Rajasthan: Congress to shift party MLAs to Udaipur hotel ahead of Rajya Sabha polls
Jaipur, Jun 1: The Congress has decided to shift its MLAs in Rajasthan to a Udaipur hotel, with party sources saying they fear that the BJP will poach them ahead of the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections.
"The MLAs have been asked to reach Udaipur. Some are likely to go today and the rest will be reaching Udaipur tomorrow," a source said.
Independent legislators and those belonging to other parties and supporting the ruling outfit will also be shifted to Udaipur. The MLAs will stay in the hotel where the Congress Chintan Shivir was held last month.
The Congress decision reminds of two instances in 2020 when the party shifted its MLAs to a hotel ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls and during a political crisis triggered by the rebellion of party leader Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs close to him.
The fresh move has come a day after media baron Subhash Chandra, who is backed by the BJP, filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Chandra is currently a member of the Upper House of Parliament from Haryana and his term is going to expire on August 1.
The filing of papers by him as an independent candidate had prompted Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to allege that the BJP wants to indulge in horse trading.
Gehlot made the statement as the ruling Congress with its 108 MLAs in the state Assembly is set to win two of the four seats going to the elections on June 10.
After winning two seats, the Congress will have 26 surplus votes, 15 short of the required 41 to win the third seat.
On the other hand, the BJP has 71 MLAs in the state Assembly and set to win one seat, after which it will be left with 30 surplus votes.
Gehlot and the Congress candidates had on Tuesday held a meeting with 10 of 13 independent MLAs in Rajasthan.
Earlier on Wednesday, BJP leader Rajendra Rathore targeted CM Gehlot, saying the Congress leader himself is an expert in "elephant trading", referring to the election symbol of the BSP, whose six MLAs had defected to the Congress in 2019.
The Deputy Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly alleged that the Congress government has failed to give any report card of its works and has been in hotels ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in the past.
"This time too the chief minister has indicated to keep all Congress MLAs together before the Rajya Sabha elections," he said.
"The chief minister has made a record of 'badabandi' (fortification). Why are they in fear? Who is bearing the expense of this," the BJP leader asked.
The Bahujan Samaj Party also wrote to Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and Assembly Speaker C P Joshi demanding that the six party MLAs who had defected to the Congress be barred from voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
State BSP president Bhagwan Singh Baba in the letter said a case under the Anti-Defection Law is going on against the MLAs in the Supreme Court.
"In such a situation, these six MLAs should be stopped from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections because the BSP has decided that it will not support any party or independent in the Rajya Sabha elections," Baba said.
Reacting to this, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said the six MLAs had merged with the Congress and now they are party legislators.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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
===================
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.
