Assembly bypolls: Polling for 13 seats in UP and Punjab, one in Kerala rescheduled from Nov 13 to 20
New Delhi, Nov 4: The Election Commission on Monday rescheduled from November 13 to November 20 the assembly bypolls to all nine and four seats in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, respectively, and one seat in Kerala in view of festivals, an official statement said.
In Kerala, the byelection to the Palakkad assembly seat has been rescheduled, while that in Chelakkara assembly and Wayanad Lok Sabha seats will be held as scheduled earlier on November 13.
Parties including Congress, BJP, BSP and RLD had urged the poll body to reschedule the bypolls in view of various festivals, saying that it could impact voter turnout.
According to the Congress, a significant portion of the electorate in the Palakkad assembly seat in Kerala will celebrate the festival of Kalpathi Ratholsavam from November 13 to 15.
In Punjab, the party had said, the 555th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on November 15 and an 'akhand path' will be organised from November 13 onwards.
The BJP, BSP and the RLD had said that in Uttar Pradesh, people travel for three to four days ahead of Kartik Purnima, which will be celebrated on November 15.
As per the earlier schedule announced on October 15, bypolls to the Wayanad parliamentary seat and 47 assembly seats were to be held on November 13 along with phase one elections for the Jharkhand assembly.
Bypolls to the Nanded Lok Sabha seat and the Kedarnath assembly constituency were scheduled for November 20 along with Maharashtra assembly polls and phase two of Jharkhand elections. There is no change in these two bypolls.
The four Punjab assembly seats where bypolls are being held are Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal, Gidderbaha and Barnala.
The UP assembly seats where bypolls are being held are: Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Sishamau, Phulpur, Katehari and Majhawan.
The date of counting for all the byelections will remain unchanged -- November 23 -- when votes will also be counted for Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections.
In the past too, the EC has shifted voting dates for assembly elections and by-elections in various states.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
