BJP leader Muralidhar Rao says Brahmins, Baniyas are in his pockets; Congress seeks apology
Bhopal(PTI): BJP General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao on Monday triggered a huge row with his statement that people belonging to Brahmin and Baniya communities are in his "pockets".
Rao, in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, came under attack from the Congress which sought an apology from the BJP leader, who later claimed the opposition party has "distorted" his statement.
Addressing a press conference here at the BJP's state headquarters, Rao said the party and its governments are going to have special focus on scheduled tribes and scheduled castes not as vote-banks but to address their concern like backwardness, employment and education.
After this, journalists asked Rao that perception about the BJP has been that it is a political party of Brahmins-Baniyas and he was talking about special focus on SCs/STs at a time when the saffron outfit's slogan is sabka saath, sabka vikas (with all, for everyone's development).
In reply, the BJP leader, while pointing towards his kurta's pockets, said, Brahmins and Baniyas are in my pockets . You (media people) termed us a Brahmin and Baniya party when most workers and vote bank were from these sections. Rao said the BJP is working towards gaining trust of all sections of the society.
When the number of people belonging to certain sections was higher, people used to say the party belongs to them. We are working to add more people from the SC/ST sections in our party after finding their lower representation. We are reaching out to all and making the BJP a party for every section, he said.
Rao said the BJP is not leaving out any section, including Brahmins and Baniyas, from its representation, but only including those who were left out to become a national party in true sense.
After a 6-second video of Rao's controversial remark surfaced on social media and was shared by several leaders of opposition, state Congress president Kamal Nath lashed out at the BJP.
In a statement here, the former CM said the BJP gave the slogan sabka saath sabka vikas and his party's general secretary is saying the Brahmins and Baniyas are in his pockets.
This is an insult of these sections as the BJP is claiming its right over them. What kind of respect is given to these classes whose leaders have played an important role in building the BJP? BJP leaders have become arrogant due to power, he said.
Nath said the BJP should seek an apology from these communities. A party which talk about sabka saath, sabka vikas is now focussing on certain sections for power, he said.
Later, in a video statement, Rao said the Congress has a habit of "distorting" facts and statements.
We don't discriminate among sections of the society. All Indians should be part of development. The Congress betrayed and divided all sections of the society. If STs are backward, the only reason is that the Congress has done injustice to them, 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.
