the Vangas with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday publicly appealing to them to reconsider their decision.
Denying the family's allegations, he also declared that the BJP had virtually finalised giving a party ticket to a member of the Vanga family, but his pleas were ignored.
Over the next couple of days, several BJP state ministers, legislators and party leaders rushed to Palghar to convince the Vanga family to return to the party fold, but by Monday evening, the Shiv Sena finally cleared Srinivas Vanga's name as its candidate for the bypoll.
This is the first time that the Shiv Sena has practically "snatched" a seat from its ally BJP's quota even as the two parties are in alliance, both at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
However, in the past the BJP-Shiv Sena contested the 2014 Lok Sabha together, but fought the 2014 assembly separately after a poll-eve collapse of the alliance.
The severed alliance was resumed a couple of months after the Fadnavis-led BJP minority government took oath then (2014) and Shiv Sena walked over from the Opposition benches to become a ruling coalition partner.
While the BJP has not yet officially declared its nominee for Palghar, a new dimension was added when local strong force Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) on Tuesday announced it will contest the seat, as also the Congress.
Launching a veiled attack on Shiv Sena, the BVA said that in Palghar, only three parties are natural contestants for the seat - the BVA, BJP and Congress, "and the people will not tolerate any outsider (Shiv Sena) in the election, though the late Chintaman Vanga had earned great respect for his work and clean image here".
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'King and The Prince': Tons by young Jaiswal, veteran Kohli put India in winning position
Perth (PTI): Virat Kohli brought all his technical expertise into play while dealing with vagaries of variable bounce during his 30th hundred after heir apparent Yashasvi Jaiswal's classy 161 put India in sight of a remarkable Test victory against a nervous and fumbling Australia here on Sunday.
The Indians dominated the third day to first set an improbable 534-run target for the hosts before reducing them to 12/3 at close of play.
Once Kohli reached an unprecedented seventh Test century Down Under, Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah declared at 487 for 6 with five overs to go flat out.
The skipper then immediately disposed off debutant Nathan McSweeney (0) and Marnus Labuschagne (3), both of whom got balls that kept perilously low.
The nervousness was palpable when rival captain Pat Cummins walked in as the night-watchman and the decision proved to be a not so wise one.
The match would be memorable for many reasons and one of them would be the exhibition of top quality batsmanship by the 'King' and 'Prince' of current India batting but in contrasting conditions and different match situations.
Jaiswal built a fascinating structure with care and Kohli (100 not out, 143 balls) polished it and put a beautiful coat of paint while throwing caution to the wind while reaching the landmark.
The 22-year-old Jaiswal, on Sunday, emerged as the unofficial flag-bearer of Indian batting for the next decade and a half during his 297-ball stay at the wicket, giving a glimpse of his ever-improving technique and composed temperament.
But it was veteran Kohli, who showed how to play on a wicket that consistently misbehaved during his second hundred at the Perth Stadium and 30th overall, which incidentally took him past Sir Don Bradman's 29 Test tons.
There were deliveries that simply didn't bounce. One from Mitchell Starc was upper cut for six over backward point while the shot of the day was an on drive off Cummins.
When Nathan Lyon started turning the ball square, he either got a big stride forward or brought the sweep shot, which he doesn't play often, out of his closet. His hundred, in fact, came off a sweep.
The straight six off Lyon with the turn was exhilarating as young Nitish Reddy (38 not out off 27 balls) only enhanced his reputation with some muscular IPL-like strokes that took India past the 500-run mark.
Before 'King Kohli' took charge, the new 'Prince' Jaiswal, just a month short of his 23rd birthday, notched up a classic fourth century in Tests. The knock has provided his skipper Bumrah with enough ammunition to exploit the treacherous bounce that is starting to trouble batters.
The post-lunch session turned out to be the most productive one for Australia since the opening day as India, starting the session at 275 for 1, slumped to 321 for 5 but by then, the lead was well past the 360-run mark and it didn't hurt the team much.
With no seam movement, Kohli was able to control the other factor -- variable bounce -- and his front-foot stride was way more assured than the first essay.
While he was completely side-on in his stance while facing the pacers, against Lyon, he turned it into a open-chested one. There was a minor back-foot trigger before he would stride on the front-foot for either drive or defence.
However, if India go on to win the Test match, Jaiswal and KL Rahul (77)'s 201-run opening stand would be as important as Bumrah's first innings five-for.
Jaiswal 'Arrives' in Australia
Exactly 32 years ago, 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar became a global phenomenon with a hundred for the ages at the old WACA ground on a track that had those snake-like cracks and in the last two days, Jaiswal has shown the entire world that he is here to be the torch-bearer of Indian batting for the next decade and a half.
He became the second youngest Indian batter after Sachin Tendulkar to score a hundred at Perth.
Jaiswal completed his fourth Test hundred and first in a SENA country with a beautifully executed ramp shot off a bouncer bowled by Josh Hazlewood.
The celebration was one for the keeps with hands in the air and gratitude towards the almighty before showing his lean but muscular biceps. All his four Test hundreds are now scores of 150 plus.
The six also ensured that Jaiswal and KL Rahul's opening pair surpassed the previous record stand of 191 set by Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth way back in Sydney in 1986.
When Jaiswal was finally out trying to cut a long hop from Mitchell Marsh, the 'Prince' looked distraught even as the entire stadium gave him a standing ovation while the 'King' clapped with his bat at the other end as one witnessed a silent passing of the baton.
