Siddaramaiah, ministers continue to spar over 'irregularities' in COVID-19 equipment procurement
Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and Ministers of the ruling BJP in Karnataka continued to spar on Friday over charges of corruption in the procurement of COVID-19 equipment and supplies, with the LoP demanding to know why the government was afraid of constituting a Judicial Commission to probe the matter.
Siddaramaiah had on Thursday released documents comprising statistics to support his claims of corruption.
Minister R Ashoka rejected his demand, saying the allegations were baseless and politically motivated, aimed at demoralizing officials working against COVID.
"Order and constitute a judicial commission...let a sitting High Court judge inquire and let the truth come out... whatever documents they (govt) have, let them place it before the judicial commission. We will place whatever we have," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "if I'm lying and you (Ministers) are telling the truth, constitute a judicial commission.
Why are you afraid of a judicial commission? why are you saying that there will be no inquiry? I reiterate and demand strongly that the government order for a judicial commission."
Siddaramaiah on Thursday had alleged that the total expenditure of the government relating to COVID was Rs 4,167 crore, of which at least Rs 2,000 crore was "pocketed" by ministers and officials.
Refuting this, five Ministers, including Ashoka, had held a press conference on Thursday, in which they said the overall expenditure of the government is Rs 2,118 crore, with Rs 1,611 crore going for COVID relief measures and Rs 506 crore for purchase of medical equipment.
Hitting back at Siddaramaiah for his comments on Friday, Ashoka said the government on July 23 had given a 'sufficient reply' to the charges and made it clear that everything was transparent.
The opposition has no face after our clarification," he said.
"....we will decide if an inquiry is required or not. We need not learn from him (Siddaramaiah)...if we go on ordering an inquiry into things they demand, the whole police force will not be enough. Leveling such baseless charges is like an addiction for them," he said.
The Minister also reminded Siddaramaiah that he is the leader of the opposition, not the Chief Minister.
"He (Siddaramaiah) cannot order us. He can give suggestions to the government," he said.
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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.
