Yashwant Sinha urges Murmu to affirm she won't be "rubber stamp Rashtrapati"
Bengaluru, Jul 3: Urging his rival, BJP-led NDA's candidate for presidential polls, Droupadi Murmu to make an affirmation that she will not be a "rubber stamp Rashtrapati", Yashwant Sinha, the joint candidate of opposition parties on Sunday expressed concerns about accusations being leveled against the judiciary.
Noting that filthiest accusations are being levelled against the judiciary, following certain observations made by it against the former spokesperson of the BJP- Nupur Sharma, he termed it as unprecedented, and a very sad development in India's democracy.
The former Union Minister also accused the central government of misusing agencies like ED, CBI, Income Tax to fix political opponents.
Sinha, who is in Bengaluru as part of his poll campaign, attended the Congress Legislature Party meeting here, that was attended by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, state party chief D K Shivakumar, host of party leaders and legislators.
Pointing out that two days ago the Supreme Court of India came out with certain observations against a former BJP spokesperson and subsequently the Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said at a function that the 'Judiciary is answerable to the Constitution and Constitution alone', he said, "I welcome this statement, this very firm and clear statement from the highest Court of the land and I congratulate the Chief Justice for making this assertion."
"...unfortunately after the Supreme Court made certain observations against the former spokesperson of the BJP, you and I are aware that in the social media the Judiciary has not only come in for criticism, it has come in for accusations, the filthiest accusations are being leveled against the judiciary, this is unprecedented, this is a very very sad development in our democracy," he told reporters after the CLP meet.
"We all hold the judiciary in high esteem and we can't say that we agree with one order of the judiciary, but we don't accept another order of the judiciary," Sinha further said.
The BJP was thrilled when the same judiciary passed an order on Ram Janmabhoomi and the whole country accepted it, because that order came from the judiciary, he pointed out and said "but today, if they (SC) are being critical of certain developments these people are going against the judiciary that is a very unwelcome, dangerous development in our democracy."
Sinha, in response to a question said that he will not be meeting JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda during this visit. The regional party has indicated about supporting his opponent Murmu, in the July 18 presidential election.
Accusing the Central government of misusing agencies like ED, CBI, Income Tax to fix political opponents, Sinha, reminding that he too has held some important posts in the government said, "never before did it ever cross our mind that the agencies of the government can and should be used against political opponents."
"It has become a common practice now, any one from the opposition parties, who tries to raise his head or an issue is immediately issued a notice by one of these agencies," he said, adding respectable leaders are being made to appear before the ED, not because it has relevant questions to ask, but because the government wants to insult.
Sinha questioned "whether this is democracy?", as he tried to highlight the alleged toppling of governments recently in Maharashtra, and earlier in states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, by the BJP.
"If the ruling party at the Centre, uses its money power and misuses its governmental power to break parties, to insult the mandate of the people by bringing down elected governments, then to us at least democracy is negated, it is assailed, it is attacked in a manner which is not acceptable," he said.
He also condemned the BJP government in Karnataka for attempting to communalise the minds of the young generation by introducing a new school curriculum "coloured by the ruling party's ideological agenda".
Stating that he has great personal regard for the candidate of the ruling party, Sinha however, urged Murmu to assure the people of India certain concerns, which he claimed are uppermost in their minds, in the prevailing grim circumstances in the country.
"I have pledged that, if elected, I shall be answerable to the Constitution, and to the Constitution alone. I shall exercise my authority conscientiously, without fear or favour, whenever the executive or other institutions break the Constitutional checks and balances. Please make a similar pledge," he told Murmu.
"I have affirm that India needs a Rashtrapati who serves as the impartial Custodian of the Constitution and not a silent or a rubber stamp Rashtrapati. Please make a similar affirmation," he added.
Sinha also asked her to commit that she will have no hesitation to restrain the central government if it in any way aids and abets outrageously undemocratic practices like 'Operation Kamal', declare that she will speak out against any attempts aimed at communal polarisation of India, and announce that she will defend the Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech and other rights and freedoms the Constitution grants.
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.
