BJP's 'very successful' membership drive: 3.78 cr new members against target of 2.2 cr
New Delhi, Aug 21: The BJP has enrolled 3.78 crore new members during its membership drive that ended on Tuesday, bringing almost 1.6 crore more people under its fold than the target.
Dushyant Kumar Gautam, a party vice president and co-convener of the membership drive, described the over one-and-a-half month long exercise as "very successful" and expressed confidence that the total number may get close to 5 crore when the party collects data from the across the country in the next few days.
The membership drive had started on July 6 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah launching it from Varanasi and Telangana respectively on the party ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee's birth anniversary.
The party claims to have 11 crore members and had fixed a target of adding 20 per cent more members, 2.2 crore, during the drive. The number of new members stand at 3,78,67,753 and will be revised upwards as more details are collected.
The saffron organisation is jubilant over the "massive" response to its drive but the extent of its success will be determined after the details of its new members are verified.
Official sources said of the 11 crore members -- an overwhelming number of whom through missed calls -- it had enrolled during its 2015 drive, details of almost half of could not be fully verified.
However, they added the party had this time put in more filters.
All giving a missed call had to furnish details like their name, address, area pin code and mobile/telephone number before they were added as members.
Gautam said Modi's popularity and Shah's organisational acumen had played a key role in attracting new members in such big numbers to the party's fold.
Among the states, Uttar Pradesh enrolled over 65 lakh members, West Bengal 36 lakhs, Gujarat 34 lakhs and Delhi 15 lakhs among others.
Though a majority of new members has joined the party through missed called but a large number has also taken to the party's website and Modi app to enrol.
With the membership drive over, the party will launch its organisation polls from September.
Elections of national council members will take place in December followed by the election of its national president.
With Shah now Union home minister, there is a view within the party that he may make way for a new party chief.
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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.
