Bengaluru, Aug 14: Senior BJP legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Monday claimed that Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka will collapse before Lok Sabha polls next year, as about 25 legislators from the ruling party are ready to quit.

The MLA from Bijapur (Vijayapura) City also expressed hope that the BJP will once again come back to power.

''Congress which says it has got 135 seats is unable to sleep; if 30 people go out, the government will fall. 25 people are ready. Some Ministers are behaving as though they have got all powers and are removing or transferring officials,'' Yatnal, a former Union Minister, said addressing a crowd here.

Alleging that Muslim officials are being posted in Vijayapura, he asked ''what can you do by bringing in Muslims? I'm an MLA and they should abide by me....If any official plays any drama to oppress Hindus...We will come back in January. You guarantee...it is till March. You will be out before Lok Sabha (polls).''

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''That's the reason both Ministers from Vijayapura, who were behaving as though they were flying high after coming to power, have now toned down.... they have realised that 35-40 people are ready. If 30-35 people are ready the government will go,'' he added.

Pointing to comments made by senior Congress MLAs like Basavaraj Rayareddy expressing displeasure about Karnataka becoming a ''corrupt state'' and disgruntlement expressed during the recent legislature party meet regarding the functioning of Ministers, Yatnal said, ''their own MLAs are speaking out.''

''What they (Congress leaders) want is money, because they have spent during the election...''he said, alleging that large scale corruption in transfers and lack of funds for development due to 'guarantee schemes' (poll promises) have upset MLAs. It can also be recalled that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar too had recently claimed that a plot was being hatched in Singapore to topple the government.

 

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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.