Rajasthan Cabinet reshuffle: Fifteen ministers to take oath today
Jaipur(PTI): Fifteen new Rajasthan ministers will take oath at 4 pm on Sunday at the Raj Bhavan here as part of the Cabinet reshuffle, officials said.
The ministers include 11 Cabinet ministers and four ministers of state (MoS). The new Rajasthan cabinet will see 12 new faces, including five from the Sachin Pilot camp, in the reshuffle on Sunday.
This is the first cabinet reshuffle of the Gehlot government which came to power in December 2018.
Three ministers -- Govind Singh Dotasra, Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma -- have been dropped and their resignations have been accepted by the governor on recommendation of the chief minister while three ministers -- Mamta Bhupesh, Tikaram Jully and Bhajan Lal Jatav-- will be elevated from MoS to cabinet rank.
While Dotasra, Chaudhary and Sharma resigned on Friday, other ministers resigned in a meeting of council of ministers on Saturday.
The resignation of Sharma, Chaudhary and Dotasra was accepted as they hold party positions and the "one man, one post" formula has been applied in the state.
Sharma has been appointed as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Gujarat and Chaudhary as the AICC in-charge for Punjab. Dotasra is the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief.
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government will have a total of 30 ministers, including 18 who had resigned earlier.
Rajasthan can have a maximum of 30 ministers including the chief minister.
Three ministers of state -- those have been elevated to cabinet rank -- are from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, party sources said.
The new state cabinet will have four SC members and three ministers from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, the sources said, adding that the cabinet will also feature three women -- a Muslim, one from the SC community and a Gujjar.
Among the new ministers to take oath as cabinet ministers are Hemaram Chaudhary, Mahendrajit Singh Malviya, Ramlal Jat, Mahesh Joshi, Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bhairwa, Bhajanlal Jatav, Tikaram Juli, Govind Ram Meghwal and Shakuntala Rawat.
Those who will take oath as the new ministers of state are Zahida, Brijendra Singh Ola, Rajendra Durha and Muralilal Meena.
Mahesh Joshi is the government chief whip.
Among those from the Sachin Pilot camp who have been included in the ministry are Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena and Hemaram Chaudhary as cabinet ministers, and Brijendra Ola and Murari Meena as ministers of state.
Two of them -- Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena -- were sacked as cabinet ministers during a political crisis in the state last year.
Another SC member, former MP Govind Ram Meghwal, is a fresh face to be included in the refurbished cabinet.
Rajendra Singh Guda, one of the six MLAs who defected from the BSP to the Congress, has also been included as a minister of state.
No independent MLA has been given a ministerial berth, while some of them would be included as parliamentary secretaries.
Some former BSP legislators would also be included as parliamentary secretaries, the sources said, adding that some senior MLAs would be made advisers to the chief minister.
After the Congress won bypolls held on two assembly seats recently, the tally of the ruling party has reached to 108 in the house of 200.
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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.
