Shatrughan Sinha to join Congress in New Delhi on March 28
Patna, March 26: Bollywood actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has been associated with the BJP for about three decades, will join Congress at New Delhi on March 28, a senior party leader said here on Tuesday.
"Shatrughan Sinha will join Congress in New Delhi on March 28 at 11.30 am ... He will be our candidate from Patna Sahib", chairman for the state Congress election campaign committee Akhilesh Prasad Singh told newsmen here.
Sinha is a two-term BJP Lok Sabha member from Patna Sahib Singh but has been dropped by the saffron party which has chosen to field union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from the seat.
Sinha has been openly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Speculation had been rife for some time that he would join the Congress, which is an ally of the 'Mahagathbandhan' which also consists of the RJD and other local parties.
Asked whether Sinha would be induced in the party in the presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi, as was being speculated in the media, Singh said Top leaders will be present on the occasion".
Sources in the 'Mahagathbandhan' had recently claimed that there was a tug of war between the Congress and RJD over Sinhas candidature as Lalu Prasad's party, with which the 'Bihari Babu' shares cordial relations, was said to be keen on fielding him on its own symbol.
Congress has been contesting from Patna Sahib whenever it has fought the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the RJD and Singh's statement indicate that decks have been cleared for Sinhas candidature by the Congress leadership.
Singh, however, dodged queries about Kirti Azad, another BJP MP who had recently joined the Congress saying He will be contesting elections. From where, it will be decided by the party.
Azad is serving his second consecutive term in the Lok Sabha from Darbhanga and the Congress wants to field him from the seat as the constituency has a large population of Maithil Brahmins its traditional supporters.
RJD has been insisting that it has won the Darbhanga seat many times and would like to contest it again with its senior leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui as its candidate.
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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.
