New Delhi, Jan 11: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday hit out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his remarks that the assembly polls in the state will be about '80 per cent vs 20 per cent', and urged the youth to make the elections about issues such as employment and education.

The Congress general secretary said remarks such as "80-20" were aimed at diverting attention from real issues of the youth.

At an event on Saturday, Adityanath had said it will be a "80 per cent versus 20 per cent" election in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP will retain power in the state.

Several Opposition leaders have attacked the chief minister over his comments, alleging that it was an attempt at polarisation by the "80-20" reference which they said was aimed at pointing to the ratio of Hindus to Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.

Making remarks like '80-20' is a way to fraudulently divert attention from the issues of the youth, Priyanka Gandhi said.

The reality is that under the BJP government, out of every 100 people, 68 have no work, she said.

"My young friends, with your power, make the UP polls, an election of issues such as employment and education," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

Voting for the high-stakes assembly elections will be held in seven phases, starting from the western part of the politically crucial state on February 10 and moving eastwards, with the final phase on March 7. Counting of votes would take place on March 10.

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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.