Congress forms assessment teams for LS seats in Gujarat ahead of 2024 polls
Ahmedabad (PTI): Ahead of the 2024 elections, the Congress has formed teams of leaders to assess its strength and rebuild the organisation across 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, a party functionary said on Tuesday.
In the 2019 general elections, the Congress was whitewashed with BJP winning all 26 seats in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The opposition party won only 17 seats out of 182 in the 2022 assembly elections which saw BJP retaining its bastion with a historic mandate.
Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said teams comprising senior as well as young leaders have been allocated the responsibility of a set of Lok Sabha seats.
"They are tasked with holding meetings with local leaders in Lok Sabha constituencies to get a sense of the existing political and social dynamics and the party's position as part of poll preparations," he said.
State party president Shaktisinh Gohil will look after the seats of Bharuch and Chhota Udepur, both having a significant tribal population, while the Congress legislative party leader Amit Chavda will oversee Kheda, Bhavnagar and Surendranagar constituencies.
Former state Congress presidents Bharatsinh Solanki, Arjun Modhwadia, Siddharth Patel, and Jagdish Thakor, and ex-legislative party leaders Paresh Dhanani and Sukhram Rathwa have also been allocated the responsibility of different seats.
"The experienced leaders have been teamed up with the party's working presidents. The report prepared by them will be taken up for discussion in meetings with the party's general secretary-in-charge of Gujarat Mukul Wasnik to chalk out the party's future course of action for the elections," Doshi said.
These teams will meet local leaders in the respective Lok Sabha seats assigned to them, including former candidates of Congress in LS and assembly polls, contestants and winners of local body polls.
"They will discuss various aspects of the given Lok Sabha seat, including the social dynamics, geographical location, the situation on the ground, and opinion and suggestions of local leaders regarding the party's past performance, and how it can be improved among other factors," Doshi added.
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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.
