DK Shivakumar reacts to BJP's 'Kanakapura Chalo' campaign
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Minister, DK Shivakumar on Monday asserted that he will not react to anything from the BJP in the wake of “Kanakapura Chalo” campaign planned by the BJP to protest construction of world’s largest statue of Jesus Christ in at Kanakapura.
“The BJP has the power. Let them do whatever they want to do. I will not react to them” Shivakumar told media persons in the city on Monday.
Taking a dig at RSS leader of Coastal Karnataka, Kalladka Prabhakar, Shivakumar said “Who is Kalladka Prabhakar? I don’t know him. I believe in humanity, it is the greatest religion”.
“In a democratic country along with the ruling party, there should be a strong opposition too. There should also be pro-opposition group. Whoever wants to come to Kanakapura, can come there. It is not my duty or intention to stop anybody from coming to Kanakpura for the protest” Shivakumar said.
He further added that he has instructed the party activists to remain mute spectators to whatever the protesters say or do and not react to them. “They have power, let them do whatever they want to do” he added.
Speaking of the construction of the Jesus Christ statue Shivakumar said "Christian community surrendered their five acre of land for construction of site when I was the minister. In the name of development they surrendered the land without giving it a second thought when me and K J George approached them. This is our gesture to pay them back for what they have been doing for the development of this state".
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
