Congress leaders in Kerala take on Tharoor for remarks praising PM
Alapuzha/Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor came under criticism from senior party colleagues in Kerala on Sunday for his comments that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be praised for doing the right things but the Congress MP remained unfazed, saying there was nothing wrong in his stand.
Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the "wrong doings" of the Modi government cannot be "ignored", while state Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran said Tharoor's statement was "unfortunate" and he would speak to him.
They were reacting to views of Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, that praising the Prime Minister for doing the right things would lend credibility to the Opposition's criticism.
Tharoor and his colleague Abishek Singhvi had last week supported party leader Jairam Ramesh who has said that not recognising Modi's work and "demonising" him all the time was not going to help.
Replying to questions from reporters at Haripad in Alapuzha on Tharoor's stand, Chennithala said the Centre was taking decisions which were 'unacceptable' to the people and there was no need to glorify Modi over one good act.
"The Congress will continue to fight against the Modi government's wrong policies," he said.
"There is no need to glorify Modi over one good act after his government committed thousands of wrong doings. Modi's rules and his actions are not supported by the people and so there is no need to glorify his acts", the senior party leader alleged.
Ramachandran told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that Tharoor had vehemently opposed the BJP-NDA government for five years.
"I do not know what change has come in the last one week. I do not know how he can back the Modi government now", he said adding he would speak to him over the matter.
Party president Sonia Gandhi had on August 22 lashed out against Modi government, he said adding Tharoor's statement was "unfortunate" and he should not have made it publicly but before the Congress parliamentary party.
Tharoor on his part on Sunday defended the remarks made by him, Singhvi and Jairam Ramesh. "What Jairam Ramesh and Singhvi have said is not wrong. If Modi has done something good, we should acknowledge it.
Otherwise we will lose credibility among the people. If there is need, we should severely criticise him," he told a Malayalam TV channel.
Former union minister Jairam Ramesh had recently said Modi's model was not a "complete negative story" and not recognising his work and demonising him all the time is not going to help.
"It is time we recognise Modi's work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power by over "30 per cent of the electorate", he had said on Wednesday.
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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.
