Opposition will be united after LS poll: M Veerappa Moily
Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said Tuesday opposition parties may not have come together to fight the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in all states but would join hands post-poll to form government.
The former union minister said he was not at all disappointed that the opposition alliance to take on the BJP has not materialised in some states.
"...idea-wise, spirit-wise, they (opposition parties) are all united against (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. Common agenda is: he (Modi) should go", Moily said and claimed the opposition would form government.
The Congress has strong presence in many states, where the party has no option but to fight other parties which are also opposed to the BJP, according to him.
He cited the political landscape in Kerala, where the Congress-led UDF and CPI-M-anchored LDF are in direct fight, as an example to drive home his point.
"In Kerala, it's UDF versus LDF, there is no BJP at all.
BJP's presence is totally negligible. There, we have to fight against each other. We cannot make alliance with LDF", Moily told PTI.
On the issue of opposition alliance, the former Karnataka Chief Minister argued that each and every State has to be "analysed" on its own merit and one can't generalise.
"There will be pre-poll alliance in some States, post-poll alliance in some other States. Such arragement is not opposed to the principle of opposition unity", he claimed.
"Common objective is to defeat BJP everywhere. There cannot be hard and fast rule in every State. It differs from State to State", Moily said.
Asked if the Left parties would join hands with the Congress after the elections, he said: "That will inevitably happen, when fighting against the BJP".
On the minimum income guarantee scheme announced by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi yesterday, Moily said it's a "great way forward" towards lifting the poor out of poverty.
Asked if this announcement would pay rich electoral dividends to the Congress in the polls, he said: "Definitely.
Manifesto is always taken by the people seriously. Since it's targetted at the poorest of the poor, they look forward with lot of expectations. It's not an election stunt".
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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.
