Droupadi Murmu is "suitable and competent" candidate for President: Deve Gowda
Bengaluru, June 22: JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday termed BJP-led NDA's candidate for presidential polls Droupadi Murmu, as "suitable" and "non controversial".
The former Prime Minister said he doesn't want to refer Murmu as merely a tribal candidate, but wants to say that she is "competent" for the post of the President.
"I don't want to go into details on the reasons why BJP has made her (Murmu) the candidate. Several names were floated. First meeting (of opposition parties) I attended with Sharad Pawar. But the point is, in my opinion the candidate that was selected (by BJP) is really one of the suitable candidates," Gowda said in response to a question on Murmu's candidacy.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Why, I tell you....she was Governor of Jharkhand, no one spoke against her there. She was first the Minister in the Naveen Patnaik government (in Odisha), then Governor of Jharkhand...I think non controversial in my experience."
Battle lines have been drawn for the July 18 presidential election with the BJP-led NDA on Tuesday naming Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, as its candidate while former Union minister Yashwant Sinha was declared as a joint nominee by major opposition parties, including the Congress, the NCP and the TMC.
BJP president J P Nadda announced the candidature of 64-year-old Murmu, former Jharkhand governor, following a meeting of the party's parliamentary board, hours after opposition parties in a joint statement named Sinha, who was earlier with the BJP but fell out with the Modi-Shah leadership and joined the Trinamool Congress in March 2021.
Gowda however did not respond to a question whether his party would support Murmu or Sinha.
The former PM and his son H D Kumaraswamy, a former CM, had attended a meeting convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on June 15 to build a consensus on fielding a joint candidate against the BJP-led NDA, in which as many as 17 opposition parties attended.
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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.
