Spoke the then leader's language: Khushbu Sundar on Cong picking her for old tweet against PM Modi
Bengaluru, Mar 25: Targeted by the Congress over her 2018 tweet criticial of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader Khushbu Sundar on Saturday hit back at the opposition party saying she was speaking the "language of the leader" then as she was told to do so and questioned its 'desperation.'
She has not deleted the five year-old social media post and will not do so now, she said.
Congress picking on her in the wake of party leader Rahul Gandhi's Modi surname remarks that led to a Surat local court convicting him and him being disqualified as a Lok Sabha member, Sundar said it exposed how desperate the opposition party was.
The 2018 tweet of the National Commission for Women (NCW) member has gone viral and she has not deleted the post.
Sundar, also BJP national executive committee member who had quit the Congress party and joined the saffron organisation in 2020 had posted a tweet in 2018 saying "...Let's change the meaning of #Modi to corruption..suits better."
Explaining the tweet, Khushbu said "I was in Congress party then and I was only performing my duty as the spokesperson of the Congress. This is the language we were supposed to speak and that is exactly what I was doing. I was following the party leader. This is his language."
"Not only does it show how desperate they (Congress party) are, but it exposes their level of ignorance on the issue they are raking up," she told PTI.
In the wake of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification over his equating the surname Modi to "thieves" the party was quick to pick on Khushbu's old tweet.
Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a Twitter post on Saturday morning, "will you make one of your disciples named Modi file a defamation case against Khushbu Sundar too?"
"I have never deleted any of the tweets on my timeline and I will not do so now," Sundar said.
She asked "what are the Congress leaders trying to do by picking on me? Are they equating me to Rahul Gandhi?"
Asked if she saw nothing wrong in insulting the 'Modi' surname, she said, "Rahul Gandhi has stooped down to the level calling all Modis as thieves, I have only used the term 'Corruption'. The Congress party is incapable of seeing the difference. But if they have the guts, I challenge the Congress leaders to file a case against me and I will face them legally."
Sundar also pointed out that the Congress Party never liked her appreciating the positive steps taken by the ruling BJP. "Whether it was the Triple Talaq, Abrogation of Article 370 or the launch of the New Education Policy (NEP), the Congress party always had a problem when I tweeted appreciations," she recalled.
An actor who has acted in over 100 films, Khushbu Sundar initially joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and then switched over to the Congress party before joining the BJP.
I will not delete my tweet. It’s out there. There are many more. Pls use your time, as CONgress is absolutely jobless, to dig out a few more. BTW I like to see how the CONgress is putting me and @RahulGandhi on the same platform. I like the fact that I have earned enough name n…
— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) March 25, 2023
How more desperate can they be!! A 5 yr old tweet is what now @INCIndia is taking to defend themselves? I as a spokesperson for the CONgress than was speaking the same language of @RahulGandhi . Just followed the line of this man. Why raise a question to my party? File a case on…
— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) March 25, 2023
BJP leader Khushbu Sundar says Hie to all corrupt Modi's ✋✋
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) March 25, 2023
But there is neither a defamation suit nor any punishment after a dip in the BJP's washing machine. pic.twitter.com/CjmKhFdpWC
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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.
