EC must curb rising misuse of religion in politics during polls: Mayawati
Lucknow, Jan 9: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday expressed concern over the "increasing" use of religion in politics during elections and said the Election Commission must curb this worrying trend.
Her remarks came a day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the assembly elections in the state will be an 80 per cent versus 20 per cent one, alluding to the roughly 20 per cent Muslim population.
"In the past few years, during the elections, there have been attempts to derive electoral advantage using religion. This impacts the election and the entire country is worried about this, Mayawati told reporters on Sunday.
The Election Commission should take serious steps to curb the narrow politics of selfishness as was evident in the past few years," she added.
Accusing the Adityanath government of foisting a jungle raj through its biased policies, Mayawati also claimed that the BJP will lose the 2022 elections "if there is no misuse of government machinery and there are no discrepancies in EVMs".
The BJP will be thrown out of power this time, provided there is no misuse of government machinery and there are no discrepancies in voting machines," she said while urging the poll panel to keep an eye on it .
Elaborating the reasons for her claim that the BVJP will be thrown out of power, Mayawati said, Owing to the biased approach of the (BJP) government, a 'jungle raj' of criminals is prevailing.
Due to this, people of every caste and section are feeling very sad. A section of the upper caste, which had in the previous elections voted enthusiastically for the BJP, is feeling very sad, she added, insinuating that even upper caste voters will not support the BJP.
Without naming the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati said, "In the state, there is a party, which is dreaming of bagging 400 out of 403 seats (of the UP legislative assembly) by banking on people who have been expelled from other parties and allying with other parties.
Their dreams, however, will be shattered on March 10. The BJP and other parties too will face the same situation. Only the BSP can give a popular government," she added.
Mayawati also said there has been a gross violation of the model code of conduct in the holding of rallies and roadshows amid the Covid pandemic.
The fear of the Election Commission must be there in the government machinery too and only then the elections can be successfully held, she added.
Claiming her party to be a "disciplined" one, she sought to assure that it will strictly adhere to the model code of conduct for which the party cadre too will be instructed separately.
She also demanded that adequate arrangements should be made at hyper-sensitive booths for Dalits and people from the weaker sections of the society so that they could cast their votes.
Urging people to be wary of alluring poll manifestoes of rival parties , she said they must not be carried away by promises of freebies.
She said she has called a meeting of senior party leaders to select party candidates while claiming that her party will perform well in Uttarakhand and Punjab. In Punjab, the BSP has allied with the Shiromani Akali Dal.
The BSP chief also asked people not to be misled by survey agencies which show the BSP "out of the race" till voting.
"In the 2007 UP assembly elections, the BSP was kept out of the poll race and it was shown that the SP and BJP were in the contest. However, when the results came, these parties were much behind us," she said, adding that the 2007 situation will be replicated this time.
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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.
