Siddaramaiah, several other top Congress leaders detained by police in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Several Karnataka Congress leaders, including its president Dinesh Gundu Rao and leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah, were detained by the police here on Saturday, as they marched to besiege Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's office to protest against the alleged misuse of the police department by the BJP government in the state.
Rao and Bangalore rural MP D K Suresh tried to jump the barricade erected by the police to stop them, and march towards the Chief Ministers residence, but were stopped midway and detained.
The march, which began from Gandhi statue on Race Course Road, led to a traffic pile-up.
State Congress had organised the protest over sedition case filed against a Bidar school and arrest of a parent and the headmistress (now on bail) for their alleged involvement in staging a drama portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poor light in connection with the (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens).
The principal opposition party in the state alleged misuse of the police department by the state government to book cases against those opposing BJP and its "divisive policies".
As he was being detained, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah termed the police action as undemocratic.
"Police have no right to suppress or take away our rights," he said.
The Congress had planned to lay siege to Chief Ministers office as law was being violated across the state and false cases were being filed for sedition against political opponents, especially from Congress and those opposing the CAA and NRC, Siddaramaiah said.
Despite BJP activists using "filthy language and making anti-national comments", no cases were filed against them.
He alleged that BJP was trying to suppress Congress, using the police, and pointed out that cases have been booked against its leader U T Khader and a student from Mysuru for opposing CAA and NRC, while no cases have been filed against ruling party leaders like Somashekara Reddy and AnantKumar Hegde for allegedly making inflammatory speeches.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.”
