Kumaraswamy congratulates Kejriwal, AAP
Bengaluru: Congratulating Aam Aadmi Party and its Chief Arvind Kejriwal for its performance in the Delhi assembly polls, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said that people of the national capital have shown that "fascist ideology" will never win their hearts.
Calling Kejriwal as a leader who heralded development, the former Karnataka Chief Minister said people have taught a lesson for labelling him a "terrorist" and also upheld the necessity of a regional party.
"Heartfelt congratulations to @ArvindKejriwal @AamAadmiParty. People of Delhi have showed that "fascist ideology" will never win their hearts.
Congratulations to AAP and voters of Delhi for testifying that successful politics with development as criteria (to win polls), amidst money and muscle power," Kumaraswamy tweeted.
Welcoming the mandate of the people, he said in a series of tweets that the mature voter of Delhi did not change his stand, despite BJP's might, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the entire central government on its side.
"People have taught lesson for calling someone who heralded development (Kejriwal), a terrorist.
By upholding the necessity of a regional party, people of Delhi have also set a model by clearly stating that development is their only priority," he said in another tweet.
Kumaraswamy was referring to remarks by BJP MP Parvesh Verma at a poll rally, calling Kejriwal a "terrorist" over his alleged support to an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protest in south Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.
Both Kumaraswamy and Kejriwal have bonded at several occasions in the past. The Delhi Chief Minister had attended Kumaraswamy's swearing in as Chief Minister of the coalition government in May last year.
Kumaraswamy, along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had rallied behind Kejriwal when the latter was staging a dharna at the Lieutenant Governor office, which was seen as his power struggle with the L-G.
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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.”
