Jitan Ram Manjhi complains of 'suffocation' in NDA, regrets having resigned as Bihar CM
Patna, Jun 6: Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has said that being in the NDA as a junior partner of the BJP and the JD(U) was causing him "ghutan" (suffocation), as he regretted having stepped down in 2015, less than a year after being sworn in to the highest seat of power in the state.
Manjhi, whose Hindustani Awam Morcha has four MLAs in the 243-strong assembly, was also of the view that with proper "samanjasya" (coordination), "we can make our presence felt in the upcoming legislative council polls when our support will be solicited by our bigger partners".
Manjhi, whose son Santosh Kumar Suman is a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet and has also been anointed as the HAM national president, was addressing the party's national executive on Sunday.
NDA leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, sneered at "yet another tantrum" thrown by the septuagenarian and pointed towards his past vacillations to assert that his averments, though objectionable, were of little significance for the ruling coalition.
Active in politics since the 1980s, Manjhi has served as a minister under many chief ministers although his moment of glory came in May, 2014 when Nitish Kumar, owning moral responsibility for the JD(U)'s debacle in Lok Sabha polls, gave up the chief minister's post.
After JD(U) rank and file failed to reach a consensus on the replacement for its de facto leader, Kumar intervened and backed Manjhi, who was seen as a loyalist and could also serve the purpose of sending across the message that the leader promoted a Dalit upon stepping down.
However, the months that followed bore witness to a huge political churning in Bihar and Kumar forged an alliance with arch-rival Lalu Prasad. Manjhi had, by that time, come to be seen as unsteady and accused by many of having become too chummy with the BJP.
After Manjhi was commanded by the party to step down and make way for the return of his mentor, he tried to put up a semblance of revolt, but later resigned realising that numbers were not on his side.
He also quit the JD(U) along with some dissidents who had grown averse to Nitish Kumar and the breakaway group came to be known as HAM which the BJP-led NDA, then shorn of a strong alliance in Bihar, gladly accommodated.
The Grand Alliance that came into being as a result of the Lalu-Nitish alliance, however, inflicted a crushing defeat on the NDA in the 2015 assembly polls.
Manjhi, who was in a state of limbo, feared further marginalisation when Kumar returned to the NDA in 2017. The HAM founder quit the NDA, joined the RJD-Congress alliance and was quickly rewarded with a legislative council berth for his son by Lalu Prasad's party which had sufficient numbers in the assembly.
However, he soon grew impatient with the RJD and its heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav and broke away ahead of the 2020 assembly polls. His return to the NDA had led to speculations of HAM's merger with the JD(U) which did not take place though Manjhi himself never ruled out such a possibility.
Known for speaking his mind on matters like liquor consumption and religion, much to the discomfiture of his more hard-nosed allies, Manjhi has often rued that he was never "taken seriously".
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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.
