CM Bommai visits temple, chants 'Hanuman Chalisa', a day before Assembly polls
Bengaluru/Hubballi (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and state Congress president D K Shivakumar visited Anjaneya temples on Tuesday, a day ahead of Assembly polls. While Bommai visited the shrine at Vijayanagara in Hubballi and chanted "Hanuman Chalisa" with devotees there, Shivakumar paid a visit to the temple at KR Market in Bengaluru and offered prayers.
The visits gain significance in the backdrop of controversy over the proposal in the Congress' manifesto for banning the Bajrang Dal.
Both BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi aggressively picked up the issue to portray the grand old party as being against Lord Anjaneya and the sentiments of Hindus, and repeatedly using 'Jai Bajarangbali' slogans constantly during the campaign.
Congress leaders including Shivakumar have stood by the manifesto promise, and have maintained that Lord Anjaneya or Bajarangi and Bajrang Dal are two different things and cannot be compared, and they too were devotees of Anjaneya and Lord Rama.
"I have prayed to Lord Anjaneya to give me strength to serve the people like he served with loyalty," Shivakumar said, after visiting the temple.
Union Minister and State BJP Election Management Committee chief Shobha Karandlaje also visited Shri Prasanna Veeranjaneya temple at Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru along with party workers and offered prayers.
She hit out at the Congress proposing to ban Bajarang Dal in its manifesto. She also accused AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala of insulting Lord Anjaneya and raising doubts about his birth place, and thereby causing threat to Hindu beliefs.
The Union Minister said that people are chanting "Hanuman Chalisa" at temples across the State and prayed to Anjaneya to give strength to "save Dharma"
On May 7, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its youth wing Bajrang Dal, decided to chant "Hanuman Chalisa" on May 9 throughout the country.
The call comes as a counter to the Congress party which in its manifesto released last week said it was committed to taking firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred amongst communities on grounds of caste and religion.
The party said: "We believe that law and Constitution is (are) sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities. We will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on such organisations."
According to the VHP secretary general Milind Parande, the programme has been organised to invoke "Bajrang Bali (Hanuman) to give Sadbuddhi' (good sense) to the Congress and other organisations and activists who stand to advocate for and promote the terrorists, anti-Bharat elements and anti-Hindu mindsets, so that good sense and pro-nationalist character should prevail with them."
ಜೈ ಹನುಮಾನ ಗ್ಯಾನ ಗುಣಸಾಗರ!
— Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) May 9, 2023
ಜೈ ಕಪೀಸ ತೀಹು ಲೊಕ ಉಜಾಗರ !!
ರಾಮ ದೂತ ಅತುಲಿತ ಭಲದಾಮ !
ಅಂಜನಿ ಪುತ್ರ ಪವನ ಸುತ ನಾಮ !!
"ಭಜರಂಗಬಲಿ ಕೀ ಜೈ"
ಇಂದು ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿಯ ವಿಜಯನಗರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಕೆಂಪಣ್ಣನವರ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣ ಮಂಟಪದ ಆವರಣದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಆಂಜನೇಯ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಹನುಮಾನ ಚಾಲೀಸ್ ಪಠಣ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡು,
1/2 pic.twitter.com/IYyPD2QrEe
"It is very insulting that in the election manifesto of Karnataka Congress, the party has promised a ban on Bajrang Dal and after that in several states, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra, the Congress and some other anti-Hindu leaders have made demands to ban the Bajrang Dal," Parande said.
He said it was "irrational, ridiculous and outlandish" to compare "this nationalist and patriotic organisation" (Bajrang Dal) with the anti-national, terrorist, violent organisation PFI (Popular Front of India which has been banned). The Hindu society will surely teach a democratic lesson to the unreasonable perpetrators for such humiliation," he added.
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.
