Race for K'taka CM's post; Siddaramaiah leaves for Delhi to meet with AICC leaders
Bengaluru(PTI): Amid the intense race for the Chief Minister's post involving his party colleague DK Shivkumar, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah left for Delhi on Monday to meet AICC leaders.
His visit comes a day after the after the Congress' newly elected legislators authorised AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge to decide on the party's CM pick. Earlier on Monday, Congress Observer Sushil Kumar Shinde had said both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar would be called to Delhi for consultations, if required.
The Congress won the May 10 Assembly elections, winning 135 seats.
According to party sources, the 75-year-old Siddaramaiah left for the national capital by a special flight to meet senior party leaders.
"We observers along with Congress general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala and general secretary (organisation) [K C Venugopal] will go to Delhi," Shinde earlier told reporters here.
"Our report (based on feedback received at the Congress Legislaure Party meeting) is secret, which we can't divulge. Only our party president Mallikarjun Kharge can reveal," he added.
According to Congress sources, some legislators shared their opinion on their CM preference to the central observers in person during the meeting of the CLP, while the others who were hesitant to share their views face-to-face were given the option of doing so in writing.
"It was a kind of secret ballot in which one could share their opinion choosing between Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah, or any other third leader, or leave it to the decision of the high command," an MLA-elect said on condition of anonymity.
It is said that while a section of MLAs wanted to choose their leader at the meeting by raising hands, the party decided against it as it might create "open division".
Siddaramaiah is learnt to have stressed on getting the opinion of all MLAs before the party high command decides on the new CLP leader, who will subsequently head the government as CM. Kharge had deputed Maharashtra ex-CM Shinde, AICC General Secretary Jitendra Singh and former AICC general secretary Deepak Babaria as observers for the election of the CLP leader.
Jitendra Singh said, "we will make a report and submit it to the Congress president. We have talked to all the MLAs in detail till midnight. Decision will be taken only after handing over the report."
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council B K Hariprasad said that with the three central observers having taken the feedback from all MLAs, the party high command will now decide on the next chief minister.
"Observers met and took feedback from MLAs one-to-one yesterday night. There was open feedback and also a secret ballot for the CM's name. Now, the party high command will decide who will be the CM," Hariprasad said.
The CLP at its meeting on Sunday unanimously passed a resolution authorising Kharge to choose the new chief minister of the State.
In the May 10 polls to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats, the BJP 66 and the JD (S) 19. The results were declared 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.
