Ballari: Former Chief Minister and MP Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that no one can suppress the strength of former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and B. Sriramulu, and asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party will always stand with them.

Speaking at a large public meeting held in Ballari to protest the recent clash over putting up posters, Bommai said the BJP would go village to village to fight and uproot the “corrupt” Indian National Congress government.

Referring to the Ballari incident, Bommai said there were two main reasons behind it. One, he claimed, was the fear among Congress leaders after Janardhan Reddy returned to Ballari as per court orders. The second, he said, was the coming together of Janardhan Reddy and Sriramulu, which he claimed had shaken the Congress leadership in the district. He described Sriramulu’s speed and Janardhan Reddy’s strength as being like a storm and fire, and said their power cannot be contained by anyone.

Bommai also spoke about reservation demands of the Valmiki community. He said the community had been fighting for nearly 30 years for an increase in reservation from three per cent to seven per cent. When Sriramulu and seers from the Valmiki community protested for the demand, he alleged that no Congress leaders came forward to support them. Bommai said that when he was Chief Minister, the reservation for the community was increased from three per cent to seven per cent, which has helped thousands of students get opportunities in medical and engineering education, as well as jobs. He credited this decision to the leadership of B.S. Yediyurappa.

On the death of Rajasekhar in the recent violence, Bommai said the BJP would continue its struggle until justice is delivered. He added that the party would not rest until the Congress government is removed from power, and reiterated that the BJP stands behind Janardhan Reddy and Sriramulu for the development of Ballari.

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Kolkata (PTI): Sunrisers Hyderabad vice-captain Abhishek Sharma has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees and has also accumulated one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team's IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders here.

He admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.3 and accepted the match referee's sanction.

For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding.

He scored 48 runs off 21 deliveries to get SRH to a flier in the powerplay.

SRH registered their first win of IPL 2026, with a thumping 65-run win, with Abhishek playing his part with the bat, hitting four fours and as many sixes.

But he was sanctioned for showing dissent on TV umpire Nitin Menon's decision after Varun Chakaravarthy took a diving catch off Blessing Muzarabani the ninth over but there seemed to be no conclusive evidence that the catch was taken cleanly.

But Menon deemed the catch to be legal which the batter disagreed and expressed his disappointment while walking off.