BJP talked of making India 'Congress-mukt', but party itself becoming 'Congress-yukt': AAP
Chandigarh, Jun 5: A day after four senior Congress leaders joined the BJP here, the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday said the BJP which talked of a "Congress-mukt Bharat" is itself becoming "Congress-yukt".
Addressing a press conference, AAP Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang accused the BJP of adopting double standards and said it had levelled various charges against many of the Congress leaders who joined it on Saturday.
"BJP talks about ideology. Has it failed to create leadership in Punjab for so many years or are its leaders not competent that it has to take Congress' kachra (garbage)," he alleged.
Former ministers and Congress leaders Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sunder Sham Arora and Gurpreet Singh Kangar joined the BJP.
Former Congress MLA Kewal Dhillon and former SAD MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
Kang said when the BJP came to power at the Centre it talked of a "Congress-mukt Bharat" (Congress-free India).
"But going by the trend of the past few years, the reality is the opposite and the BJP is becoming Congress-yukt," said Kang while referring to the BJP inducting several leaders from the grand old party over the years.
On opposition parties targeting the Bhagwant Mann-led government over alleged worsening law and order situation in Punjab, Kang said whatever incidents have occurred, the Punjab Police has been proactively following and investigating them so that the culprits are punished.
Referring to singer Sidhu Moosewala's killing, he said an SIT is already conducting a thorough probe.
Replying to a question, Kang said that Punjab Police is competent to carry out a thorough probe in the incident, but at the same time the government will positively consider the demand of the family if it wants probe by a central agency.
On the joining of four former ministers on Saturday, Kang said the BJP had inducted "rejected leaders" into its fold.
About former minister Sunder Sham Arora, Kang claimed BJP leader Tikshan Sud had levelled serious allegations of corrupt practices against him.
Likewise, other BJP leaders had also targeted Balbir Sidhu, who was the health minister in the then Amarinder Singh-led government, over alleged corrupt practices, he said.
"The people of Punjab know their reality. They have already been rejected by people in the polls," Kang said.
"BJP says they are against corruption, nepotism. But their double standards have been exposed," said Kang.
Ahead of the Punjab assembly polls, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had in November during a visit to Amritsar said many from the Congress were in touch with his party but it would not take their "kachra" (garbage).
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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.
