BJP is uncivilised, anti-democracy, anti-Constitution: Siddaramaiah on BJP MLAs' conduct in assembly
Bengaluru, July 20: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday called BJP MLAs "uncivilised" for tearing up copies of bills and the agenda and throwing it at Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani who was presiding over the assembly session.
Due to their action, 10 MLAs including four former ministers were suspended for the rest of the session, which ends on Friday. The BJP as well as the JD(S) boycotted the house on Thursday.
Calling the BJP anti-democracy, he said the opposition MLAs behaved in an uncivilised manner.
"BJP is anti-democracy, anti-Constitution and anti-Parliamentary system. Along with that, they do not respect the Chair (Speaker or deputy), which is the most respectable position," Siddaramaiah told the Assembly, replying to the discussion on the Budget, which he had presented on July 7.
"What should I call their behaviour yesterday? The word 'indecent' is still a decent word. They behaved in an uncivilised manner," the chief minister said.
Expressing his anguish over the incident, he said he has been in the assembly since 1983, and twice he had served as the leader of the opposition but he never saw such behaviour. The Congress MLAs never behaved like this, he added.
Stating that Lamani has been low since yesterday, Siddaramaiah asked him to be happy as the ruling Congress was with him.
"He (Lamani) is a Dalit who is downtrodden for centuries. If there were no marshals in the House, then they (BJP MLAs) would have manhandled him. Such was their unruly behaviour," he said.
The chief minister also took a swipe at the BJP for failing to appoint a leader of the opposition.
Siddaramaiah accused the opposition party of not having faith in the parliamentary system of democracy and the Indian Constitution as they spend their time in protests and demonstrations instead of serving as a constructive opposition.
He pointed out that for the first time the Budget discussion happened without the parties having a leader to represent them, as they have not yet selected the Leader of Opposition.
"The party has become politically bankrupt as they could not choose a leader of opposition. This is dangerous for democracy," the Chief Minister said.
Siddaramaiah said the prime minister often spoke of Congress-Mukt Bharat' (Congress-free India) but the Congress will never wish so.
"We will not say we will make a BJP Mukt Bharat' or BJP Mukt Karnataka'. Because they are communal and destructive forces destroying social harmony and creating conflict between faiths, our objective is that such forces should never come to power," he told the assembly.
Siddaramaiah said he wants BJP to remain in the opposition forever and never come to power.
Referring to the state election results, the chief minister said the downfall of BJP has started from Karnataka.
The BJP is dependent on Narendra Modi only because it needs his help to win elections and uses his name to fetch votes, Siddaramaiah said. He added that the Modi's charisma has started to wane.
"I don't say Narendra Modi is not a popular leader but his popularity is declining day by day," he said.
The chief minister said never ever has a PM visited Karnataka 28 times for election campaigning -- either before the announcement of election dates or after that.
"Modi conducted road shows and gave public speeches but wherever he went for campaigning, the party lost," he added.
The CM also predicted that Congress will win 20 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the BJP will not be able to do anything to stop its own defeat.
"In the coming Lok Sabha election, we will win at least 20 seats. They will not be able to do anything. People are happy today with our five guarantees. Those guarantees were well received by the people of Karnataka," Siddaramaiah said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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
===================
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.
