BJP copying Cong's guarantee schemes for election 'jumla': Mallikarjun Kharge
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the BJP of copying his party's guarantee schemes and making similar announcements in poll-bound states as part of its election "jumla" (rhetoric).
Hitting out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he strongly defended the Karnataka Congress government's guarantee schemes, and said his party implements the promises made as it always works for the welfare of the people.
"I have responded to them in detail in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Even now, I ask them to study our Karnataka (state) budget. About Rs 52,000 crore has been allocated for the five guarantee schemes in the budget, 47 per cent of which has already been spent... probably they have not seen the budget," Kharge claimed, while responding to a question on BJP leaders and Modi targeting state's guarantee schemes during their election campaign.
Without any proper budget (allocation), the BJP has now made several announcements, he said, adding, "taking clues from five guarantees that we announced in Karnataka, they made announcements in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat Rajasthan and other places...."
Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said the BJP is on a propaganda to bring a bad name to the Karnataka government to which no one should lend their ears.
"They have copied our (Congress) guarantees. We are at least implementing guarantee schemes promised. We had done it while in the Central government, we are doing it now in the states where we are in power."
The BJP and Modi have not fulfilled or implemented any of their guarantees, he said, referring to "announcements such as Rs 15 lakh to every bank account when black money repatriated from abroad", creating 2 crore jobs, hiking MSP on crops, bullet trains, among others.
"Everything is jumla. They speak things for the sake of elections, while Congress always works for the welfare of the people," he added.
Not willing to give any direct response to a question on the Waqf related controversy in Karnataka, the Congress chief said, "joint select committee is looking into it. I have no role in it, I can't speak....once the joint select committee report comes to the Parliament, we can speak on it."
Regarding doubts being expressed about the sanctity of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) ahead of Maharashtra polls, Kharge said, "I don't want to speak on it repeatedly. We have a team on EVMs including leaders like Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Many are working on it. Let's see."
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
