Punjab CM Channi's brother says will fight as independent from Bassi Pathana seat
Chandigarh (PTI): Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's brother Manohar Singh, who was eyeing a Congress ticket from Bassi Pathana assembly seat, on Sunday said he will contest as an independent from the constituency after the ruling party fielded its sitting legislator.
In its first list of 86 candidates, the Congress on Saturday gave the ticket to party MLA Gurpreet Singh GP from Bassi Pathana (SC) seat.
Manohar Singh dubbed the decision of the Congress giving ticket to Gurpreet Singh GP as injustice with the people of the constituency and alleged that the sitting legislator was incapable and ineffective.
Several prominent people of Bassi Pathana area have asked me to fight as an independent and I will go by what they have said. There is no chance of going back and I will surely fight the polls, Manohar Singh told PTI over the phone.
Singh had in August last year resigned as a senior medical officer from Kharar civil hospital. Singh has done his MBBS and MD. He also holds a postgraduate degree in journalism and has also studied law.
He said he took the decision of contesting as an independent after meeting several councillors, village sarpanch and panch who asked him to fight the polls.
People told me it was wrong to give the ticket to him (Gurpreet Singh GP). He had earlier not done anything and now he has again been foisted upon, said Singh.
Singh said he will talk to his brother Channi and convince him about his decision.
On the 'one family-one ticket' formula of the Congress for the upcoming assembly polls, Channi said the party fielded Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary, who is the son of Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, from Phillaur seat.
Similarly, Fatehgarh Sahib MP Amar Singh's son Kamil Amar Singh has been given the ticket from the Raikot seat, he said.
Last year, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had inaugurated the poll office of Gurpreet Singh GP at Bassi Pathana constituency.
Voting for Punjab's 117 assembly seats will be held on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
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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.
