Decision to rename Aurangabad in last cabinet meeting was illegal, will approve it afresh: CM Shinde
Mumbai, Jul 15: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government's decision to rename Aurangabad city when it had been reduced to minority was illegal, and it will be ratified again in the next cabinet meeting.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government announced the renaming of Aurangabad in central Maharashtra as `Sambhajinagar' -- after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's elder son Chhatrapati Sambhaji -- in its last cabinet meeting on June 29, hours before Thackeray resigned. Shinde was sworn in as chief minister with the BJP's support the next day, having split the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. "The MVA government took the decision to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar in its last cabinet meeting when it had been reduced to a minority government. Holding a cabinet meeting (in such a situation) was illegal," the chief minister claimed at an event here. Sena founder Bal Thackeray had announced that Aurangabad -- which derives its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb -- will be renamed as Sambhajinagar several decades ago, Shinde said.
"The name Sambhajinagar is already there, we will ratify it in the next cabinet meeting," he said, adding that this will make the decision legally safe.
He also said that he rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership to save the party and its workers. "We got nothing politically despite having our chief minister in the three-party dispensation. We finished fourth in nagar panchayat elections," said Shinde, who was a senior minister in the Sena-NCP-Congress government headed by Thackeray.
People of the state accepted his decision to rebel as it was in the party's interests, Shinde claimed. Meanwhile, Sena leader from Aurangabad and former MP Chandrakant Khaire, who has stayed loyal to Thackeray, warned that party workers would launch an agitation if the name of the city was not changed within a month.
The Shinde-led government stayed the renaming which was an insult to Chhatrapati Sambhaji, he said, speaking to PTI.
"Why the BJP didn't carry out renaming when it was in power from 2014-19? The BJP-led central government did not even pass the proposal to name the Aurangabad airport (for Chhatrapati Sambhaji)," he said, demanding that the airport too be named within a month.
Aurangabad district Shiv Sena chief Ambadas Danve too said that the "staying" of the decision to rename the city was "unacceptable."
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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.
