'Are you now trying to steal Nandini from us?,' Siddaramaiah asks Modi
Bengaluru, Apr 9: Continuing his offensive against the ruling BJP, after Amul announced its plans to sell milk and curd in the Bengaluru market, Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday tweeted asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was visiting Karnataka on Sunday, whether the purpose of his visit was "to loot the state".
Alleging that the State's milk production had been affected since the day Union Cooperative Minister Amit Shah spoke about the possibility of merging the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) with Amul, the former Chief Minister in a series of tweets asked the Prime Minister what his role had been in this.
Amul's move is being seen by many, especially opposition parties, as a threat to KMF's famed dairy brand 'Nandini'. They also see it as an attempt to trample upon KMF, amid a narrative around its merger with Amul.
"Is your purpose of coming to Karnataka to give to Karnataka or to loot from Karnataka? You have already stolen banks, ports and airports from Kannadigas. Are you now trying to steal Nandini (KMF) from us?" Siddaramaiah asked.
"It was Gujarat's Baroda Bank that subsumed our Vijaya Bank. Ports and Airports were handed over to Gujarat's Adani. Now, Amul from Gujarat is planning to eat our KMF (Nandini). Mr Narendra Modi, Are we the enemies for Gujaratis?"
Instead of giving 2 crore jobs a year to youths, Narendra Modi took away the jobs of Kannadigas from our banks, ports and airports, he further said, adding that "Now Karnataka BJP wants to hurt the prospects of our farmers by giving KMF to Amul."
Modi was in Mysuru and Chamarajanagara districts to attend an event commemorating 50 years of 'Project Tiger'.
The attacks from Siddaramaiah came despite Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday clarifying in this regard. Calling 'Nandini' the pride of Karnataka, and stating that his government had taken all kinds of measures to make it number one at the national level, Bommai said, "Nandini's market reach is wide, there is no need to fear Amul."
Congress politicising everything is not in the interest of the state, he had said. "We are also going to other states and marketing....we will do all that is required to put Amul behind in the competition."
State Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar on Sunday reiterated that there was no proposal to merge KMF with Amul.
"If Amul sells milk online at Rs 57 per litre, we sell it at Rs 39. We are sending our products to Tamil Nadu and other states," he said, adding that it was impossible to erase the Nandini brand.
State BJP General Secretary C N Ashwathnarayan criticised former Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah of Congress and H D Kumaraswamy of JDS for making "irresponsible statements" on the issue.
Stating that it was clear that Amul was trying to indulge in unnecessary competition with KMF and was planning to trample Nandini day by day, Kumaraswamy had said "Unhealthy competition between well-known sister organisations in the cooperative sector is not in anyone's interest. KMF directly buys milk from farmers through cooperative societies in thousands of villages in the state."
Prime Minister @narendramodi avare,
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 9, 2023
Is your purpose of coming to Karnataka is to give to Karnataka or to loot from Karnataka?
You have already stolen banks, ports & airports from Kannadigas. Are you now trying to steal Nandini (KMF) from us?#AnswerMadiModi #SaveNandini pic.twitter.com/LooivhuEn3
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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.
