I am here to send message of unity, Rahul Gandhi on Wayanad candidature
Wayanad: Congress President Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he will "absorb all the attacks" of the CPI(M), which is miffed over his Wayanad candidature in Kerala, and will not speak against the Left parties during his campaign.
Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination papers for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, Gandhi also said he is contesting from seats in north and south to "send a message".
The 48-year-old Congress chief is contesting from Kerala's Wayanad in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
"The CPI(M) and the Congress have been locked in a fight in Kerala. This will go on. I understand that the CPI(M) has to fight me. But, I am not going to say a word against the CPI(M).
"I am here to send a message of unity that south India is important, and I fully understand that the CPI(M) has to attack me. So, I will absorb all their attacks with happiness, but from me you will not hear a word against them in my campaign," the Congress chief said.
There were two main issues faced by the country--"lack of jobs and agrarian crisis", he said.
"Farmers are unaware of what the future holds for them. Youngsters are running from state to state searching for jobs and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi has failed on both the fronts," Gandhi said, while attacking the PM.
Gandhi also said, "The country had faith on the prime minister when he said he would be the chowkidar (watchman). But, the chowkidar himself has given Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore of air force money."
"He (Modi) has stolen money money and has given to Anil Ambani who has no experience (aircraft manufacturing). Anil Ambani is in Rs 45,000 crore debt," Gandhi alleged, once again attacking the NDA government over the Rafale deal.
The government has repeatedly denied any corruption in the Rafale deal.
On his candidature from Wayanad, Gandhi said he wanted to "send a message that India is one."
"I have come to Kerala to send a message that India is one. South, north, east, west, centre... all are one. There is an assault taking place across the country by the RSS and BJP. I just want to send a message and I will stand from south India and north India. My aim was to give a message.
"There is a feeling in south India that by the way in which the Narendra Modi government is functioning, their culture, language, history all are being attacked. So I wanted to give a message that I will fight from north and south," Gandhi said.
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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.
