CM Siddaramaiah blames BJP for communal violence at Nagamangala
Mysuru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday sought to blame the BJP for the recent communal violence at Nagamangala in Mandya district.
He also said that on getting to know about "police failure" in the September 11 Nagamangala incident, the Deputy Superintendent of Police has been suspended.
"Do you know how many Ganesh (pandals) were there? Out of 60,000 Ganeshas, incidents have happened in (only) two places -- Nagamangala and Davangere," he told reporters when asked about incidents of violence during Ganesh idol procession and immersions in the state.
"In Davangere, only stone pelting has happened; in Nagamangala shops and vehicles were torched," Siddaramaiah said.
"The BJP indulges in instigation, they are the reason for communal violence to happen, it is because of their instigation, such things happen," the Chief Minister said.
Siddaramaiah said he will check as to what caused the delay in Lokayukta's probe against former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa and H D Kumaraswamy in connection with the alleged denotification of land in Bengaluru.
The ruling Congress in Karnataka had on Thursday asked the Lokayukta to expedite its probe against Yediyurappa and Kumaraswamy in connection with the denotification of 1.11 acres of land at Gangenahalli in Kasaba hobli of Bengaluru North.
"I will check and react....yesterday (Ministers) Krishna Byre Gowda, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Santhosh Lad, along with other party (Congress) leaders held a joint press conference on it. It happened during Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa's tenure. I need to get the file and check," Siddaramaiah said when asked about delay by Lokayukta in probing the denotification case against the former CMs, since 2021.
He said: "It is a case relating to the denotification of 1.11 acres of land, and the land is of a high value because it is in an important location. It is a valuable land, it has been denotified and later the land has gone to Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law, and his mother-in-law was the GPA ( general power of attorney) holder."
Despite officials insisting that it was not a fit case for denotification, it was done, he said: "It (denotification) was done in a dead person's name."
Responding to a question on Kumaraswamy, a Union Minister, repeatedly making allegations against him and his government, the CM said the JD(S) leader is always a "hit and run case, he never takes anything to a logical end."
"Being a Minister he has to speak responsibly. He is a Cabinet minister at the Centre. He has to speak after verifying what he is saying is true or false," Siddaramaiah said.
He said he will take a call on constituting a Special Investigation Team to probe into cases against BJP MLA Munirathna, after discussion with Home Minister G Parameshwara.
Siddaramaiah said Ministers and some MLAs of Congress party had met him demanding an SIT investigation.
"They had met me, I will discuss with Parameshwara and make a decision. They have submitted a memorandum....they have said that three cases have been registered against Munirathna and they should be handed over to probe by SIT, I have told them that I will discuss with the Home Minister and decide," he said.
The Chief Minister also announced that noted literary figure Hampa Nagarajaiah has been chosen to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festivities this year.
"District in-charge Minister and the administration will officially extend him an invitation. I was authorised to choose a personality to inaugurate the festivities, I have chosen Hampa Nagarajaiah," he said.
Dasara festival will be held from October three to 12.
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Bumrah leads India to its biggest Test win on Australian soil
Perth (PTI): Jasprit Bumrah led a feisty bunch of Indian cricketers to their most dominant Test victory on Australian soil, winning by a massive 295 runs in a remarkable turnaround that will find a pride of place among the country's golden moments in international cricket.
The stand-in skipper led by example with a match-haul of 8/72 as India bowled out the hosts, who were in pursuit of a mammoth 534, for 238 in 58.4 overs on the fourth afternoon of the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy here.
The victory propelled India back to the top of the World Test Championship standings with 61.11 percentage points.
India's previous biggest winning margin in terms of runs was 222 during a 1978 game in Sydney when Australia played an under-strength side due to mass exodus for the Kerry Packer World Series.
India are now 1-0 up in the five-Test series with regular skipper Rohit Sharma ready to take over during the Day/Night game starting December 6 in Adelaide.
While Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will be among the heroes with their solid second innings batting performances, it was Bumrah's unbelievable skill-set and self belief during Australia's first innings rout that formed the cornerstone of India's win.
Not many teams have come back after being 150 all-out on the first day but this Indian team has time and again showed that it is built different.
Prior to the Test, Bumrah spoke about embracing challenges and he did walk the talk during all four days.
It was evident from the manner in which he allowed Mohammed Siraj (match haul of five wickets), debutants Harshit Rana (match haul of four wickets) and Nitish Reddy (41 and 37 not out and one wicket) bowl from the Member's End so that they can get extra help due to the ball keeping very low.
Washington Sundar (two wickets and 29 runs), who was preferred after the team management felt that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with 850 plus Test wickets between them, would not be as effective on this track, also did his bit in mopping up the tail.
The victory will bear greater significance because of India's shocking 0-3 whitewash at home by New Zealand.
With three of their automatic first team selections in skipper Rohit, talented Shubman Gill and bowling artist Mohammed Shami ruled out due to different reasons, Bumrah, leading in only his second Test, was left with a lot to do and less options to work with.
Gabba 2021 evokes nostalgia for every Indian cricket fan but Perth 2024 will certainly be right up there considering that no one, save those eleven and the few others in that change room, could have believed that something like this is possible.
Often the job of deputies in cricket is an understated one but it is all about making it easy for the general in charge.
Rahul Dravid had tirelessly done that for Sourav Ganguly during their time and as Rohit Sharma checked-in, he would know that his deputy has at lest tried to remove the ton of pressure on his chest after the home series debacle.
Gambhir Moves
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Credit must also go to head coach Gautam Gambhir, who copped a lot of flak after the defeat to the Black Caps and it was widely believed that rookies Reddy and Harshit got Test caps on his insistence.
Gambhir, who seldom smiles, could afford a grin under the Perth Sun as the burly Harshit and the sinewy Nitish didn't deviate from the script handed to them for the better part of the game.
Nervous Aussies
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Starting the day at 12 for 3 in pursuit of 534, it was about how much time would it take for Australia to capitulate and they eventually did despite a counter-attacking 89 by Travis Head that only delayed the inevitable.
On the last two tours, India started the series at Adelaide, which is believed to have friendlier batting conditions but this time, Australia decided to make the first move putting India on the bounciest surface in the country.
The move only worked for a session and a half before it backfired completely. The Australians had factored in India's vulnerability but decided to punt on their own batting line-up which has been woefully short of runs.
Steve Smith, one of the modern day greats, and Marnus Labuschagne, who has always been obsessed about batting, have had their forms desert them for the longest time.
Then they inducted a rookie in Nathan McSweeney, who isn't particularly tested and also not an opener. It indicated that just like India, Australia will also face a transition, and it's case could be even worse.
Josh Hazlewood had thrown the towel on third evening itself and one shouldn't be surprised if the Australian team management plays on flatter batting decks in the coming matches in order to nullify Bumrah's threat.
But Bumrah is the sort of bowler can tighten the noose whenever he desires and irrespective of conditions.
On the fourth afternoon, he came back to dislodge Head, who was putting on a fight.
That was possibly the best of his eight wickets in the game. It was pitched on length and the compulsive driver that Head is, he didn't expect it to climb from length and it took the outside edge.
