'Vote chori' an attack on very idea of India: Siddaramaiah
New Delhi/Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting the ruling BJP at the Centre for the alleged 'vote chori' (vote theft), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said, fascism does not begin with guns on the streets, it begins with the quiet theft of institutions, the slow manipulation of systems, and finally, the theft of elections.
Terming vote chori as an attack on the very idea of India, he said, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filing a charge sheet naming a former BJP MLA, his son, and others in Aland constituency in Karnataka, for alleged attempt to delete nearly 6,000 voters' names, makes a significant legal step.
The chief minister was speaking at the Congress' mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, against the vote chori.
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"History teaches us that fascism does not begin with guns on the streets, it begins with the quiet theft of institutions, the slow manipulation of systems, and finally, the theft of elections," Siddaramaiah said.
Authoritarian regimes around the world use one core tactic, which is rigging the democratic process while pretending to protect it. This is exactly what the BJP is doing today, he alleged.
"They capture institutions. They intimidate election machinery. They distort voter lists. They suppress turnout in Opposition areas. They violate the level playing field through money and power," he said, adding that "this is not just malpractice. This is vote chori which is an attack on the very idea of India."
Stating that a government born out of "stolen votes" is not a democratic government, the CM said, it is a government that fears the people, manipulates the mandate, and survives only through deceit.
"This is precisely how democracies decline into electoral autocracies. Today BJP's vote chori is the biggest threat to the republic since independence," he said.
Noting that, in these dark times, one leader has stood up with extraordinary courage, and that is Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said the Congress leader investigated and exposed mismatched voter lists, booth-level manipulation, and patterns that pointed to systematic, organised vote chori.
"In constituency after constituency, from Mahadevapura to Aland, from Haryana to Bihar, he revealed how votes were suppressed, shifted, or diluted, especially in areas that stood with the Congress and INDIA bloc," he said.
The CM pointed out that in Karnataka itself, in the Mahadevapura and Aland assembly segments, serious irregularities were raised by Rahul Gandhi as examples of how vote chori is not an abstract allegation but a lived reality on the ground.
In Mahadevapura, evidence was presented showing thousands of duplicate or fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in the electoral rolls that correlated with the BJP's narrow edge in the constituency, he said.
In Aland, thousands of attempted deletions of legitimate voters were recorded ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls, including an alleged 6,018 applications for deletions, prompting an FIR and SIT investigation, Siddaramaiah further pointed out.
"A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed a charge sheet naming seven individuals, including a former BJP MLA and his son, for allegedly attempting to delete nearly 6,000 voters' names from the rolls in Aland constituency, marking a significant legal step in the fight against vote chori," he added.
Highlighting that these exposes shows that Rahul Gandhi has become the moral compass of this republic and a crusader against the vote chori, the CM said, his fight is rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought, and the foundational democratic principle that sovereignty belongs to the people, not to a party, not to a regime, and certainly not to those who are willing to steal elections.
"When a young woman waits in line for hours to vote and later finds that her vote has been deleted, she feels cheated. When an elderly farmer wakes up at dawn to cast his vote but finds his name missing, he feels betrayed," he added.
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According to Siddaramaiah, the vote chori is not just about numbers, it is about dignity, it is about equality, and it is about the soul of our republic.
"We must demand: transparent electoral rolls, accountability of election authorities, independent institutions, a voting system people can trust, and a political culture rooted in constitutional values, and we must declare together that -- We will not allow fascism to enter India through the backdoor of vote chori," he said.
Let us rise as one nation, one people, one democracy. Let history record that when the vote chori threatened India, the people stood up, and the people won, he added.
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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.
