FM slams Rahul for "baseless allegations" against PM on Adani issue, calls him "repeat offender"
Bengaluru, Apr 6: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday came down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making baseless allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, and described him as a "repeat offender" in levelling such charges.
Responding to questions at a press conference at the State BJP office here, she said, "If Rahul Gandhi really thinks that Adani has been given all these things (undue favours), it is not true."
"Let me also say he's now becoming a repeat offender in terms of putting baseless allegations against the Prime Minister. We saw that prior to the 2019 elections, now he's doing it again. He doesn't seem to learn any lessons from all these false allegations that he wants to level against the Prime Minister."
Sitharaman also sought to know why Gandhi did not raise a voice against the "undue favour" to Adani by the Kerala government and a solar power project to the company in Rajasthan.
"It was the (then) Congress government (in Kerala), which gave on a platter Vizhinjam Port to Adani. It was not given on the basis of any tender. Now this is not this (Congress) government, but the CPM government. But, what stopped him from asking and demanding that Kerala cancel that order?" Sitharaman asked.
The "entire solar power project" has been given to Adani in (Congress-ruled) Rajasthan. "What stops Rahul Gandhi?"
Noting that Adani got projects in Chhattisgarh also, she said crony capitalism was happening in Congress governments.
"I challenged him (Rahul Gandhi) to tear the orders and cancel those orders. Why doesn't he tear off that Rajasthan agreement with Adani saying no solar power here. No way, you are Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai. We don't want Modi Adani Bhai Bhai' in Rajasthan," the Finance Minister said.
"If there is any crony capitalism is happening, it is happening in Congress-led governments and Rahul Gandhi did not speak a word about it", she alleged.
Sitharaman also recalled that Gandhi had to give written apologies twice.
"In 2019, while making allegations during Rafale aircraft procurement, you were giving such statements against the Prime Minister, that you had to seek an apology in the Supreme Court," the Minister pointed out.
"Today he is saying I am Gandhi, not Savarkar' . Does he remember the two apologies he gave earlier?" she asked.
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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.
