Chandigarh MC polls: AAP emerges leading party, sitting BJP mayor loses contest
Chandigarh(PTI): New entrant Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as the leading outfit in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls, winning 14 of 35 wards in the final results declared on Monday.
The BJP, which enjoyed a majority in the previous MC House, came a close second registering win in 12 wards while the Congress bagged eight seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal one.
Current Chandigarh Mayor and BJP candidate Ravi Kant Sharma was defeated by AAP's Damanpreet Singh, who won by a margin of 828 votes in Ward No.17.
AAP leader and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha called his party's performance a "trailer" before next year's Punjab Assembly polls. Chandigarh is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.
This time, the number of wards in the city was increased from 26 to 35. In the last MC elections, the BJP had won 20 seats and its erstwhile ally SAD one. The Congress had managed to win only four seats.
Traditionally, the municipal elections, held every five years, see a locking of horns between the BJP and the Congress, but the AAP's entry made the contest this time triangular.
In the results declared on Monday, AAP leader Chander Mukhi Sharma lost to Congress' Sachin Galav by a margin of 285 votes from Ward Np. 13. Chander Mukhi had joined AAP after quitting the Congress last year.
Former mayor and BJP candidate Davesh Moudgil lost to AAP's Jasbir by 939 votes from Ward No. 21. In Ward No. 25, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Vijay Kaushal Rana was defeated by Yogesh Dhingra of AAP by a margin of 315 votes.
The ward was earlier represented by Chandigarh BJP president Arun Sood.
From Ward No.2, Congress leader Harmohinder Singh Lucky lost by a narrow margin of 11 votes to BJP's Maheshinder Singh Sidhu.
BJP's senior leader Heera Negi lost from Ward No.22 to AAP's Anju Katyal by a narrow margin of 76 votes.
Among the prominent winners, Harpreet Kaur Babla of the Congress, wife of party senior leader Devinder Singh Babla, won with a margin of 3,103 votes, defeating Rashi Bhasin of the BJP in Ward No.10.
BJP's Saurabh Joshi won from Ward No. 12 with a handsome margin of 1,887 votes, defeating Deipa Asdhir Dubey of the Congress.
Congress leader Gurbax Rawat defeated BJP's senior leader Ravinder Singh Rawat from Ward No.27 by a margin of 2,862 votes. Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP registered a win from Ward Number 14, defeating AAP's Kuldeep Singh by a margin of 255 votes.
From this ward, Chandigarh Congress chief Subhash Chawla's son Sumit Chawla had also entered the fray.
From Ward number 30, SAD's Hardeep Singh defeated Congress' Atinderjit Singh by 2,145 votes.
Reacting to his win against the sitting mayor, AAP's Damanpreet Singh said he gives credit for this victory to city party leader Pradeep Chhabra, whom he called "his guru", party national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
"Work is always appreciated and it has paid dividends today," he said.
Hitting out at the BJP and the Congress, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said people were fed up with them as they failed to deliver despite being given chance repeatedly.
People were looking for an "honest, viable alternative", he said.
"These two traditional parties failed to undertake development and bring about a change in the system, which people wanted. People saw how an ordinary councillor, who used to roam on bicycle and scooter, has big farmhouses and accumulated properties," said Chadha.
Asked if the results will have any impact on the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, Chadha quipped, "This is just a trailer."
"The mood of people here will be seen in the Punjab polls too," he said.
"People of Chandigarh have given a chance to Kejriwal, people of Punjab too will give us one chance," 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.
