Former CM H D Kumaraswamy slams BJP over degrading Karnataka CM post
Bengaluru, Jan 23: Citing delay in the state cabinet expansion, JD (S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday accused the BJP leadership of degrading the post of Karnataka Chief Minister.
Kumaraswamy also claimed that the Special Protection Group did not let chief minister B S Yediyurappa inside the Raj Bhavan the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was staying there during his Karnataka visit early this month.
"..this is the plight of the chief minister of our state.
Does he need the post of chief minister for this?... This is the situation here," Kumaraswamy said.
BJP spokesperson Go Madhusudan rejected the claims made by Kumaraswamy terming it false and baseless.
Addressing the JD(S) convention here, Kumaraswamy said: "Is this the dignity shown to the Chief Minister? He is not even getting an interview (with party leadership).
He is being pestered on the issue of cabinet expansion," the former chief minister said.
Hitting out at Kumaraswamy, Madhusudan said: "The claims are false and concocted.
The fact is Prime Minister Modi was instrumental in bringing Yediyurappa back to the party fold. The two leaders have devoted five decades in building the party. We deny these statements outright."
Yediyurappa is currently at Davos for the World Economic Forum Meet.
He was awaiting the high command's nod to expand his ministry amid intense lobbying by aspirants but was asked to visit Delhi after returning from Davos, according to party sources.
Kumaraswamy asked the Veerashaiva community not to expect much from Yediyurappa.
"If you think that Yediyurappa is going to do a big favour to the Veerashaiva community, then it is for sure that he will make you repent in future."
On the issue of illegal foreign immigrants in the state, Kumaraswamy said many shanties were razed in Bellandur area in the city a few days ago but none of the illegal Bangladeshis were found there.
"Those who were found were the flood victims from North Karnataka who were residing in the shanties here," he claimed.
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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.”
