Minister D.K. Shivakumar cries foul over BJP's graft charges
Bengaluru, Sep 19: Accusing the BJP of trying to destabilise the coalition government in Karnataka, state's Water Resources Minister of the Congress D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday cried foul over the graft charges levelled by the BJP against him and his party.
"The BJP is trying to destabilise the JD-S-Congress coalition government in the state by levelling baseless charges of corruption and money laundering against me and my party," Shivakumar said.
Reacting hours after BJP spokesman Sambit Patra alleged in Delhi that the Congress and corruption were "synonymous", Shivakumar said he had been cooperating with the Income-Tax (I-T) department and would do so even with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) if it served notice on him in the money laundering case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on Tuesday filed a case of money laundering against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. This was based on a chargesheet the I-T department had filed in a special court in Bengaluru early this year involving alleged tax evasion and money laundering worth crores of rupees.
"Unaccounted cash, hawala transactions and corrupt deals are the pillars on which the Congress sits. We now know why the Congress was crying during demonetisation," said Patra at a press conference in New Delhi earlier in the day.
Presenting confessional statements of the three accused to the I-T department in the case pertaining to the recovery of Rs 4 crore from Shivakumar's flats in New Delhi, Patra said the evidence showed Congress's involvement and 'proof of hawala network' that helped money transfer from Karnataka to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in the national capital.
Patra also claimed that the money was transferred to the AICC office not in lakhs or crores but in kilogrammes.
Refuting Patra's allegations, the Minister said he did not do anything illegal or made any mistake and accused the BJP of defaming him and his party.
"Rs 40 lakh was found in my Delhi flat, which my friends and business partners have declared that it belonged to them. Every rupee found has been accounted for," claimed Shivakumar,
Recalling that the I-T sleuths had raided 82 places belonging to him and his friends on August 2, 2017, Shivakumar said the action (raids) was taken on the same day he was hosting the party's legislators from Gujarat at a resort in his (Bengaluru Rural) district.
Asserting that he would face the law, Shivakumar said BJP's state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa had been charged with corruption.
"Though I have been in the hospital recuperating from food poisoning, I am forced to address the media to refute Patra's allegations against me and my party," added Shivakumar.
Reiterating that the Congress stood by its minister, party's state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the money in Shivakumar's possession was accounted for.
"Minister @DKShivakumar rebuts @BJP4India spokesman #SambitPatra's baseless charges; Reiterates he and his family are tortured because he refused to join BJP," tweeted Rao, adding every single paisa in his possession is accounted for. @INCIndia stands by Shivakumar.
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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.
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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.
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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.
