Congress retains Thrikkakara seat with historic margin; setback for LDF in Kerala
Kochi, Jun 3: The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala suffered a massive political setback with the opposition Congress-UDF retaining the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency here in the much-awaited bypoll as its nominee Uma Thomas won by a historic margin of over 25,000 votes against the Left candidate Jo Joseph.
While the CPI(M), which had conducted an unprecedented grassroot level campaigning under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the constituency, termed the defeat as "unexpected" and a "shock", the jubilant Congress said their resounding victory was a slap on the face of the second Vijayan government on its first anniversary.
Uma, the widow of prominent party leader and former legislator from the constituency late P T Thomas, showcased an impressive lead in all the 12 rounds of the counting since the beginning.
While she polled a total of over 72,000 votes, her nearest rival Joseph could garner only over 47,000 votes.
BJP nominee A N Radhakrishnan came third.
The bypoll was necessitated in Thrikkakara, a complete urban constituency which comprises a major chunk of the Kochi Corporation, following the demise of Thomas late last year.
Though Thrikkakara has been a Congress bastion, the bypoll captured the attention of political Kerala as the ruling CPI(M)-led front had made an unprecedented grassroot level campaign in the last one month fielding its top leaders and ministers.
Chief Minister Vijayan took the leadership of the campaign after his return from the US post treatment on May 10.
Besides Vijayan, all his cabinet ministers and a majority of the MLAs and front leaders camped in the constituency for weeks and made a thorough campaign through house visits and political meetings.
Making their proposed K-Rail semi-high speed rail corridor, which is strongly opposed by the Congress-UDF, as a major campaign topic in the constituency, Vijayan had said it was a battle between the proponents of pro-development and anti-development.
Many Left leaders including CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had openly said the bypoll result would be a referendum on the Vijayan government.
Meanwhile, the bypoll victory was a morale booster for the Congress-UDF which had suffered a huge set back in the Assembly polls held a year ago.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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
===================
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.
