With second list of 88 candidates, Congress announces all but one nominees for MP polls
Bhopal (PTI): The Congress has announced its second list of 88 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.
With this list issued late Thursday night, the party has declared all but one candidates for elections to the 230-member assembly scheduled for November 17.
The Congress has not yet declared its candidate from Amla seat in Betul district from where a woman deputy collector Nisha Bangre is seeking a ticket but the ruling BJP government has not yet accepted her resignation from the services and the matter at present is pending in the court, the party sources said.
Earlier the party had declared candidates for 144 seats but changed candidature in three seats while issuing the second list. Therefore, the total number of candidates announced in the first list stands at 141, a Congress leader said.
After intense tussle in the party that led to the "tearing of clothes" controversy, the Congress has replaced tickets of Datia, Gotegaon and Pichhore seats.
A video of Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath where he is asking party men to "tear clothes" of his colleague Digvijaya Singh over denial of ticket to a leader from Shivpuri fuelled talks of a rift in the party over selection of nominees even as the two former chief ministers sought to make light of the episode and on Tuesday put up a united face ahead of the assembly polls.
Nath in a message on X in Hindi on Thursday said the party has issued the second list comprising 88 candidates and extended his best wishes to all of them.
"You are not just standing in the assembly polls to become an MLA, but to change the future of the state," he added.
The party has replaced Avdhesh Nayak with senior Congress leader Rajendra Bharti in Datia from where BJP candidate and the state home minister Narottam Mishra is contesting for the fourth time. Mishra won from Datia in 2008, 2013 and 2018 assembly elections.
The party also changed the ticket from Gotegaon (SC) seat from where it replaced Shekhar Choudhary with the sitting MLA and former Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati.
The Congress leadership also replaced Shailendra Singh with Arvind Singh Lodhi from Pichhore seat in Shivpuri district in view of the protest by the party workers.
The party has fielded former minister and sitting MLA PC Sharma from Bhopal South West constituency.
The Congress has given ticket to sitting MLA Arif Aqeel's son, Atif Aqeel from Bhopal North, despite opposition by Arif's younger brother Aamir Aqeel.
The BJP has fielded former Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma from there.
Among the prominent leaders who got the ticket for contesting assembly polls include former minister Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi from Bhind, Subhash Sojatia from Garoth and Rajkumar Patel from Bhojpur seats.
The party also fielded Ravinder Singh Tomar from the Dimni assembly seat and he will contest against Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
From the Gwalior assembly seat, considered the bastion of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress has fielded Sunil Sharma, who had unsuccessfully contested in a bypoll against sitting MLA and minister Pradhuman Singh Tomar, a known Scindia loyalist.
Besides, the party has fielded BJP-turned-Congress leaders Deepak Joshi from Khategaon and Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat from Badnawar seats for the assembly polls.
The single-phase polling for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held on November 17 and counting of votes will take place on December 3, along with other poll-bound states.
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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.
