Tear my son's clothes, take him to task if he does not deliver: Kamal Nath
Dhanora: Tear my son's clothes if he does not deliver, says Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath as he campaigns for his son Nakul who is fighting his first elections from Chhindwara.
Invoking his 40-year-old association with the region, Nath says he has now entrusted the task to serve the people of Chhindwara to his son so that he can work for Madhya Pradesh.
"I am where I am because of the love and strength you gave me," Nath says.
"Nakul is not here today but he will serve you. I have given him the responsibility. Take him to task and tear his clothes if he does not deliver," the 72-year-old Congress leader told the locals.
He was speaking at an election rally on Saturday in Dhanora village which comes under the Amarwada assembly seat, about 65 kms from Chhindwara district headquarters.
"We will start a new journey and create history," he told the locals.
Nath has been the longest serving Member of Parliament (MP) from this Lok Sabha constituency as he served for nine terms and he has now vacated the seat for his son.
The chief minister is also contesting bypoll in the Chhindwara assembly constituency as per the legal requirement of being a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) for running the state government.
Nath says due to his efforts the district has a "distinct identity" when it comes to development.
He hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his promises of ensuring Rs 15 lakh in every Indian citizen's bank account, steps against blackmoney and the decision of demonetisation were just "gimmicks and frauds".
"They (Modi and Chouhan) scream we did this, we did that but tell me if they did anything for you?" Nath says, alleging that the two leaders misled the people.
"I want to tell Modiji that while there are no 'acche din' (good days) for the common man, his (Modi's) days are going to end soon," he says.
Modi "harassed" every section of society and under BJP government's watch, farmers in Madhya Pradesh were shot at and their livelihood was hit too, Nath alleged.
Hitting out at the previous BJP government in the state, he charged they "kicked the farmer in the stomach and pointed a gun at his chest".
The chief minister says his government in the state has shown its intent by delivering on the promises made before the 2018 assembly polls.
"As promised, we initiated waiver of loans of the farmers as soon as we took charge in Bhopal and till now I have done so for 22 lakh farmers. Thirty-eight lakh more farmers will be benefitted soon who have a loan of up to Rs 2 lakh," he says.
"We have done the loan waiver in 35-40 per cent cases and I promise it will be done in 100 per cent cases soon," he says.
Nath says the new Congress government in the state has also reduced the cost incurred by poor people to pay electricity bills.
Chhindwara will vote on April 29 along with the single bypoll for the constituency.
In the last general elections, the BJP had won 26 and the Congress secured three seats.
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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.
