No opposition front possible without Congress: Sanjay Raut after meeting Rahul Gandhi
Mumbai, Dec 7: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and later asserted there can be no opposition front without the Congress, remarks coming in the wake of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement questioning the existence of the anti-BJP combine UPA.
The two leaders also discussed about the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which is led by the Congress. The Shiv Sena, a former BJP ally, is not part of the alliance which was in power at the Centre between 2004 and 2014.
Raut declined to share details about the meeting, but said the two leaders also discussed about the status of the UPA.
There was a discussion about the UPA. It is not right to comment on it. I will talk to Uddhavji (Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray) and then speak to you (the media), Raut told reporters after meeting Gandhi in New Delhi.
When asked how the opposition parties are coming together to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Raut said efforts for this are on.
I have told Rahulji to take a lead in this and work towards it. There can be no (opposition) front without the Congress. What will two-three fronts of opposition do? the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Raut said the Sena has already stated that no opposition front is not possible without the Congress.
I have not talked about any leader leading the front. I am only saying there should be only one front. If there are two-three fronts, then it cannot be an alternative. Only then can we present an alternative (to the BJP), he stressed.
His meeting with Gandhi comes days after Banerjee visited Mumbai and made comments questioning the very existence of the UPA. During the visit, she also met Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar.
The Congress and the NCP are constituents of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in Maharashtra.
Banerjee's meeting with opposition leaders came amid strain in ties between her party TMC and the Congress.
After its landslide victory in West Bengal earlier this year, the TMC has inducted several Congress leaders in its fold. In Meghalaya, 12 out of 17 Congress MLAs defected to the TMC, making it the principal opposition party.
In Mumbai, Banerjee had said there was no UPA and made a pitch for unifying opposition parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.
When asked how can the Congress and TMC be brought together when the relations between the two are strained, Raut said Pawar will play a role in this.
In his weekly column in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Sunday, Raut claimed that Banerjee was contemplating an alliance excluding the Congress.
He added that Gandhi will be visiting Mumbai soon.
Raut said he is meeting Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday and the two will discuss about national politics. Arch-rivals in the state until 2019, the the Sena and the Congress came together along with the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
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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.
