Congress announces its final list of candidates for K'taka polls
Bengaluru (PTI): The Congress in the early hours on Thursday released its sixth and final list, announcing candidates for the remaining five constituencies for the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka.
Today is the last day for filing nominations.
The Congress has nominated B V Rajeev Gowda from Sidlaghatta, replacing sitting MLA V Muniyappa.
The other candidates announced are: Mohammed Shalam for Raichur, S Anand Kumar from C V Raman Nagar, H P Sridhar Gowda from Arkalgud and Inayath Ali from Mangalore City North.
With this, the Congress has fielded candidates for all the 224 Assembly segments in the state.
The Congress on Wednesday night had announced its fifth list of three candidates, and had replaced the candidate against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in Shiggaon.
A day after fielding Mohammed Yousuf Savanur as its candidate from Shiggaon in Haveri district, the party nominated Yasir Ahmed Khan Phatan in his place.
The party has fielded A C Srinivasa from Pulakeshinagar by denying a ticket to sitting MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, who on Wednesday filed nomination as an independent candidate after it was clear that he will not be re-nominated.
Murthy, a Dalit, had won the 2018 Assembly elections with the highest margin of 81,626 votes, creating a record. His house along with the DJ Halli police station was torched by a violent mob in August 2020, over a social media post shared by his relative.
In Bengaluru's K R Puram, Congress has fielded D K Mohan against BJP's Byrathi Basavaraj, a Minister in the Basavaraj Bommai government.
Interestingly, Byrathi Basavaraj had won the seat on a Congress ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls. He was among the 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs who resigned, which had led to the collapse of the coalition government and paved the way for BJP to come to power in 2019. In the subsequent bypolls, he won on a BJP ticket.
In Mulbagal, the party has fielded B C Muddugangadhar. In 2018, the seat was won by independent candidate H Nagesh, who is now the Congress candidate from Mahadevapura segment in Bengaluru.
Scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 21, and the last day for the withdrawal of candidature is April 24.
Here's the sixth & final list of Congress candidates finalised by the CEC for the Karnataka assembly elections 2023. pic.twitter.com/HoK53ybdIr
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 20, 2023
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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.
