Denied LS ticket, Congress leader joins BJP in Assam
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Congress leader Suruj Dehingia on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after being denied ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Dehingia wanted to contest the polls from the Jorhat constituency, from where the Congress on Tuesday named its Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi.
The Congress also expelled Dehingia, a state general secretary.
He defected to the saffron party at BJP's state headquarters here in presence of Rajya Sabha MP Pabitra Margherita, several local ministers and MLAs.
Almost simultaneously, the Assam Congress issued an order expelling Dehingia with immediate effect, but did not cite any reason.
"Hon'ble President Assam PCC, Shri Bhupen Kumar Borah has expelled Shri Suruj Dehingia, General Secretary, APCC from Indian National Congress with immediate effect," the order signed by APCC General Secretary (Organisation) Bipul Gogoi said.
Gaurav Gogoi is a Lok Sabha MP from Kaliabor, which has been rechristened as Kaziranga after the delimitation exercise last year.
This time, he will contest against incumbent BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi in the neighbouring prestigious Jorhat seat.
Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress announced candidates for 12 seats. It has offered Dibrugarh seat to alliance partner Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), while no decision has been taken yet on Lakhimpur constituency.
The BJP named 11 Lok Sabha candidates from Assam. The remaining three seats are left for allies -- two for AGP and one for United People's Party Liberal (UPPL).
The BJP has nine MPs in the current Lok Sabha from the state, while its allies AGP and UPPL have no representation. The Congress holds three seats and the AIUDF one, while another is an Independent candidate.
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KKR defeat LSG via Super Over
Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
