'My last election', says Siddaramaiah, files nomination from Varuna
Mysuru (K'taka), Apr 19: Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday filed nomination from Varuna constituency in this district, for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, as he reiterated that this would be his last election and virtually laid out a "succession plan" of sorts.
The 75-year-old Leader of Opposition indicated his son and grandson to be his political successors. "This is my last election, after that there is Yathindra (son), Dhawan Rakesh (grand son)...", he said.
Siddaramaiah's younger son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah is the sitting Congress MLA from Varuna.
An eight time MLA, Siddaramaiah had earlier won twice from Varuna, and went on to become the Leader of Opposition after winning from here in 2008, and then became Chief Minister after 2013 Assembly polls.
The Congress legislature party leader offered prayers to his family deity Siddarameshwara at the temple in his native village of Siddaramanahundi, and also visited Sri Rama temple there, and held a massive roadshow before filing the nomination.
He also visited the famous Chamundeshwari temple on Chamundi hills in Mysuru, and addressed a public meeting ahead of filing papers.
Pointing out that he is the son of the soil, as his village Siddaramanahundi comes under Varuna segment, Siddaramaiah while addressing the public meeting said this will be his last election. After contesting this polls, he will retire from electoral politics, but not from politics.
Dhawan Rakesh is son of Siddaramaiah's late elder son Rakesh Siddaramaiah. As Siddaramaiah took Dhwan's name the crowd started cheering.
As Dhawan was waving at the crowd, Siddaramaiah said, "He should be 25 years to come to politics, still eight years to go, his education is still not complete. Only after completing education, politics. Your love and affection towards him was what you had on Rakesh, who was very popular here."
Further, urging people to ensure that he wins with a margin of over one lakh votes, he said, "I will not be able to come for campaigning here for more than two days, think you are the candidate and ensure victory."
The ruling BJP has fielded Minister V Somanna from Varuna to take on Siddaramaiah.
Stating that BJP has fielded Somanna who is a resident of Bengaluru, instead of someone born here, Siddaramaiah alleged, "BJP and JD(S) have come to an internal pact. That's the reason why JD(S) has fielded Bharathi Shankar, former MLA from T Narasipur, as its candidate, aimed at dividing Dalit votes, but I'm confident that people of Varuna will understand the conspiracy and will make me win with a big margin."
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"BJP and JD(S) aimed at defeating me may ensure money flow," said Siddaramaiah, a Chief Ministerial aspirant in the event of Congress coming to power. "Despite all their conspiracies and spending crores of money, people of Varuna will not fall prey to their allurements and will bless me," he said.
By filing nomination in Varuna, Siddaramaiah has returned to his home constituency after contesting from neighbouring Chamundeshwari, and Badami in Bagalkote district, in 2018 polls. He had faced a defeat in Chamundeshwari, but had won in Badami.
The last day for filing of nominations is April 20. Voting will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes will be on May 13.
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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.
