Congress protests 'irregularities' in Assam draft roll after Special Revision
Guwahati (PTI): The Assam unit of the Congress on Tuesday staged a protest against the Election Commission and the BJP government over alleged irregularities found in the draft electoral rolls, published after a Special Revision (SR) of the voter lists.
Assam has registered a 1.35 per cent increase in voters as per the integrated draft electoral roll for the state, published on December 30 after Special Revision was conducted ahead of the Assembly elections.
The Guwahati city committee of Assam Congress organised a sit-in demonstration near the Secretariat complex here.
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"The irregularities in the voter list are being done to help the BJP return to power in Assam. The ECI is working for the BJP only. The vote thieves must step down from power. We condemn CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for attempting to return to power through vote theft," Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) General Secretary Pradyut Bhuyan told reporters.
Although police barricaded and cordoned off the Manavendra Sharma Complex, a building that houses an office of the opposition party, protesters eventually broke through the barricades and came out onto the road.
After shouting slogans and holding the protest for some time, they went inside the complex and concluded the agitation.
Responding to the protest, the CM said, "This is a draft roll, and usually some mistakes remain in the drafts. I don't think there will be any mistake in the final roll. In draft, we see overlapping of names or entering neighbours' names in the same address, but these all are usually rectified in the final list."
The final electoral roll will be published on February 10.
"I don't think there is any controversy. It is a huge task. Entering the names of two crore people is a mammoth job, and we should not doubt the intention of the officers. Let us give the officials a chance, and I believe all the flaws will be corrected in the final list," he added.
The draft roll reflected a total of 2,52,01,624 electors, representing a 1.35 per cent increase from the previous final roll published in January 2025.
A total of 7,86,841 additions and 4,47,196 deletions have taken place from January 6 to December 27 last year.
During the SR process, 4,78,992 deceased electors and 5,23,680 shifted electors were identified. Another 53,619 multiple entries were identified.
The Election Commission, however, said that these names have not yet been deleted. These will only be processed for removal or shifting after formal applications are received during the current claims and objections period.
Claims and objections can be filed from December 27 to January 22, with special campaign dates fixed for January 3-4 and January 10-11.
Assembly elections are likely to be held in March-April in Assam.
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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.
