"Look at Kerala" call by BJP backfires as Karnataka rejects propaganda, says Kerala social media
Bengaluru: The recent election results in Karnataka have sparked a wave of celebration in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promoted the film ‘The Kerala Story’ during the campaign, which is based on the ‘love jihad’ conspiracy theory and was criticized for being anti-Muslim and political propaganda by opposition parties. The BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had warned the people of Karnataka to “look at Kerala” and suggested that if they did not vote for the BJP, their state would become like Kerala.
However, the election results in Karnataka showed that the people rejected this propaganda and looked for real issues. Congress emerged as the winner, which is being celebrated in Kerala as a victory over the BJP's hate campaign against the state. Kerala's social media is awash with trolls referring to the call by the BJP leaders to the voters of Karnataka to look at Kerala.
A report authored by KK Shahina for the Outlook sheds light upon how people in Kerala have been expressing their emotions over the development and how the Congress victory in Karnataka has become a subject of rejoicing in its neighboring state.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan commented on the victory of Congress, saying that "The entire South is liberated from BJP. This gives a clear indication of the future of the country. The Prime Minister camped for around 10 days for the campaign, yet the people of Karnataka rejected the hate campaign and gave a fitting reply."
The social media responses in Kerala suggest that an aggressive form of nationalism would cause the emergence of sub-nationalism as a form of resistance. The posts in Malayalam referring to the Dravidian identity of the South and the legacy of Basaveswara, the 12th-century Lingayat social reformer, and philosopher, gained wide popularity in the Facebook constituency of Kerala. A poster of ‘South India Story’ with the pictures of the Chief Minister of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana along with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar went viral on social media.
Senior political leaders also joined the celebration on social media. Dr. Thomas Issac, CPI-M leader, and former Finance Minister, wrote on Facebook that the Karnataka results are a tight slap on the face of the BJP that spewed venom to win an election. He wrote, “In the last moment, they even tried their luck with a third-rate propaganda film ‘The Kerala Story’. The Home Minister Amit Shah took up the lead with a hate campaign against Kerala. Nothing worked in favor of them.”
Some other messages going around in Kerala’s social media circles are:
“Modi and Amit Shah reached Karnataka and asked the people to look at Kerala. They did and found no BJP there.”
“Amit Shah warned the people of Karnataka that Kerala is their neighboring State. If they don’t vote for BJP, Karnataka will become like Kerala. The people of Karnataka decided to be like Kerala.”
The social media responses in Kerala suggest that the mood set in these posts does not cater just to the cultural identity of Kerala but that of South India as a whole. The posts in Malayalam referring to the Dravidian identity of the South and the legacy of Basaveswara gained wide popularity in the Facebook constituency of Kerala. The victory of the Congress in Karnataka has been widely celebrated in Kerala as a moment of victory over the BJP's hate campaign against the state.
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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.
