Shettar will suffer defeat, his constituency a 'safe' BJP seat: Karnataka BJP incharge Arun Singh
New Delhi, Apr 18: The BJP cadres will teach former chief minister Jagadish Shettar a "lesson" by ensuring his defeat in the Karnataka elections for "betraying" the party, its senior leader Arun Singh said on Tuesday, rejecting the Congress' charge that the ruling party has insulted Lingayats by denying tickets to senior leaders from the community like him.
Singh, the BJP general secretary in charge of the state, asserted that Hubli-Dharwad Central, the traditional seat of Shettar who is now fighting as a Congress candidate, has been a "safe" seat for the ruling party and will remain so.
"Shettar had been winning from the constituency as it was a BJP seat and not because of any mass base which he never had. BJP cadres are upset with his betrayal of the party and will ensure his defeat. He will be taught a lesson," Singh told PTI.
He noted that BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginkai, a party general secretary in the state, who is contesting against the six-time MLA is also a Lingayat like Shettar and belongs to the same subcaste as the former chief minister.
Accusing the BJP of humiliating him by denying him a poll ticket, Shettar severed his decades-old ties with the party and joined the Congress which has fielded him from his traditional seat, turning the constituency into a key battleground of the polls scheduled for May 10.
Seizing on his angst and similar reactions of another Lingayat leader Laxman Savadi after the denial of a ticket by the BJP, the Congress has accused the ruling party of insulting the community and fielded both of them as its candidates.
Singh dismissed the Congress' suggestions and asserted that the BJP has the support of the tallest Lingayat leader in B S Yediyurappa and has many popular leaders from the community like V Somanna and B P Yatnal.
He added that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is also from the state's largest social group which has long been a bedrock of the BJP's base.
Savadi, he noted, could not win even his own seat in 2018 but the party made him an MLC and a deputy chief minister as well. The BJP also gave all the due respect to Shettar but he chose to "betray" the party for his personal interests, he said.
Singh counted social engineering, a reference to the state government rejigging quota to placate different communities, the plank of development and the party's bid to usher in a new leadership by giving tickets to 72 new candidates as the major factors favouring it in the polls.
The Congress has raised the issue of alleged corruption and accused the BJP of "insulting" Lingayats to corner the ruling party in the run-up to the polls.
Singh expressed confidence that the ruling party will also make deep inroads in the Old Mysuru region where the JD(S) and the Congress have traditionally been main rivals.
The agrarian community of Vokkaligas is numerically the most powerful in the region. The presence of Vokkaliga leaders like R Ashoka and C T Ravi will help the BJP better its tally in the region, he said.
He claimed that the BJP will retain power in in Karnataka, noting that it has been the leading state in the country on several growth indices, including the ease of doing business, FDI and innovation.
"Our target is 150 seats. We will surely achieve it," the BJP leader said.
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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.
