BSP releases first list of 11 candidates, former JD(S) leader gets ticket
Lucknow, Mar 22: The BSP Friday announced its first list of 11 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding former JD(S) leader Danish Ali from Amroha.
Ali, who was general secretary of the Janata Dal (Secular), quit that party and joined the Bahujan Samaj Party only last week.
The BSP declared Haji Fazulrahman its nominee from Saharanpur, Malook Nagar from Bijnor and Girish Chandra from Nagina, a party statement said.
Hazi Mohammad Yakoob has been fielded from Meerut, Satbeer Nagar from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Yogesh Verma from Bulandshahr, Ajit Baliyan from Aligarh, Manoj Kumar Soni from Agra, Rajveer Singh from Fatehpur Sikri and Ruchi Veera from Aonla.
Danish Ali, 54, joined the BSP amid speculation that his new party might field him from Amroha in western Uttar Pradesh.
Ali had then said he had the blessings of JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda to make the switch, a claim later confirmed by his old party.
A native of Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh, Ali said he was not able to establish the JD(S) in the state.
The BSP is contesting 38 of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh under the seat-sharing arrangement with Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.The SP will contest 37 seats and the RLD three.
The alliance has left Amethi and Raebareli for the Congress, even though it is not a part of it.
Mayawati recently said the BSP will not have an alliance with the Congress in any state.
On Friday, Mayawati posted tweets ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling himself the country's chowkidar (watchman).
Referring to the ruling party's Main bhi chowkidar' (I am a chowkidar too) campaign, said the ruling party leaders can do "chowkidari" after losing the polls.
She also accused the Modi government of hiding data that revealed the scale of unemployment in the country.
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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.
