Raj Kumar Verka quits BJP to rejoin Congress; Balbir Sidhu, Gurpreet Kangar follow suit
Chandigarh (PTI): Senior Punjab BJP leaders Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Kangar have decided to return to the Congress while some leaders from the SAD are also expected to follow suit.
These leaders, along with some others from Punjab, met Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal in New Delhi late on Friday, the Congress' Punjab unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said in a late-night post on X.
"Various senior leaders from Punjab, including former cabinet ministers Balbir Sidhu ji and Gurpreet Kangar ji, former MLA Raj Kumar Verka ji, Mohinder Rinwa ji, Hans Raj Joshan ji and Jit Mohinder Sidhu ji ... have expressed their desire to join @INCIndia in the presence of AICC General Secretary In-charge @kcvenugopalmp ji," Warring said.
"They will be formally inducted into the party fold in Punjab in the presence of senior @INCPunjab leadership," he added.
Earlier in the day, Verka -- a prominent Dalit leader from Amritsar -- said he had decided to quit the BJP and would join the Congress, calling it "ghar wapsi".
Verka, Sidhu and Kangar were ministers in the previous Congress dispensation before switching to the BJP in June 2022.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders Joshan and Rinwa quit the Congress in 2021 to join the party. Jit Mohinder Sidhu was also associated with the SAD.
Verka was among several Congress leaders who switched over to the BJP during the past year. Sunil Jakhar, the BJP's Punjab unit chief, had also defected from the Congress.
In Amritsar, Verka told reporters, "I have decided that I am leaving the BJP. I am resigning from the party and going to Delhi now and will join the Congress."
Replying to another question, he said it is a "ghar wapsi".
"I made a mistake by joining the BJP but now I'm going to rectify it," Verka said.
When asked why had taken the decision, Verka said there were some reasons behind the step.
"Kuch toh majbooriyan rahi hongi, yu hi toh koi bewafa nahi hota," he said.
The entire nation is seeing that the country can be secure in the hands of the Congress and if any party can take along all sections, all religions, it is the Congress, he added.
"Unlike the Congress, the BJP has not been able to accommodate all sections of society," he further said.
When asked if he met Rahul Gandhi during the Congress leader's recent Amritsar visit, Verka said, "I don't want to say anything on this but I will say I had a word with the (Congress) high command."
Verka, a prominent Dalit leader from the Majha region, is a three-time legislator and was the minister for social justice and empowerment and minorities in the previous Congress government.
He served as the vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes for two terms.
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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.
