Congress' top decision-making body meets to find Rahul Gandhi's successor
New Delhi: The Congress' top decision-making body, CWC, met here on Saturday and began deliberations on finding Rahul Gandhi's successor as the party president.
The party's top brass, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ahmed Patel and P Chidambaram, went into a huddle at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here to find a solution to the leadership crisis triggered by Rahul Gandhi's resignation following the Lok Sabha polls debacle.
Besides Rahul Gandhi, several state unit chiefs of the party, including Congress' Rajasthan president Sachin Pilot, were also present in the meeting.
The meeting comes after several senior party leaders such as Shashi Tharoor and Karan Singh voiced concerns over lack of clarity on the leadership issue.
The top Congress leadership held a meeting on Friday with its state unit chiefs, leaders of its state legislature parties, general secretaries and in-charges, where they were told by Rahul Gandhi that the new party chief would be appointed within the next few days after wider consultations, sources said.
The meeting was held at the party's Gurdwara Raqab Ganj Road "war room" to discuss the government's decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir and divide the state into two Union territories.
"Some frank talking marked @incIndia consultative meet with a wide range of party leaders last evening. Convened on Kashmir,the comments went beyond and urged the party to be more pro-active in anticipating major issues and seizing the initiative. Commendable exercise; should be repeated," Tharoor tweeted.
Senior Congress leaders also met Sonia Gandhi at her residence here on Friday.
Sources said senior leaders Ahmed Patel, A K Antony and K C Venugopal were learnt to have discussed with Gandhi certain names of probables, one of whom could be made the interim president of the party.
The names of senior Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik, Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as younger leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot are doing the rounds for the top post.
Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora earlier this week batted for either Scindia or Pilot to succeed Rahul Gandhi. A number of partymen have expressed their opinion in public, saying the delay in selecting the new Congress chief is harming the party.
Last Sunday, Tharoor had said the Congress Working Committee or CWC should appoint an interim president immediately and then hold polls for the party chief's post as a leader elected by workers will be empowered and have more credibility.
Interestingly, even though Rahul Gandhi had ruled out the possibility of a family member succeeding him, several leaders such as Punjab chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Tharoor have voiced support for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra throwing her hat in the ring.
The party has also been grappling with a series of desertions by leaders from Karnataka and Maharashtra, the latest being that of ex-Congress Rajya Sabha chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita and MP Sanjay Sinh.
Several leaders cited indecision and confusion within the rank and file of the party as a reason to quit.
The party is hoping to resolve the leadership issue and move forward quickly with assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana coming up.
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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.
