Imran Masood returns to Congress, party hails it as 'ghar wapsi'
New Delhi (PTI): Imran Masood, an ex-MLA from western Uttar Pradesh who was expelled by the BSP in August, returned to the Congress on Saturday with the party describing it as "ghar wapsi".
Just before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last year, Masood had joined the Samajwadi Party in January 2022 and later moved to the BSP after the polls.
Masood, who has contested multiple times from Saharanpur and was elected MLA from Muzaffarabad seat in Saharanpur district in 2007, asserted that he had told his supporters that he would now not leave the Congress "till going to the grave".
He also said he would apologize to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for letting her down.
Masood said Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra was transformational for politics and following the cross-country march, the Congress won Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, and now was going to win in four states.
Welcoming Masood into the party, Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla said this was Masood's "ghar wapsi (homecoming)" and he has now vowed to never leave the party.
Shukla also asserted that the Congress would win in at least four states in the upcoming assembly elections.
Elections are set to take place this year in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.
Masood thanked Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal for inducting him back in the party.
An influential Muslim leader from Saharanpur, Masood was arrested in March 2014 on charges of hate speech after he threatened to "chop" Narendra Modi, who was the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, "into pieces".
Masood, who was Congress candidate from Saharanpur for the Lok Sabha polls that year, made the remark during the election campaign.
Many political observers see Masood's return to the Congress fold as giving the party credence in laying claim to the Saharanpur seat in seat-sharing talks among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners.
Asked about how many seats the Congress would contest in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, state unit chief Ajay Rai said at the presser that as the party's chief, he is strengthening the organisation in all 80 seats and it was up to the central leadership to decide on seat sharing within an alliance.
Shukla said opposition unity was strong and seat sharing would be done amicably closer to polls.
A nephew of former Union minister late Rasheed Masood, Imran Masood was elected MLA from Muzaffarabad seat (Behat seat after delimitation) in Saharanpur district in 2007 state elections.
He had also contested the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket in 2014 and 2019 from Saharanpur.
Announcing Masood's expulsion in August, BSP Saharanpur district unit president Janeshwar Prasad had said he was warned on several occasions not to indulge in "anti-party activities and indiscipline" but it did not yield any result, following which he had to be expelled.
Masood had questioned the district unit's authority to expel him. "I was included in the party by the BSP supremo (Mayawati). How can the district unit president expel me?" he had told reporters in Saharanpur.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also welcomed Masood into the party at the press conference along with
AICC secretary Pradeep Narwal.
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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.
