Jayant Chaudhary to be joint candidate of SP-RLD for Rajya Sabha elections
Lucknow(PTI): Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary will be the joint candidate of the SP and RLD for the Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) announced on Thursday.
Congress veteran Kapil Sibal had on Wednesday filed his nomination as an SP-backed Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls. Javed Ali Khan had filed his nomination for the election as an SP candidate.
"Jayant Chaudhary will be joint candidate of the SP and RLD," the Samajwadi Party said in a tweet from its official Twitter handle.
With 273 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the ruling BJP-led NDA will easily be able to get eight members elected to the Upper House of Parliament, while the SP and its allies (RLD and SBSP), with a strength of 125 legislators, will be able to ensure the victory of three candidates.
Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha.
Among the 11 retiring MPs from the state, five are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), three from the SP, two from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one from the Congress.
Among those whose tenures are ending include Sibal, Satish Chandra Mishra of the BSP and Reoti Raman Singh of the SP. With 403 elected members in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, a candidate will require at least 34 votes for victory.
The outcome of the state Assembly election held in February-March has changed the equation this time. The Congress has two MLAs in the Assembly, while Mayawati's BSP has one legislator.
Two senior BSP leaders -- Mishra and Ashok Siddharth -- will retire in July, after which the party will have only one member, Ramji Gautam, in the Upper House of Parliament.
The five retiring Rajya Sabha MPs of the BJP are Zafar Islam, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Sanjay Seth, Surendra Nagar and Jai Prakash Nishad.
The SP leaders completing their terms include former Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council chairman Sukhram Singh Yadav, whose son Mohit has joined the BJP.
Besides Yadav, the tenure of Reoti Raman Singh and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad will also end in July.
The Election Commission had announced May 24 as the date of notification for the Rajya Sabha polls, while voting will be held on June 10 and the results will be declared the same day.
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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.
