Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has insulted PM Modi's apology: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Dec 25: The Congress on Saturday alleged that the Centre was hatching a "conspiracy" to bring back the three farm laws after the next round of assembly polls and urged the people to teach the government a lesson by defeating it in the elections.
The Congress' sharp attack came over Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar's remarks at an event on Friday in which, while talking about the agri laws, he said the government moved a "step back" and "will move forward again".
Congress' former chief Rahul Gandhi said the country's agriculture minister has "insulted" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "apology"-- "it is condemnable".
"If anti-farmer steps are taken again, then satyagraha of 'annadatas' will take place again," he said.
"Had defeated arrogance, will again defeat it," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag 'FarmersProtest'.
Speaking at the event in Nagpur, Tomar said, "We brought agriculture amendment laws. But some people did not like these laws which were a big reform brought about 70 years after Independence under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.".
"But the government is not disappointed, we moved a step back and we will move forward again because farmers are India's backbone," he added.
Referring to the remarks, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the "concerted conspiracy" to bring back the three "anti-farmer" agri laws now stands exposed again by the statement made Tomar.
"Perceiving defeat in the five state elections including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had apologised and repealed the three black laws in Parliament. This happened after the longest, peaceful, Gandhian agitation for over 380 days on the borders of Delhi where over 700 farmers sacrificed their lives," Surjewala said.
"Even then we had suspected the intent of the prime minister, the BJP, the RSS and the Modi government," he said.
Immediately after the repeal of the laws, many BJP leaders had made intemperate statements pointing to the "conspiracy" to bring back the three farm laws, he said.
On November 21, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra said the three repealed farm laws will be brought back and also BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj made a statement to that effect, Surjewala said.
Many people dismissed these statements as aberrations but on Friday in Maharashtra, Tomar has "fortified the conspiracy being hatched" by the Modi government to bring back the three "anti farmer" farm laws after the completion of the elections in five states, he said.
"We call upon India's farmers, we call upon fellow Indians, that the only way to stop the diabolical conspiracy of the Modi government from bringing back the farm laws is to decisively defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and other elections so that a lesson is taught to the crony capitalist-driven BJP government at the Centre that they cannot annihilate the rights of 62 crore farmers of the country," Surjewala said.
The Farm Laws Repeal Act repealed the three farm laws which were passed by Parliament in September last year with an objective to bring reforms in the agriculture sector, especially marketing of farm produce.
These three farm laws were -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
देश के कृषि मंत्री ने मोदी जी की माफ़ी का अपमान किया है- ये बेहद निंदनीय है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 25, 2021
अगर फिर से कृषि विरोधी कदम आगे बढ़ाए तो फिर से अन्नदाता सत्याग्रह होगा-
पहले भी अहंकार को हराया था, फिर हरायेंगे!#FarmersProtest
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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.
