BJP's political power shrinking in many parts of country: Sharad Pawar
Mumbai (PTI): NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the BJP's political power is shrinking in many parts of the country.
Addressing a meeting of Nationalist Congress Party's office-bearers here, he also said that people are not supporting those (parties and leaders) who wish to form an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party which is a pan-India picture.
"The people of this country are not with those who wish to ally with the BJP. This is the picture at the pan-India level. You just take out a map of the country and you will see that BJP is not in power in even a single state from south India," he said.
Notably, Pawar's nephew and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July this year along with eight MLAs. Ajit claims he has the support of a majority of MLAs of NCP and has staked the claim to the party's name and poll symbol.
The senior Pawar, instrumental in forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) under Uddhav Thackeray post the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, said the BJP came to power in the state by splitting Shiv Sena.
He claimed a similar formula was applied in Goa as well as in Madhya Pradesh, where Congress was in power till March 2020 when the party-led government collapsed.
Pawar said the BJP was in power only in Gujarat which it managed to retain (in the 2022 polls).
"The BJP is not the ruling party in Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. Except for Uttar Pradesh and a couple of other states, the BJP's political power is shrinking in all other parts of the country," he said.
Pawar also said the political picture will become clear after the elections.
"The reason behind the BJP losing power is the misuse of power. The decisions taken by that party are not empowering the common man," he added.
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.
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
===================
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.
