Sena and NCP finalise pre-poll tie-up for Goa polls, claim Congress not interested for joint contest
Panaji, Jan 19: The Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Wednesday decided to forge a pre-poll alliance for the next month's Assembly elections in Goa, saying that the Congress didn't respond to their proposal for a joint contest.
Speaking to reporters, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that the next government in Goa, currently ruled by BJP, would not be formed without the involvement of Sena and NCP.
Senior leader Praful Patel said the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Sena will field candidates on at least 10-12 seats each.
"The NCP tried to talk to Congress in Goa for a pre-poll alliance. We told them that let's work together so that we can be able to take on the government, Patel said in a joint press conference with Raut.
Patel said Sanjay Raut had also made a similar offer (to Congress) for a joint contest with Congress as the main party.
But this proposal of ours was not responded to. We felt that the Congress party was not giving us the due respect that we deserve, the former Union minister said.
He said Sena and NCP will contest on a substantial number of seats, at least 10-12 by each party.
Goa has a total of 40 seats.
Raut said that Congress may be thinking that it can form a government on its own. We wish them all the best, he added.
NCP and Shiv Sena have decided to contest the elections in Goa. We will not contest on all the 40 seats, but our nominees will win the seats we field them, he said, adding that the next government would not be formed without the involvement of Sena and NCP.
The NCP had won one (Benaulim) seat in the 2017 Assembly elections.
The lone NCP MLA, Churchill Alemao, recently merged the Goa legislative unit of the NCP in the Trinamool Congress.
The Shiv Sena is not represented in the Goa Assembly.
The electoral battle for Goa has become multi-cornered with the entry of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and aggressive campaigning by the AAP.
So far, poll tie-ups were forged between the regional Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and TMC, and between the Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP).
In the 2017 elections, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House, but could not come to power as the BJP, which bagged 13, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Manohar Parrikar (now deceased).
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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.
