Ekta Bhyan wins club throw gold for India at Asian Para Games
Jakarta, Oct 9 : Ekta Bhyan won India's fourth gold at the Asian Para Games by topping the women's club throw event here on Tuesday.
Bhyan produced her best throw in her fourth attempt, 16.02m, winning the F32/51 event ahead of UAE's Alkaabi Thekra, who threw 15.75m.
The F32/51 class features athletes with significant impairment in hand function.
Bhyan had come into the competition on the back of a gold in the Indian Open Para Athletics Championship earlier this year.
India also secured three bronze medals on Tuesday courtesy Jayanti Behera, Anandan Gunasekaran and Monu Ghangas.
Ghangas finished third in the men's shot put F11, which covers vision impairment, and Gunasekaran in men's 200m T44/62/64 class, which deals with impairment in foot, ankle and/or lower leg but the athletes compete without prothesis.
Behera bagged the bronze in the women's 200m T45/46/47 event which is for athletes with limb impairment.
On Monday, Javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary produced a stunning world record effort as India bagged 11 medals, including three gold, on a productive day.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
