Siddaramaiah flays BJP chief Nadda for politicising Karnataka woman assault
Bengaluru, Dec 15: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday slammed BJP national president J P Nadda for attempting to derive political mileage from the Belagavi incident wherein a woman was paraded naked and thrashed after her son eloped with a girl from the same community and termed it 'shameful'.
Siddaramaiah's attack comes following the BJP's statewide demonstrations and the party sending a 'fact-finding team' of four MPs to Belagavi on Saturday.
In a strongly worded statement, the Chief Minister said the BJP's rule in Karnataka witnessed multiple instances of violence against women, but Nadda has forgotten this to politically target the Congress government. Unfortunately, he is using the recent incident of violence against a woman in Belagavi for politics.
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"The violence inflicted on a woman and her family members in Belagavi is highly condemnable. It is shameful that BJP President Nadda is exploiting such an incident for political gain," Siddaramaiah said.
As soon as the Belagavi incident came to light, state Home Minister G Parameshwara and Minister of Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar visited the survivor's home not only to console her but also to provide compensation, Siddaramaiah explained.
The police apprehended the culprits within 24 hours and put them behind the bars, he added.
"I am personally overseeing the investigation of this case. Our government is committed to ensuring that such inhumane acts do not recur by meting out strict punishment to the guilty," Siddaramaiah said.
Noting that the state BJP leaders are also satisfied with the measures taken by the state government, the Chief Minister alleged that Nadda's sudden awakening and his attempt to stir up this case four days after the incident took place reeks of political motive rather than genuine concern for women.
Citing the National Crime Bureau (NCRB) report, Siddaramaiah said there were 17,813 cases of violence against women in Karnataka during the last year (2022) of BJP rule, compared to 14,468 cases the previous year in 2021.
"What was the BJP National President doing then? Was he in exile? Did he not notice the increasing cases of violence against women under their own government year after year?" the Chief Minister asked.
"From Manipur to Gujarat, from Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh, wherever BJP is in power, the cases of violence against women are rising, as per the NCRB report. These cases prove that BJP is inherently anti-women," Siddaramaiah said.
He further said the internal disputes in the state BJP are escalating while denting the party's reputation and senior leaders are making serious allegations against the party chief and opposition leaders.
Siddaramaiah dared Nadda to send an investigative committee to look into these allegations.
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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.
