Congress leader moves over BJP's poster on Rahul Gandhi
Jaipur (PTI): A Congress leader has filed a petition in a court against BJP national president JP Nadda and party's IT cell incharge Amit Malviya over a social media post by the saffron party, showing party leader Rahul Gandhi as 'a new age Ravan'.
In his petition, general secretary of Congress' Rajasthan unit, Jaswant Gurjar, has pleaded that a case be registered against both BJP leaders under IPC Section 499 (false imputation against another person), 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult).
Gurjar has filed the petition at Jaipur Metropolitan Court-11. The court has decided to hear the arguments on the plea on October 9.
A photograph of Gandhi morphed as Ravan in a poster put out from the Bharatiya Janata Party's official handle on X has stirred a controversy, triggering strong criticism from the Congress, which has called it "unacceptable" and "downright dangerous".
"The petition has been admitted by the court and the hearing for the case has been scheduled on October 9," Gurjar said.
"The accused publicised the post deliberately with ill-intention on October 5 and the aim of the accused is to insult and to harm the goodwill of Congress and people associated with it and to make political gains," the plea said.
The petition said that the BJP leaders deliberately presented Gandhi as anti-Ram and anti-religion to instigate people against him.
The petitioner has pleaded before the court to get the statements of both the accused recorded and get the matter investigated.
The Congress party has protested against the poster at several places across the country.
The poster showed Gandhi with several heads, with the title "Bharat Khatre Mein Hai - A Congress party production. Directed by George Soros".
The post by the BJP accompanying the poster said, "The new age Ravan is here. He is evil. Anti-Dharma. Anti-Ram. His aim is to destroy Bharat."
Soros, a Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist, and activist, had come under fire from the BJP after he made critical comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of a report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research on the Adani Group.
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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.
