INDIA FOR KEJRIWAL AGAINST AND OVER Modi, Rahul

The Matunga flyover wears the colour of Mumbai – a time-worn grey, the colour of asphalt scarred by tyres, scalded in heat and scraped by millions of shuffling feet. Running along one edge of its back, arched over a noisy Central Mumbai thoroughfare, is a narrow walkway shared judiciously by vendors and two files of people scrambling and elbowing their way past each other to and from the Matunga Road station. At nine in the evening, the walkway is dimly lit, mostly by the shape-shifting yellow cloud of car headlights looming over the road below. Suresh (name changed on request), stands at a makeshift kiosk and squints hard, forehead furrowing into multiple folds, to read a pamphlet he has just received.  The pamphlet is from AAP, containing a long list of its candidate’s achievements in stout, small black print. An AAP rally in Mumbai The AAP kiosk Suresh is hovering over is basically a foldable plastic table piled high with sheaves of pamphlets and a small heap of AAP caps. Two men - one a stoic pamphlet giver and another a smiling, eager-eyed volunteer who’ll spot a prospective pamphlet-taker – man it. Sundar Balakrishnan, a fairly well-known social activist who is known for his work against land grabbing, is the AAP candidate in south Central Mumbai. Suresh, gives one side of the pamphlet in Marathi a quick read and asks, “Is he close to Arvind Kejriwal?” The smiling AAP volunteer, nods his head, a widening smile possibly hinting that the answer is a yes. “Arvind Kejriwal ayenge kya Mumbai? Yahaan rally nahin karenge (Will Arvind Kejriwal come to Mumbai? Won’t he hold a rally here?”) he asks. “Bahut busy hain na who. Koshish to kar rahen hai…(He is very busy, but he is still trying),” answers the smiling volunteer. Suresh, in his late 20s, has only voted once before. An employee with a textile export company in south Mumbai, he lives in what he calls a ‘small’ apartment in a ‘redeveloped’ building in Matunga. He’ll not reveal who he wants to vote for, but says, Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP tops his personal hierarchy of political parties. “They are a clean party. Except for one or two, most of their candidates are sophisticated and highly educated. Look at him, he is a MBA,” he says, gesturing at Sundar Balakrishnan’s gaunt passport-sized picture on the pamphlet. Balakrishnan holds an MBA degree from Narsee Monjee college in Mumbai. Does he think, the AAP then, stands a chance in Mumbai. Suresh is not so sure. And he blames that on a lack of education. “Thousands of people in this city are poor and uneducated. What do they care about which college a leader went to?” Pre-poll surveys suggest that AAP might not be able to get any more than 5 percent of Maharashtra's vote-share and one would expect Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi theatrics to have cost the party more than a few hundred votes. However, the many who were taken in by the party's blistering Delhi debut, are still willing to give it a patient hearing. And no, they’re not betting on Arvind Kejriwal at all. Mumbai-based artist and writer Gautam Benegal feels that AAP, prior to the LS elections, have emerged as a political entity much bigger than its founder Arvind Kerjiwal. In fact, as the party expands and inducts personalities with stronger decisive powers, Kejriwal can’t continue being the axis the party revolves around. “He is ok as a sort of figure head. But the party has to evolve beyond him. His days will be over...his function was limited to this time...after the elections I feel. I am waiting for a more mature second rung.” AAP itself, while partial to Kejriwal, has also realised this. One of their promotional graphics doing the round of Facebook has a collage of AAP candidates and other party candidates pitted against each other. The AAP collage has everyone from Meera Sanyal, Manisha Lath Gupta, V Balakrishnan, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and Soni Sori, complete with short work bios. The competing collage has the choicest goons from the other parties. The e-poster says that by voting for AAP, one brings Sanyal and her ilk to power, whereas, by voting for other parties, one votes for goons. The contrast is sharp and telling. And despite Kejriwal's theatrics, many prospective voters are willing to buy it. Kunal Bhatia, 26-year-old architect, photographer and interior designer has never had much stomach for politics. His Facebook page steers clear of Modi-bashing, too many Rahul jokes and such-like. Except for the occasional post or two about AAP, a video he fancies or a poster he thinks is relevant. “I support AAP, because in a broader sense, it is for the first time that we have a plausible alternative to many of the ills that plague other political parties,” he reasons. He is not willing to read too much into the fact of AAP taking the outside support of Congress and defends the decision by asking what other way they could have formed a government where they had a greater say in its proceedings? There is growing impatience with Arvind Kejriwal. “I used to really like him man, but he is doing so much drama now man…,” Malvika, a 23-year-old first-time voter, drawn by the heap of jhadu topis on the Matunga flyover tells me, hurriedly finishing her sentence, only to stretch the ‘man’ at the end of it. In between checking Whatsapp and asking me which ‘magazine’ I work for, the MBA aspirant manages to put in a good word for the party too. “But nobody is saying he is corrupt, na? And all these people who joined his party all come from good companies also. I think that’s very cool,” she adds. But Malvika is evidence of what AAP started out to be initially – the political successor to Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, the Café Coffee Day of politics, a party that the hashtag generation would feel self-important flaunting. Down the line, it spread its wings, learnt a few old school tricks, grew some grey hair and bared a fang (who can ever forget Khirkee Extension) now and then. However, with its jhadu symbol and trophy candidates, it has continued to be the pop party to its biggest voter-base yet – the urban youth. Kejriwal has changed tracks and decided to plunge into the political mud-pit of Varanasi. AAP has managed to win the confidence of the likes of Medha Patkar, who in real-time will help it break ice with greater swathes of voting masses like the slum population, which would otherwise have little patience for its pop rhetoric. Composer and singer Vishal Dadlani, a staunch admirer of AAP says that when a person like Medha Patkar chooses to associate her life’s worth of work for the underprivileged with a party, there must be some truth to AAP. “I accept AAP is not without its flaws. But these are not seasoned politicians we are seeing. They are enthusiastic people who want to make a difference. Yes, they lack in experience, but they aren’t as cynical and unscrupulous either,” he told Firstpost. So does Medha Patkar backing Kejriwal automatically erase Kejriwal's Delhi debacle? Dadlani says he would not like to call it a debacle in the first place. “When the Delhi thing happened, I was shocked. I was like ‘what the hell, I just campaigned for this party’. But then I read up on what happened, spoke to people and realised that the BJP and Congress completely blocked the Delhi Janlokpal’s path in assembly. And Kejriwal resigned on principle". Like him, his chosen party’s chieftain too is trying hard to ‘explain’ his Delhi outing. In radio ads which have now started airing in Mumbai, and was initially launched in Delhi, Kejirwal is not heard singing paeans about AAP. Instead, he is hurriedly explaining why he quit as Delhi CM. And the attempt to offer an explanation is being read as a mark of accountability by many. “AAP is still a people’s movement, run by people like you and me,” says Dadlani. Despite Kejriwal, many possibly agree with him. However, whether that would translate into a poll victory, is something no one’s betting their money on. As of now, AAP the conscience keeper of Indian politics, would be a good enough role for the party’s admirers.

CSK Mohit keep Mumbai Indians winless

Chennai Super Kings 142 for 3 (McCullum 71*) beat Mumbai Indians 141 for 7 (Rohit 50, Mohit 4-14) by seven wickets 
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Mohit Sharma derailed Mumbai Indians with three wickets in his last over © BCCI  Enlarge

Keep your competition buried when they are down, say some. Chennai Super Kings, led by Mohit Sharma's best IPL figures and Brendon McCullum's second half-century in four matches, cemented their position near the top of the table with a crushing victory against defending champions Mumbai Indians, who are yet to register a win.

Super Kings had been alternating between good bowling and good batting performances in their previous three matches. In their fourth one though, they were strong with both bat and ball. As Mumbai Indians eyed a late surge in the last five overs, they lost their set batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson, in quick succession, before Mohit cleaned up the middle order in just one over to end up with figures of 4 for 14.

At the break, Mohit said it wouldn't be an easy chase for the Super Kings batsmen on the slow pitch. The way Dwayne Smith and McCullum played the first two overs suggested they had taken Mohit's advice seriously; only two runs came. However, with the words of their top performer honoured, Smith switched to his usual modus operandi, hitting three sixes in the next seven balls, all straight hits.

Once the chase was set in motion though, it was McCullum who took the front seat, blitzing powerful boundaries through extra cover and midwicket off successive Zaheer Khan deliveries. The sight of his fellow countryman Corey Anderson seemed to charge him up even more as he used his incredible bat speed to power three boundaries through the cover region.

With 51 runs in the Powerplay, Mumbai Indians' only chance in the match was to somehow dismantle the strong batting order. They did get a sniff as Smith and Suresh Raina departed in successive overs. That was to have no effect on McCullum though, who, apart from giving respect to Lasith Malinga, kept on peppering the boundary regularly off other bowlers and brought up his half-century in 36 balls.

Super Kings were almost level with Mumbai Indians' score at the 15-over stage, but they were in no mood to commit the same errors and cantered past the target with an over to spare.

Mumbai Indians had much to thank Rohit and Anderson, who revived the innings with a measured 84-run stand for the third wicket after the early loss of their openers. Both batsmen found it tough to push the scoring early on. A six by Anderson off the last ball of the 10th over signalled some intent, but the scoring-rate still lingered below six an over.

Rohit picked up the scoring from there on though, smacking a couple of sixes over the leg side as 51 runs came off the next five overs. But all hopes of a late surge were dashed once Super Kings got an opening with the dismissal of Anderson. Rohit, immediately after reaching his half-century, was caught in the deep off Ben Hilfenhaus and Mohit, in the 19th over, burst the balloon with three wickets, all with superbly controlled slower balls. The final total of 141 was 10 to 15 runs short of what Mumbai Indians would have eyed at one stage.

MATCH 11 :SRH DEFEATS DD Live Score (IPL 2014)

SRH Vs DD Live Score (IPL 2014)

Friday, 25 April 2014 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

• SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
• DELHI DAREDEVILS

180 / 4

Overs20.0

R/R9

Fours18

Sixes6

Extras6

Match Status: Match Ended

Match Result: SH beat DD by 4 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad innings: 184 / 1 (20.0)

R/R:   9.2

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH)

Batsman	Status	R	B	4s	6s
Shikhar Dhawan (C)	c Kevin Pietersen b Shahbaz Nadeem	33	22	5	1
Aaron Finch	not out	88	53	8	4
David Warner	not out	58	45	3	3

Extras : 5 (b - 0, w - 2, nb - 0, lb - 1, Penalty - 0)

Total

184  (20.0)

Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Shikhar Dhawan, 6.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	Wkts	W	No
Shahbaz Nadeem	4	0	24	1	1	0
Mohammed Shami	4	0	36	0	1	0
Wayne Parnell	4	0	38	0	0	0
Jaydev Unadkat	4	0	43	0	0	0
JP Duminy	2	0	19	0	0	0
Laxmi Shukla	2	0	21	0	0	0

Delhi Daredevils innings: 180 / 4 (20.0)

R/R:   9

Delhi Daredevils (DD)

Batsman	Status	R	B	4s	6s
Quinton de Kock	c Aaron Finch b Karn Sharma	48	30	6	1
Murali Vijay	c Dale Steyn b Darren Sammy	52	40	7	1
Kevin Pietersen (C)	c Darren Sammy b Dale Steyn	16	17	1	1
Dinesh Karthik (W)	c Lokesh Rahul b Dale Steyn	15	14	1	0
JP Duminy	not out	20	7	1	2
Manoj Tiwary	not out	23	13	2	1

Extras : 6 (b - 0, w - 2, nb - 1, lb - 1, Penalty - 0)

Total

180  (20.0)

Fall of wickets: 1-99 (Quinton de Kock, 11.2 ov), 2-103 (Murali Vijay, 12.2 ov), 3-135 (Dinesh Karthik, 16.4 ov), 4-135 (Kevin Pietersen, 16.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	Wkts	W	No
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	0	40	0	1	0
Dale Steyn	4	0	33	2	0	0
Venugopal Rao	1	0	9	0	0	0
Karn Sharma	4	0	23	1	1	0
Darren Sammy	3	0	34	1	0	0
Amit Mishra	4	0	38	0	0	1

MATCH 12 :CSK THRASHES MI Live Score (IPL 2014)

• MUMBAI INDIANS
• CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

142 / 3

Overs19.0

R/R7.47

Fours9

Sixes7

Extras7

Match Status: Match Ended

Match Result: CSK beat MI by 7 wickets

Mumbai Indians innings: 141 / 7 (20.0)

R/R:   7.05

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Batsman	Status	R	B	4s	6s
Michael Hussey	b Ben Hilfenhaus	1	7	0	0
Aditya Tare	c Suresh Raina b Mohit Sharma	23	19	4	0
Corey Anderson	run out (Ravichandran Ashwin)	39	31	3	1
Rohit Sharma (C)	c Dwayne Smith b Ben Hilfenhaus	50	41	3	2
Kieron Pollard	b Mohit Sharma	12	11	1	0
Ambati Rayudu	c Suresh Raina b Mohit Sharma	1	2	0	0
Chidhambaram Gautam (W)	not out	7	4	1	0
Harbhajan Singh	c Brendon McCullum b Mohit Sharma	0	2	0	0
Zaheer Khan	not out	7	3	0	1

Extras : 1 (b - 1, w - 0, nb - 0, lb - 1, Penalty - 0)

Total

141  (20.0)

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Michael Hussey, 2 ov), 2-25 (Aditya Tare, 4.4 ov), 3-109 (Corey Anderson, 15.2 ov), 4-123 (Rohit Sharma, 17.4 ov), 5-125 (Ambati Rayudu, 18.1 ov), 6-127 (Kieron Pollard, 18.4 ov), 7-127 (Harbhajan Singh, 19 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	Wkts	W	No
Ishwar Pandey	4	0	21	0	0	0
Ben Hilfenhaus	4	0	39	2	0	0
Ravichandran Ashwin	4	0	20	0	0	0
Mohit Sharma	4	0	14	4	0	0
Suresh Raina	3	0	32	0	0	0
Ravindra Jadeja	1	0	14	0	0	0

Chennai Super Kings innings: 142 / 3 (19.0)

R/R:   7.47

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Batsman	Status	R	B	4s	6s
Dwayne Smith	c Corey Anderson b Pragyan Ojha	29	22	0	4
Brendon McCullum	not out	71	53	8	2
Suresh Raina	st Chidhambaram Gautam b Harbhajan Singh	1	4	0	0
Faf du Plessis	st Chidhambaram Gautam b Harbhajan Singh	20	25	0	0
MS Dhoni (C) (W)	not out	14	11	1	1

Extras : 7 (b - 0, w - 2, nb - 1, lb - 1, Penalty - 0)

Total

142  (19.0)

Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Dwayne Smith, 6.2 ov), 2-61 (Suresh Raina, 7.4 ov), 3-114 (Faf du Plessis, 16 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	Wkts	W	No
Pragyan Ojha	4	1	25	1	0	0
Zaheer Khan	4	0	31	0	0	0
Lasith Malinga	4	0	22	0	1	1
Corey Anderson	2	0	23	0	0	0
Harbhajan Singh	4	0	27	2	1	0
Kieron Pollard	1	0	10	0	0	0