Focus on fuel for 'gadi' instead of Rahul Gandhi's 'dadhi': Kanhaiya Kumar
Sanavad (MP), Nov 25: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said on Friday that BJP leaders should think of how common people can afford fuel for their `gadi' (vehicle) instead of commenting on Rahul Gandhi's `dadhi' (beard).
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a day earlier that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's bearded look reminded him of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"Set aside your worry over our leader's beard. Tell how can a common man afford a vehicle when the price of petrol has crossed Rs 100," Kumar said at a press conference during Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra which is passing through Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP is perturbed because of the success of Gandhi's cross-country foot-march and targeting him with absurd statements, he said.
Asked about Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's son Rehan joining the Yatra with his mother in Madhya Pradesh, Kumar said, "Besides politics, this Yatra is a social, economic, cultural and spiritual event. The march is not being carried out to build anybody's political career."
The former student leader also took potshots at MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's past statement that roads in his state were better than those in Washington DC.
"During the Yatra we saw that the roads in MP were in a very bad shape. You do not have to apply powder to the face. Dust from the road is enough for entire make-up," Kumar said.
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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.
