Tarari (Bihar), Nov 9: Maintaining that he "made a mistake twice" in the past by joining hands with RJD, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that now he would stay permanently with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Addressing a public meeting in favour of NDA nominee, Vishal Prashant of BJP for the Tarari assembly byelection, Kumar said, "I have said it earlier also…I am once again saying that we (BJP-JDU) were together earlier. I made a mistake twice in the past by joining hands with the RJD…., I went 'idhar udhar' twice in the past…But now, I have again come to the NDA. I will remain permanently with the NDA".

He said, "We have been working for the development of Bihar since 2005. Several infrastructural and development works have been done in Bihar after 2005…..and it will continue further under the NDA rule".

Kumar accused RJD of trying to "polarise" votes on "communal lines" in the upcoming bypolls in the state.

"They (RJD) always try to create a divide on communal lines. When RJD was in power in Bihar, the state witnessed several communal clashes. But, now the situation is totally different when the NDA is in power. I am sure that people will give a befitting reply to the INDIA bloc in the coming bypolls in the state", he said.

By-polls on four Bihar assembly seats will be held on November 13 for which results will be out on November 23.

All four assembly seats had fallen vacant after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. The four seats where by-polls will be held are Ramgarh, Tarari, Belaganj, and Imamganj.

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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.