Miffed over RS poll ticket to UP poet Pratapgarhi from Maharashtra, Cong leader quits party post
Nagpur, May 31: Miffed over the Congress central leadership nominating poet-politician Imran Pratapgarhi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, as its candidate from Maharashtra for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, party functionary Ashish Deshmukh on Tuesday resigned from the post of MPCC general secretary.
Deshmukh, in a letter sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said "Imposing an outside candidate" will not benefit the party in Maharashtra, where it is a constituent of the ruling coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), and termed the decision to field Pratapgarhi from the state as an injustice to ordinary workers of the organization.
"I am resigning from the post of General Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). Imposing an outside candidate will not benefit the party in terms of growth. This is an injustice to general Congress workers in Maharashtra," said the former MLA.
Deshmukh further said he will continue to work as a loyal Congress member and fulfil all commitments.
Pratapgarhi, a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, on Monday filed his nomination papers in Mumbai for the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls.
Senior Congress leader and former CM Prithviraj Chavan, too, has expressed displeasure over the decision to field Pratapgarhi from Maharashtra.
On Monday, Chavan said instead of the poet-politician, Congress veteran and former Union minister Mukul Wasnik, who hails from Maharashtra, should have been fielded from the state for the biennial polls to the Upper House of Parliament.
Wasnik has been fielded by the Congress from Rajasthan.
"Wasnik got a (Rajya Sabha) seat from Rajasthan, while Pratapgarhi, who is a leader from Uttar Pradesh, got a seat from Maharashtra, the former chief minister said at a press conference in Nagpur.
Wasnik and Pratapgarhi can withdraw their nominations from Rajasthan and Maharashtra, respectively, and the former can file papers from his home state, the Congress leader said.
May 31 is the last date for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls in which members of the 288-strong state assembly will vote to elect 6 candidates for the Upper House of Parliament.
The BJP, which has fielded three candidates, has votes to win two seats on its own. The Congress, the Shiv Sena and the NCP, all constituents of the MVA, can win one seat each on their own and will together have surplus votes to win another seat.
The Shiv Sena, which has fielded two candidates, is banking on these surplus votes to win its second seat.
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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.
