Karnataka ministers reject BJP's charges of fundraising for Bihar polls, debate turns personal
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Ministers on Tuesday hit out at the opposition BJP for alleging that the ruling Congress was collecting funds for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Senior BJP leaders Jagadish Shettar and B Y Raghavendra accused Congress ministers of "fundraising" for the Bihar polls, claiming that officials were being pressured to contribute, with money collected under the guise of renewals. Shettar further alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently hosted a cabinet dinner linked to the Bihar elections.
Shivamogga MP Raghavendra is the son of former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and elder brother of Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who also heads the state Congress unit, dismissed the allegations and demanded proof.
"I think Vijayendra and Raghavendra are recalling their own practices. We don’t do it, and we don’t need to. He’s just making a hit-and-run statement. Where is the evidence? If there is any, let them show it," Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru.
Claiming that the BJP fears the Congress, Shivakumar added that the INDIA bloc would come to power in Bihar.
State IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge also hit back, posting an old video of former Union Minister late Ananth Kumar and Yediyurappa purportedly discussing Rs 1,800 crore in black money sent to the BJP high command.
"Have the @BJP4Karnataka leaders forgotten that it was revealed in the conversation between Shri Yediyurappa and the late Shri Ananth Kumar that Rs 1,800 crore in black money was given to the BJP high command?" Kharge asked in a post on 'X'.
Reminding Raghavendra of his father’s earlier statements, Kharge said, "It was BJP members who said Rs 2,500 crore must be paid for the chief minister’s post, and it was also BJP members who said Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore must be paid for ministerial positions."
He alleged that it was the BJP that had "turned Karnataka’s resources into a business."
"The credit for dedicating Karnataka’s resources to the high command belongs to the BJP, not to the Congress," Kharge added.
State Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy also dismissed the BJP’s allegations as "laughable."
"The Karnataka BJP’s factory of lies is once again working overtime! Your baseless allegation that our Congress government is funding the Bihar elections is laughable. Is there no end to your series of lies?" Reddy said in a post on 'X'.
He accused the BJP of using corrupt and illegal funds for elections and cited the ‘Operation Lotus’ episode, during which horse-trading allegedly took place.
"You, who are the very Gangotri (source) of corruption, trying to portray yourselves as clean-handed today, is the biggest joke of the century!" Reddy said in Kannada on 'X'.
Reacting to Kharge’s post, Ananth Kumar’s daughter Aishwarya Ananthkumar accused the minister of stooping to a new low.
"Shri @PriyankKharge avare, this is a new low even for you. After your failed attempt to defame the RSS, you have now decided to come after Shri Ananthkumar ji, whose work for Karnataka even your own party leaders have admired," she wrote on 'X'.
"In case you have forgotten, let me remind you that the discussion in this video is about the infamous diary of a Congress CM, which had the initials of your party’s high command and large amounts of kickbacks given to them," she added.
"This tweet of yours will come back to haunt your own leaders. Remember, truth has a tendency to reveal itself," Aishwarya said.
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
ALSO READ: South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again
Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
