Shettar slams BJP for picking BL Santhosh's aide Srivatsa over sitting MLA Ramdas in Krishnaraja
Hubballi: Former Chief Minister and member of the Congress Jagadish Shettar criticized the BJP for giving preference to Srivatsa as he is a close associate of BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh to contest from the Krishnaraja constituency over sitting MLA SA Ramdas.
Addressing an emergency meeting in the city on Tuesday, Shettar, who is the Congress candidate from Hubballi-Dharwad Central for the upcoming Assembly elections, said that Ramdas has been successful as a legislator and is very popular in Krishnaraja. Had the BJP fielded Ramdas, it would have been guaranteed of victory in Krishnaraja. The party, however, has sidelined another ace contender merely because he was not in the good books of Santhosh, Shettar added.
Stressing on the popularity of Ramdas in the constituency, Shettar said that if Ramdas rebels against the BJP, Srivatsa would lose the elections.
“Santhosh had been given charge of the BJP campaigns in Kerala, but the party did not win a single seat in the state. In Tamil Nadu too, the BJP managed to win barely a couple of seats,” Shettar pointed out, challenging the ‘Midas touch’ of Santhosh in Karnataka too.
Accusing State President of the BJP Nalin Kumar Kateel of following the orders of Santhosh, Shettar said that this was why the party has not replaced Kateel, whose term as president has already ended.
He further said that an audio clip went viral recently, where Kateel is heard saying that BS Yediyurappa was no longer in power in the BJP and in the next elections, KS Eshwarappa and Shettar too would be shown the door.
“All these are as planned by Santhosh, and have proven successful,” Shettar alleged.All the latest news from Karnataka, just one click away. CLICK here to read all the important news from Karnataka in a single click.
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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.
