DK Suresh expresses concern over personality cult in party
Bengaluru(PTI): Congress MP D K Suresh on Thursday expressed concern over the personality cult in the party at the preparatory meet for senior leader Siddaramaiah's 75th birthday bash, and cautioned that it should not send out a "wrong message" ahead of Assembly polls next year.
He sought to assert that the bash is not an event to project someone or to give leadership to someone.
Suresh is the brother of Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar, who is a Chief Ministerial aspirant along with Siddaramaiah, in the event of the party coming to power.
"This (birthday bash) is seen as one to project Siddaramaiah or personality cult, not sure if Siddaramaiah himself wants this, but some people continue to do it," Suresh said.
Addressing a gathering of Congress leaders and workers at the preparatory meet, he said, "It's an election year, so we must see to it that the celebration does not damage the party, especially by sending out a wrong message to our workers and society," he said.
Siddaramaiah's supporters and well-wishers, including several senior Congress leaders and former ministers, are organising a massive convention at Davangere on August 3, which is also being seen as a show of strength by the former Chief Minister's camp as he turns 75. Party's national leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to attend.
Other than projecting Siddaramaiah and his contributions, the bash is also being seen as an attempt by his camp to send a message to both the high command and his detractors within the party, ahead of polls, while consolidating his 'AHINDA' vote base.
AHINDA is a Kannada acronym that stands for 'Alpasankhyataru' (minorities), 'Hindulidavaru' (Backward Classes) and 'Dalitaru' (Dalits).
Suresh said that in his opinion it would be appropriate to have Siddaramaiah's birthday bash together with celebrations to mark 75 years of India's Independence, adding that this is not an event to project someone or to confer leadership on someone.
"Whether we like it or not, the media is projecting this event as 'Siddaramotsava', so denying it will not benefit, we have to accept it...we should proudly say we are celebrating our leader's birthday," he added.
Siddaramaiah has been repeatedly trying to correct that the birthday is not 'Siddaramotsava', and it is 'Siddaramaiah-75 Amrut Mahotsava'.
Earlier in the day, Shivakumar said he doesn't want anyone to worship him, but to worship the party and the country.
The KPCC chief was responding to a question on the demand by some of his supporters to celebrate "Shivakumarotsava" to observe his birthday, on the lines of the one planned for Siddaramaiah.
"I don't want any 'utsava' for me, I want a party's 'utsava'," he said.
Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have been nursing chief ministerial ambitions and are also working towards consolidating their clout within the State Congress, ahead of the polls next year.
There have been several instances of open display of one-upmanship between the two leaders in the past.
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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.
