Sanjay Raut slams BJP for calling opposition bloc INDIA members' visit to Manipur as 'show-off'
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday hit out at the BJP for calling the visit of members of the opposition bloc INDIA to Manipur as a "show-off", and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has neither visited the strife-torn state nor spoken about it in Parliament.
A delegation of 21 MPs from the opposition bloc INDIA reached Imphal on Saturday to assess the situation in Manipur and visit several relief camps to meet victims of the ethnic clashes that broke in the northeastern state on May 3.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday alleged the opposition INDIA bloc members' visit to Manipur was a "mere show-off".
The north-eastern state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since early May between the majority Meitei community, concentrated in the Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. More than 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.
Talking to reporters here, Raut claimed more than 200 people have been killed, while homes of ministers and legislators have been burnt and some women paraded naked in Manipur.
''Prime Minister ji...Manipur is part of India and its citizens are Indian citizens...listen to them. That is why the INDIA alliance delegation visited the state. How can understanding the grief of citizens and consoling them be called a show-off?" he asked.
The prime minister has not gone to Manipur and has not spoken about the issue yet in Parliament, the Rajya Sabha member said.
''The opposition alliance leaders spoke to the affected citizens and understood their grievances, if this is called a show-off, then we haven't seen a cruel government and politics than this,'' Raut alleged.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant was part of the INDIA delegation to Manipur.
Raut said morchas were taken out on Saturday by tribals in Imphal in protest against the government.
Some reporters also asked Raut about members of the Shiv Sena-led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde criticising Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray's family and other leaders of his faction for not attending the funeral of Sena leader Anand Dighe, who died in 2001.
CM Shinde considers Dighe as his mentor.
Raut said, "Don't link Dighe saheb's name to traitors. The late leader was a loyal Shiv Sainik. It is an insult to Dighe to link him to the traitors. If you see videos of that period, it will be clear who attended the funeral."
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
