Barred entry into Dharwad, Vinay Kulkarni's wife, daughter slug it out as campaign heats up
Dharwad (PTI): The fight in Dharwad is not limited to the Assembly elections where women of the house are battling it out by turning the polls into a fight for justice.
Barred from entering Dharwad district, Congress candidate Vinay Kulkarni's wife and daughter are going door-to-door to convince voters, while he himself camps on the periphery of the constituency to support his family pursuing his campaign through social media.
Being accused and out on bail in connection with the murder of Zila Panchayat member Yogeesh Gowda, Kulkarni is not allowed to enter Dharwad district as per a Supreme Court order. Though he tried to get a respite from this restriction, citing the elections, the High Court struck down his request recently.
Kulkarni -- a former minister for Mines and Geology -- has won twice from this seat, once as an independent (in 2004) and again on a Congress ticket (2013), while the BJP has won twice.
Speaking to PTI, his wife Shivaleela said, "My husband is staying out of the constituency for almost three years now. When we lost the support of friends and relatives because of the case, I decided to stand up and spearhead the campaign all alone."
In the last few elections, she was not actively engaged in poll activities, now the entire family has taken it up as a challenge. Shivaleela is busy in the door-to-door campaign and holding rallies in the constituency keeping a cutout of her husband.
"I am trying to meet a number of maximum people face-to-face and convince them to vote for our party. The public response has been good so far," she said and exuded confidence that her husband will win the election with a good margin.
Shivaleela, who has never given public speeches and held any position in the party, is slogging it out along with her children in the crucial 'do or die' campaign for the family.
"I feel the pressure because there is too much attention on us as dad is not in the constituency," said Kulkarni's 25-year old daughter Vaishali who had to skip her semester LLB exams to help her family in the electioneering.
Vaishali along with her younger brother have taken the responsibility of setting up a route of LED vans and facilitate her father's live interaction besides managing distribution of campaign material like pamphlets.
"My father is not tech savvy but he has now learnt how to make video calls and send locations on WhatsApp. He is managing well so far," Vaishali said and added some people themselves go outside the constituency to meet my father to put forth their grievances.
So far, none of the senior Congress leaders have come for campaigning here. "We are managing on our own," she added.
Praising her wife and children's efforts, Kulkarni -- campaigning outside the constituency -- criticised the BJP for harassment meted out to him and the family in carrying out the election campaign.
"They are troubling us for using social media. Our vehicles and followers are tracked. Income Tax raids are conducted on our close associates. All tactics are being used to put pressure and defeat me in this election," he said.
Kulkarni, however, said he will easily win from this seat as he is banking on strong anti-incumbency and Lingayats' votes to defeat sitting BJP MLA Amrut Desai.
There are 2.17 lakh voters in Dharwad Assembly constituency and Lingayats votes are dominant and are the deciding factor. No party or candidate has held this seat successively since 1983.
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.
