Goa: 2 MGP MLAs break away from party, merge legislative wing with BJP
Panaji: Two of the three MGP MLAs in Goa early Wednesday merged their party's legislative wing with the BJP, which now has 14 legislators in the 40-member state assembly.
Legislators Manohar Ajgaonkar and Dipak Pawaskar gave a letter to merge the MGP legislature party with the BJP to officiating Goa Assembly Speaker Michael Lobo at 1:45 am.
However, Sudin Dhavalikar, the third Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLA, has not signed the letter.
While Ajgaonkar is tourism minister, Dhavalikar is a deputy chief minister in the BJP-led state government in Goa.
As two out of the three MLAs have merged the legislative wing, they are saved from inviting anti-defection law, which makes it mandatory that two-third of the strength should agree for merger.
The legislators broke away from the MGP and formed a group, MGP (two) on Tuesday. They have now merged the legislative unit with the BJP.
Lobo confirmed that he received the letter at 1:45 am from both the MLAs for merging their legislature party with the BJP. The signature of Dhavalikar is not there on the letter, he said.
The mid-night political drama has increased the strength of the BJP from 12 to 14 in the 40-member House, bringing them on par with opposition Congress which has an equal number of MLAs on the floor.
The MGP is an alliance partner of the BJP in Goa since 2012.
Pawaskar said the resolution to split from the MGP and create another faction was taken by him and Ajgaonkar at 5 pm Tuesday.
After adopting the resolution, we approached Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with the letter, who instructed us to submit it to officiating Speaker Michael Lobo, he told PTI.
The letter was finally handed over to Lobo at 1:45 am Wednesday, Pawaskar said.
The decision to split the legislature party and merge it with the BJP was taken in the interest of the people", the MLA said.
People from my constituency wanted that I should join BJP. We were also resigned to the fact that we could not take the MGP forward in the state, Pawaskar said.
He claimed that he would get a ministerial berth in the Sawant-led Cabinet. Sawant is expected to drop Dhavalikar from the Cabinet later Wednesday, a senior official from the Chief Minister's Office said.
Dhavalikar is likely to be replaced by Pawaskar.
MGP is an ally of the BJP in the Sawant government with all the three MLAs supporting him along with legislators from Goa Forward Party and Independents.
Sawant, who faced floor test last week after the demise of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, was supported by 20 MLAs as against 15 from opposition. Parrikar, who was battling a pancreatic ailment, died at his private residence near here on March 17.
The political development came, hours after MGP president Dipak Dhavalikar, had threatened to withdraw from Sawant-led government citing conspiracy.
Speaking to PTI, he on Tuesday alleged that one of his party's officer-bearers was "made to issue a letter" to the governor and speaker declaring authority over the entire legislative affairs of the outfit.
Dipak Dhavalikar said the MGP central committee would meet on Wednesday afternoon to chalk out its future course of action, which, he claimed, can decide the fate of the state government.
The Congress has sharply reacted to the merger
BJP has proved that it is a threat to all its allies, Congress's Goa chief spokesman Sunil Kawthankar said.
This is a clear indication to all NDA partners all over country just before Lok sabha election that any partnership with BJP will be detrimental to the existence of their own party, 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.
