Siddaramaiah's 75th birthday bash an attempt to 'finish off' Shivakumar politically: Nalin Kumar
Bengaluru, July 7: Taking a dig at the 75th birthday bash planned for former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday said it is being organised to "finish off" state Congress chief D K Shivakumar politically, and the saffron party has nothing to fear from it.
Noting that the event is aimed at sending out a message to Congress high command and to put pressure on them to name him as the CM candidate for 2023 assembly polls, poking fun at the grand old party he said, the BJP is ready to support Siddaramaiah to gather more people for the programme, if he wants.
"We are very happy, let Siddaramanna (Siddaramaiah) gather another four to five lakh people, if he wants we (BJP) will cooperate. We are not jealous, but Shivakumar has not slept for a couple of days. Siddaramotsava is not being organised against the BJP, it is against Shivakumar," Kateel said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, the bash is being organised for Siddaramaiah to maintain his existence in the Congress, show his strength to the high command, and it is a technique to put pressure on the party leadership to declare him as the next Chief Minister.
"It is an attempt to put Congress high command in a fix through a pressure tactic and to finish off (politically) Shivakumar. This is Siddaramaiah's tactic," he added.
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 assembly polls in Karnataka next year.
There have been several instances of open display of one-upmanship between two leaders in the past.
Further accusing Siddaramaiah of having tried to politically finish off JD(S), also its chief and former PM H D Deve Gowda in the past, Kateel said, "after joining Congress and gaining power, he kept all the true Congress people outside. To ensure he becomes CM, he kept Dalit CM candidate Mallikarjun Kharge out of the race and defeated G Parameshwara."
"Now this tactic is to finish off Shivakumar, so we are not afraid, Shivakumar is afraid, it has spoiled the sleep of Shivakumar and Congress people. We will instead support him (Siddaramaiah) to gather more people," he added.
Siddaramaiah's supporters and well-wishers, including several senior Congress leaders and former ministers, have planned a massive convention at Davangere on August 3, which is also being seen as a show of strength by the former CM's camp as he turns 75.
Also, 'Siddaramotsava' is also planned to be organised in every district and assembly constituency, till September 3, aimed at projecting Siddaramaiah and his contributions, which is being seen as an attempt to send a message to both the high command and 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).
Siddaramaiah, who was earlier Chief Minister from 2013-18, had recently said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has agreed to attend the big bash.
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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.
