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7 in fray for 6 Rajya Sabha seats amid ‘horse-trading’ fears in Maharashtra

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With 7 candidates in the fray for 6 seats, the stage is set for elections to the Rajya Sabha from the state amid apprehensions of ‘horse-trading’ being voiced in different quarters, here on Friday.

The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to agree on withdrawing the so-called ‘extra’ candidate for the 6th seat, paving the way for the polls, scheduled on June 10.

A delegation of MVA comprising Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Sunil Kedar and Anil Desai met Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis to explore and ensure unopposed election for the 6 candidates as has been the tradition for over two decades.

However, after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended this afternoon, 7 candidates are left in the race who will compete for the 6 seats in the polls.

The main contest will be between Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Pawar and BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik — both from Kolhapur — and would be a test of credibility and strength for both sides to get their respective nominee elected.

Given the current arithmetic of the state legislative assembly, the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress can easily get one elected and the BJP — which had three earlier, can get 2 elected.

With the help of Independents, smaller parties and the excess votes of their allies, both Sena and BJP are hoping to get their candidate elected for the 6th seat which is now being contested.

Sena’s Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut expressed regrets that the BJP did not honour the proposal to drop its nominee Mahadik to ensure unopposed elections, declared that the MVA will ensure all its four nominees are elected without any hassles.

BJP state president Chandrakant Patil also was confident of getting their third nominee (Mahadik) contending that the seat ‘belongs to the BJP’ and asked the Sena should withdraw its candidate.

NCP’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Sena and Congress leaders slammed the BJP for ‘forcing’ an election for the 6 Rajya Sabha seats rather than honouring the old norms of unopposed elections to the Upper House of Parliament.

“We are hearing that the BJP is preparing to throw money and threaten legislators with Central agencies to ensure their supporta That’s their style of politics, but we are fully confident of getting all our 4 candidates elected,” Raut said.

Patil denied the charges and said that they are not contacting any legislators from the ruling side, and claimed the BJP would overcome the requirements of around 10 votes needed to ensure Mahadik’s victory.

At one point, Patil urged the Sena to give up the RS seat since BJP is a national party and needed it more than a state party (Sena) which should focus on the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council elections where the BJP could give one seat in return.

It may be recalled that a royal scion from the Kolhapur throne, Yuvraj Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje had announced plans to contest the 6th Rajya Sabha seat as an independent, but after failing to get any commitments from either side, withdrew from the race last week.

Maharashtra

Mumbai Police Salary Fraud: Case of fraud registered at Samtanagar Police Station, suspension and dismissal proceedings are also possible

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A salary scam has been revealed in the Mumbai Police Department itself, after which disciplinary action has been taken against two police officers and they have been suspended from service, after which there has been a stir in the police department itself. A salary scam has been exposed in the Mumbai Police Force. Another major action has been taken in this matter. Two police officers involved in this crime have been suspended. A case has been registered at the Samta Nagar Police Station. The then Chief Clerk accused Vijay Chavan and the then Senior Clerk Amul Memram have been suspended from service.

Disciplinary action has been initiated against both of them. In the case registered at the Samta Nagar Police Station, it has been alleged that the salary scam was committed by cheating, preparing fake documents and conspiracy. The order states that both will remain ‘suspended from service’ until the investigation is completed. The suspension orders have been issued by the Joint Commissioner of Police, Administration. It is alleged that non-policemen were involved in the salary scam of crores of rupees by pretending to be police officers. There are serious allegations against the then administrative officers Ram Kishan Goswami, Nagesh Talwadekar, Vijay Chavan and others. It has been claimed that they misused and embezzled government funds by submitting false salary slips. In this case, it is alleged that the government was cheated to the tune of Rs 6 crore 41 lakh 14 thousand 36.

Head Clerk Ajay Rathod and Junior Clerk Amul Meshram are also involved in this case. A case has been registered against the concerned persons under various serious sections including cheating, forgery, preparation of forged documents and destruction of evidence. A legal complaint has been registered under sections 409, 420, 406, 467, 465, 471, 201, 120 (B) and 34 of the IPC.

When did the scam happen?
The scam took place in 2019 and 2020. It is suspected that the scam took place in December 2019 and then in 2020 in the salaries of January, February and then June to September 2020. The investigation has found discrepancies in the salary accounts between 2019 and 2020. A case has been registered against the advertised officers and employees. According to sources, it is suspected that the officers and employees of the administrative and salary departments committed this embezzlement in collusion.

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Maharashtra

Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi demands extension of voter verification deadline in Maharashtra

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Mumbai: Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi met Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chokkalingam and submitted a formal memorandum. In it, he urged for extension of the last date for the Special Summary Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll to August 31, 2026. In his memorandum, Azmi highlighted various practical and technical difficulties faced during the voter verification process in various constituencies. The key issues raised include inconvenience to citizens due to heavy rains and additional pressure on staff on election duty. Many Booth Level Officers (BLOs), a large number of whom are teachers, are juggling this dual responsibility along with their regular school duties, which is leading to severe exhaustion. Furthermore, Azmi drew attention to the logistical challenges. He noted that many BLOs live in remote areas such as Raigad, Thane and Borivali, which makes it difficult for them to reach their designated areas. Given the high population of migrants and people from other states in these regions, the process of document and online verification takes time, making it impossible for BLOs to complete the work within the stipulated time. Azami feared that thousands of eligible voters could remain out of the voter list as a result of administrative and technical delays. He has therefore appealed to the Election Commission to intervene immediately and extend the last date, ensuring that all eligible citizens can be enrolled in the voter list.

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Maharashtra

RSS chief set for dialogue with Gen Z, Gen Alpha in Mumbai; to share nation-building thoughts

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Mumbai, Aug 4: International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) founder Rishabh Shah on Tuesday announced that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat will participate in one of the world’s largest youth-led conferences on August 6, where he is scheduled to interact with members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha on leadership, nation-building and India’s role in uniting the world.

The inaugural session of the conference will revolve around ‘The Role of Youth in Uniting the World, the Indian Way’. The annual gathering will bring together students aged 15 to 19 years with participants representing schools and colleges from different parts of the country.

The event comes at a time when young people across India are becoming increasingly active in discussions on democracy, leadership, governance and nation-building.

Bhagwat is expected to engage with more than 2,000 students from over 100 cities at the event in Mumbai on August 6, which is being described as one of the world’s largest youth-led conferences.

The interaction with the RSS chief will be held at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) during the inaugural ceremony of the annual championship conference of IIMUN, which is marking its 15th anniversary this year.

Speaking to media about the initiative, IIMUN founder Rishabh Shah said the organisation has consistently focused on helping young people understand India’s values while preparing them for leadership roles.

“Our main endeavour is to help youth aged 11 to 19 understand what ‘Bharat’ is and what ‘uniting the world the Bharatiya way’ means. We try to mould the next generation into good leaders. We have been doing this for the past 15 years through various programs. In a year, we aim to organise thousands of programs, which are managed by youth aged 15 to 24. Beyond the age of 24, these individuals move on to different fields — some join politics, others enter films, business, or various other sectors,” Shah told media.

Highlighting the scale of the organisation’s outreach, Shah said nearly 30,000 students have been associated with IIMUN and have actively worked with the platform over the years.

“The number of people who have been impacted is around 7 to 7.5 crore. These are the estimates. As for how many people were actually impacted, you would have to ask them directly,” he added.

Shah also noted that this would be the third occasion on which Mohan Bhagwat would be attending an IIMUN event to interact with the younger generation.

“I believe that organisations like RSS and Indian National Congress, along with other prominent institutions, should be studied by the younger generations. These organisations have different ideologies, and hence, the new generation should learn about them,” he said.

Besides Bhagwat, several prominent personalities, including actor Shabana Azmi, actor Boman Irani and former Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, are also expected to attend the conference.

Emphasising the need to expose young people to diverse streams of thought, Shah said, “No matter what the ideology is, at the end of the day, when we think about Bharat, everyone needs to come together, engage to build leaders of the young Indians as we need all — Savarkar, Sardar Patel, Swami Vivekanand and Mahatma Gandhi — especially this generation.”

Commenting on the recent Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led protests over repeated paper leaks and alleged examination irregularities, Shah said the concerns raised by the students deserved attention irrespective of political affiliations.

“The issues that were raised during the protest were of utmost importance. Neither CJP nor BJP; we need to talk about education. I do believe if the country needs to strengthen, then the education system should also,” he said.

While supporting the need to raise concerns over education, Shah also stressed that public protests should maintain decorum in language and expression.

“The vocabulary used by a few people during the protest, no matter for whom — be it the Prime Minister or the LoP — we should avoid. The protest should be within limits. This generation is frustrated, and now it’s coming out,” he said, attributing part of that frustration to what he described as the influence of vulgar content in sections of the film industry and on social media.

He further argued that the prevailing social and political environment also contributes to the frustration being witnessed among young people.

“This is not entirely the fault of Gen Z but also of the generations before them for the environment that has been created… If a rapist is acquitted, a murderer becomes a parliamentarian, it would obviously affect children because they are aware of these developments. Don’t create the hate. It is being created across party lines and the film industry,” he added.

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