BJP, Cong engage in poster war on social media
New Delhi (PTI): The poster war between the Congress and the BJP intensified on social media on Thursday with the ruling party sharing a poster on X portraying Rahul Gandhi as a "new age Ravan", evoking strong criticism from the opposition party which termed it "unacceptable" and "downright dangerous".
The poster came out a day after the Congress posted on X a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the caption "The Biggest Liar" and another calling him a "Jumla Boy" who was "going to hit the election rally soon".
In a sharp retort, the BJP on its official handle on X shared a poster of Gandhi
with several heads with the title "Bharat Khatre Mein Hai - A Congress party production. Directed by George Soros".
"The new age Ravan is here. He is Evil. Anti Dharma. Anti Ram. His aim is to destroy Bharat," the BJP said on X.
Taking strong offence, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said it is intended to incite and provoke violence against the former Congress chief whose father and grandmother were assassinated by forces that want to divide India.
"What is the real intent of an atrocious graphic portraying Rahul Gandhi as Ravan by the BJP's official handle? It is clearly intended to incite and provoke violence against a Congress MP and a former President of the party, whose father and grandmother were assassinated by forces that want to divide India," he said in a post on X.
"It is one thing for the PM to give evidence daily of being a pathological liar and of suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder. But for him to get his party to produce something this obnoxious is not just completely unacceptable, but is downright dangerous," Ramesh said.
"We will not be intimidated," he asserted.
AICC general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal also said, "No words are enough to condemn the shameful graphic on the BJP handle comparing Sh. Rahul Gandhi ji to Ravana."
"Their nefarious intentions are clear, they want to murder him. He, who lost his grandmother and father to assassinations. They withdrew his SPG protection to score petty political points. After evicting him from his secure residence, they haven't allocated another house that he has requested for," he said.
"All this points to a well-planned conspiracy of the BJP to eliminate their fiercest critic, someone who attacks the very core of their hate-filled ideology," Venugopal further said.
Later, Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas B V posted another poster on X portraying PM Modi as "MODANAV".
"The new age MODANAV is here. He is Evil. Anti Democracy. Anti Constitution. Anti People. Anti Humanity. His only aim is to destroy Bharat and the idea of INDIA," he said on X along with the poster titled "Hindustan Khatre mein hai - MODANAV. A Bharat Jumlebaaj Party production. Directed by Param Mitra Adani."
Ramesh also later posted on X a cartoon showing Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru among ten heads of Ravan and showed Savarkar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as Ram and Laxman, aiming at them with a bow and arrow.
"This cartoon was published in 1945 in Leading magazine, whose editor was Nathuram Godse. One of those who shoots arrows is Savarkar. Gandhi and Congress have always been their target, but neither were they afraid then, nor are they afraid today, nor are they going to be afraid in the future," Ramesh said on X along with the poster.
As the battle lines between the two main parties get drawn in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, their leaders have intensified their attacks against each other.
The poster war between the two parties is likely to escalate further in the coming months as elections in five states and the general elections draw near.
Earlier too, both the parties had launched cartoon strips against leaders of both the opposing parties on social media.
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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.
