UPA alliance to defeat communal forces: Saleem Ahmed
Secular parties and like minded parties have held a high command level meeting to discuss about keeping communal forces away from the power. Our aim is to stop Bjp from regaining power at the centre and we will succeed in our task.
Secretary of All India Congress Committee Mangaluru based Saleem Ahmed visited Mangaluru recently. Saleem Ahmed plunged into active politics while he was a student in Bengaluru. He had served as the National president of Congress student wing NSUI, General secretary of Congress youth wing and chief director of Nehru youth association of Union youth service and sports department. He was also elected as the member of legislative council for two terms and served as chief whip as well. Presently he is the party in charge of Telangana.
He spoke about the preparation of congress for the upcoming 2019 general election with Varthabharati.
Q. How is congress preparing for the upcoming general election?
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The process of creating political strategy has begun under the leadership of AICC president Rahul Gandhi. He has instructed to build the party from root level, organise the party from booth level and develop the party according to the ideologies of congress. We will inform people about the achievements of congress government. Various committees have been formed.
Q. Young voters had supported BJP in the last general election. what plans you have to to attract them?
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In the last election BJP and Narendra Modi had made many promises to the young voters. The main one of which as creating two crore jobs every year. Believing these promises the youth had voted for bjp. But forget about 2 crore jobs bjp has even failed to create 4 lakh jobs in a year. They had promised to bring back black money, eradicate corruption and take the country to a new height through development. But they have failed in fulfilling all these promises. For the last four years Pm Modi is misleading the people through his rhetorics. Congress will form the government in the centre. Rahul Gandhi will become the Prime Minister. BJP is involved in many scandals. They are not ready to speak about Rafale deal. They have failed to answer the questions. People have lost hope on them. People will support congress again in the next election. That is why we have made alliance with like minded and secular regional parties.
Q. On what issue congress will fight this election?
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In last election BJP had grabbed power by misleading the people. Earlier UPA government had introduced several good projects. BJP government has implemented these projects with different names. They have not done any good work on their own. Some organisations are trying to harm the communal harmony of the country. BJP government is not trying to stop them. Congress has been trying to protect the interest of all sections of the society. It will continue its work. We have given a solid secular government in the past and we promise to do our best in the future. We will go to the people with all these issues and request them to vote for congress.
Q. Congress had experienced set back in the last state assembly election. On coastal region also BJP emerged strong. Your opinion on this?
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BJP had used some incidents that took place in coastal Karnataka during election. BJP had misled people about these incidents and managed to bag the votes. Congress through its pro people programs has introduced many several thousand crore rupees projects. But it was not publicised much. Other less important issues and incidents got more publicity than developmental works. This was the reason for our setback in the election.
Q. How will you manage the challenge of election compatibility and problem of alliance leadership in national level?
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Secular parties and like minded parties have held a high command level meeting to discuss about keeping communal forces away from the power. Our aim is to stop BJP from regaining power at the centre and we will succeed in our task.
Q. There is a complaint that Congress always gives priority to senior leaders. How will you develop young leadership in the party?
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Congress has always given priority to young leaders. More importantly, after Rahul Gandhi became the president youth have given more importance in the party and they are given opportunities to manage the party wherever we have power. At the same time senior leaders are also given equal importance. We seek their guidance and advise. seniors and juniors must walk together.
Q. Do you have plans to contest for next election?
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Last time I had contested from Haveri. This time there is a plan to contest from either Haveri or Bengaluru central. Final decision yet to be taken. Whatever high command decides I will stick to it.
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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.
