Bengaluru (PTI): Buoyed by the assembly election by-polls, which saw the ruling Congress sweeping in all the three seats, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he won in the ‘people’s court’.

He gave credit to the guarantee schemes for the party’s victory in the assembly bypolls in Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna.

“You know what Mahatma Gandhi said. He said people’s court is better than the courts. Now people’s court has given me its verdict,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.

This victory was significant for the Congress as the BJP and JD(S) formed an alliance, he explained.

“We won from Kalyana Karnataka (Sandur), Kittur Karnataka region (Shiggaon), and old Mysuru region (Channapatna). In all the places we won. So, this is very significant."

“After our government came to power about one and half years ago, the BJP made false allegations on me and my government. They also spread lies about our schemes,” Siddaramaiah said.

The CM is an accused in the MUDA site allotment scam where 14 sites in upmarket of Mysuru was allotted to his wife, Parvathi. After the controversy broke out, Parvathi returned the sites to MUDA.

He also came down heavily on the opposition BJP and JD(S) for their lies and ‘baseless allegations’.

The Chief Minister also took a swipe at JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and his son Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy for "crying" in public during elections.

“Deve Gowda and his sons cry, but didn’t their heart melt when several women cried in the Prajwal Revanna case in Hassan?” he asked.

Former JD(S) MP and grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Prajwal Revanna is in jail for allegedly sexually assaulting several women and filming them.

 

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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.