6 candidates in fray for 4 RS seats from K'taka, contest heats up for fourth seat
Bengaluru, Jun 3: Six candidates are in the fray for the June 10 Rajya Sabha poll to four seats from Karnataka, necessitating a heated contest for the fourth seat.
Despite not having an adequate number of votes to win the fourth seat from the state Assembly, all the three political parties in the state -- BJP, Congress and JD(S) -- have fielded candidates for the seat, forcing an election.
The six candidates in the fray for Rajya Sabha polls from the state are -- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh and outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya from the BJP, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh and state general secretary Mansoor Ali Khan from the Congress, and former MP D Kupendra Reddy from the JD(S).
Among the candidates, Sitharaman and Jairam Ramesh are seeking re-election from the state.
Despite JD(S) seeking support to ensure Reddy's election to the Upper House of the parliament, the Congress did not withdrawn its second candidate Khan from the fray on Friday, the last day for withdrawal of nomination, and has issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to vote for the party's candidates.
The JD(S) had sought Congress' support by invoking secularism and to keep communal forces away. JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda is even said to have discussed with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in this regard.
The Congress had in turn asked the JD(S) to support its candidate Khan, and return the favour, reminding the regional party that it had supported its patriarch and former PM Deve Gowda's election to Rajya Sabha last time.
Announcement of Khan's name as the party's second candidate was a surprise move by the Congress, as it has adequate number of votes to win just one seat.
Following this move, the ruling BJP too announced the candidature of Siroya, despite having numbers to comfortably win only two seats.
The election to four Rajya Sabha seats is necessitated as the term of office of members Nirmala Sitharaman and K C Ramamurthy of BJP, and Jairam Ramesh -- is due to expire on June 30. The fourth member Oscar Fernandes of the Congress passed away last year.
A candidate needs the support of 45 MLAs to win, and based on their strength in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP can win two seats and the Congress one.
After electing two Rajya Sabha candidates (Sitharaman and Jaggesh) on its own strength in the Assembly, the BJP will be left with an additional 32 MLAs votes.
The Congress will be left with 24 MLAs votes after electing Jairam Ramesh, while the JD(S) has only 32 MLAs, which is not sufficient to win a seat.
Counting of votes will take place on June 10 at 5 pm, which is after the polling hours.
Official sources said, as there are three candidates for the fourth seat and none of them have adequate number of votes to win, a situation may arise where the second and third preferential votes may have to be counted if necessary.
There are talks within political circles that the BJP may be at advantage if preferential votes were to be counted.
Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah in response to a question said, "Why should we withdraw our candidate (Khan)? We have fielded him because we want to win."
"We expect lawmakers to cast conscience votes. I can't tell you now who will vote for us," he said, hinting at the possibility of cross-voting.
While JD(S) leader H D Revanna said one has to wait and watch what happens on the polling day, and his party expected the Congress to keep up its words of supporting secular forces.
"Ask Congress whether they have had any internal understanding with BJP to help the saffron party?" he said.
However, BJP leaders have expressed confidence of winning three of the four seats it is contesting in.
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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.
