Prez polls: Nadda, Rajnath to hold talks with other parties on BJP's behalf
New Delhi, Jun 12: The BJP on Sunday authorised its president J P Nadda and Union minister Rajnath Singh to hold consultations with different political parties, including those in the opposition, on the president's election, in what is being seen as an outreach by the ruling party to arrive at a consensus on the choice for the top constitutional post.
The two senior leaders will talk to both ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) constituents, besides other political parties as well as independent members, the BJP said in a statement issued by its general secretary Arun Singh.
Nadda and Singh will start holding these consultations soon, it added.
The election for the next president will be held on July 18, in which 4,809 electors, including MPs and MLAs, will vote to elect incumbent Ram Nath Kovind's successor.
Going by its strength in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as well as in many state assemblies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in a comfortable position to ensure the victory of the candidate nominated by it in the upcoming election.
Singh, who enjoys a good rapport with leaders across the political spectrum, was also part of the BJP's committee during the 2017 presidential polls to deliberate with opposition parties.
In 2017, then BJP president Amit Shah had constituted a three-member panel of then senior Union ministers Singh, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu to hold talks with all the political parties over the presidential polls.
The BJP had fielded then Bihar governor Kovind as its candidate in the polls. Kovind went on to become the president after defeating opposition-backed Meira Kumar.
With relatively less numbers on its side this time, the BJP-led NDA's nominee will require the support of one of the two fence-sitters -- the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the YSR Congress Party.
In the last presidential polls, both parties had supported Kovind.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has also reached out to several opposition leaders, including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for the presidential polls.
Banerjee has called a meeting of opposition parties in Delhi on June 15 in the backdrop of the presidential election.
The presidential polls will be held on July 18 and the counting of votes, if needed, will be taken up on July 21.
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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.
