BJP attacks Cong, JD(S) for 'targeting' Kichha Sudeep for supporting it
Bengaluru, apr 8: The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) of targeting actor Kichha Sudeep for his support to the ruling party in poll-bound Karnataka and cited his tribal background to hit out at its rivals.
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Sudeep has earned his standing and not inherited it like Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and accused opposition parties of "hypocrisy" for speaking for freedom of expression and democratic rights on one hand and on the other, targeting the actor for exercising his right to support a party.
Speaking to reporters, Bhatia also hit back at critics for claiming that the BJP seeking support from Sudeep highlighted its weakness and dependence on outsiders as he noted that actors such as Swara Bhaskar and Riya Sen had joined Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
Bhaskar had extended support to the people who raised slogans against the country's integrity, he alleged.
Congress leaders have claimed that Sudeep's support to the BJP was due to pressure from probe agencies while the JD(S) has also taken aims at him.
It reveals the "sick mentality" of the two parties, Bhatia said, accusing them of hurting sentiments of every Kannadiga as Sudeep is a son of the soil.
Rahul Gandhi has a right to go abroad and "defame" India by making "false statements" but the Congress will say this is his right to freedom of speech, he said.
But, according to the Congress, an Indian citizen in his home state cannot choose what his political leaning would be, the BJP leader alleged.
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Novak Djokovic declines to address a past interview about getting sick in Australia in 2022
Melbourne, Jan 10: Novak Djokovic did not want to rehash — or even discuss at all, really — what he said Friday was a months-old interview with GQ magazine in which he recalled having high levels of metal in his blood from food he was served while detained before being deported from Australia in 2022.
“I would appreciate not talking more in detail about that, as I would like to focus on the tennis and why I'm here,” Djokovic said ahead of the Australian Open, which starts Sunday (Saturday EST).
“If you want to see what I've said and get more info on that, you can always revert to the article,” Djokovic said about the piece posted online this week.
Djokovic is working with Andy Murray as his coach in Australia in a bid to become the first player in tennis history with 25 Grand Slam singles titles.
In a lengthy GQ story that covered several topics, Djokovic spoke about what happened three years ago, when he was not vaccinated against COVID-19 and was kicked out of Australia.
“I had some health issues. And I realized that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed with some food that poisoned me," he said. "I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but ... I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had ... very high level of lead and mercury.”
The 37-year-old Serbian did not directly answer at the end of Friday's news conference when asked whether he had any evidence linking the blood levels he described to GQ to the food he ate in detention.
