CM Siddaramaiah, DCM DK Shivakumar hold meetings with party MLAs
Bengaluru, Aug 7: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar on Monday held marathon meeting with the ministers and MLAs of six districts with a view to strengthen the party base ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and to quell discontent.
The exercise will go on for a week, according to Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state president.
The meeting started at about 11 AM at the Chief Minister's offical residence Krishna' and went on till 7 PM, according to sources close to Siddaramaiah.
The Chief Minister and his deptuy spoke to the 31 ministers and legislators from six districts - Tumakuru, Yadgir, Chitradurga, Bagalkote, Ballari and Dharwad.
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Later, Shivakumar told reporters that he and the Chief Minister are reviewing each constituency and are asking the MLAs and ministers about the works to done in their respective constituencies.
During the meeting, the MLAs were asked to publicise the party manifesto, especially the five guarantees, he said.
"We are also giving them (MLAs) political guidance. We are telling them their responsibilities to implement the programmes and the way to reach out to the people. We are listening to their problems as well," Shivakumar said.
To a question on BJP's demand that their MLAs should also be invited in the meeting while reviewing their constutencies, Shivakumar said they will also be called later.
"They will also be invited for the meeting. Who said they will not be called? But we had made a promise to our MLAs in our Legislative Party meeting that they will be heard separately," he said.
Shivakumar, who holds the portfolio of Bengaluru development, alleged that the BJP made big budgetary provisions in their constituencies in the city while a meagre allocation was made in the constituencies, which were represented by the Congress.
"In Bengaluru city, the BJP got the works worth Rs 1,000 crore in their areas whereas in the constituencies represented by the Congress MLAs, the works worth Rs 170 crore were taken up. We have documents to support it," Shivakumar claimed.
"We (Congress) are doing what they (BJP) did. We are not doing something new. They have taught us a lesson. We are only following their path," he added.
The Congress has set a target of winning at least 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats from the state during the 2024 Parliamentary elections. In 2019 polls, the Congress won one seat and BJP bagged 25 seats.
The meeting also comes against the backdrop of 11 MLAs allegedly writing to Siddaramaiah complaining that 20 ministers were not cooperating and were not available for discussions on development works in their respective constituencies.
The ministers were unapproachable and one had to reach out to them through third persons, the purported letter said.
However, Kalaburagi Congress MLA B R Patil later clarified that the alleged letter was fake as he had never written any such missive.
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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.
