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Maharashtra

80-hour regime: Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis ‘ko gussa kyun aata hai’

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Thirty months after BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar suddenly took oath as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively, in the morning of November 23, 2019, that incident continues to haunt and embarrass them.

Despite their best efforts to chase away the ghost of that clandestine swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan that morning, it keeps popping up frequently in the most unexpected ways — this time raked up by none other than Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray himself at his huge rally on May 14.

Replying to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s criticism, Thackeray declared that he allied with the Congress (and NCP) openly, not in an ‘early morning’ oath-taking ceremony of the 80-hour-long two-man regime — and his words pierced the target.

Willy-nilly, the CM also hinted at the ‘real secret’ behind why the Central probe agencies like the CBI, ED, NCB, I-T and the NIA keep hounding only the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party leaders for over two years.

The Shiv Sena President thundered saying if the BJP and MNS do not stop their vicious politics, hounding by the Central agencies, lodging false cases against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government leaders or their families, then “we won’t forgive or spare you”.

“Tomorrow, they will go after Dawood (Ibrahim Kaskar) but if he joins them, he will be made a cabinet minister… If that (2-man govt) ‘experiment’ had succeeded, then people like Anil Dashmukh or Nawab Malik would have been in your good books,” said Thackeray amid applause.

As the MVA government trudges to the mid-way mark in its five year term, BJP’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis continues to cry over the spilt milk, his ‘birth-right’ to power that he was unceremoniously deprived of after the 2019 Assembly elections.

The Ajit Pawar-Fadnavis duo has been lampooned and ridiculed since that indiscretion in Raj Bhavan, sans any trappings, but with the drapes drawn tightly to keep off peeping-toms prying at the political hustle enacted that dawn when the groggy state was engaged in its morning ablutions.

Once, displaying rare courage, Fadnavis confessed that “it should not have happened”, and again hammered Thackeray for ‘backstabbing BJP’ to grab power with the help of the Congress-NCP.

Even the much-pilloried Ajit Pawar, painted as a ‘black sheep’, feebly tried to justify the swearing-in event, saying it was not in the early morning as speculated, but “at 8 a.m.”, though later the NCP hugged him and rewarded him with the same post as Fadnavis did for 80 hours!

Wily Uncle and NCP President Sharad Pawar also never missed an opportunity to take a swipe at the dawn ceremony in his characteristic style.

In late-2020, when Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari published a coffee table book, Pawar wrote to him how everything was there in his coffee table book “except a particular swearing-in ceremony”.

Congress state President Nana Patole also took a potshot saying Ajit Pawar was to “explain” it at an appropriate time, but has nothing till date.

“So much water has flowed under the bridge… We 3 parties are now working together, the government is running well… Why do you keep raising it repeatedly,” an irked Ajit Pawar said of that 80-hour fling, Monday.

There have been heated exchanges inside the Maharashtra legislature and outside with the MVA leaders laughing and leering at that morning venture while livid unrepentant BJP leaders shielding it.

Maharashtra

Fugitive accused arrested in Mumbai Powai murder case, anger over dispute a week ago was the motive for the murder, police investigation after the murder concluded

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Mumbai: Crime Branch Unit 10 has claimed to have arrested the absconding accused involved in the murder from Surat Gujarat. According to the details, on May 24, the body of a 55-year-old man named Yusuf was found in Powai Tanga village, Saki Vihar. Someone had stabbed him to death with a sharp weapon and stabbed him on the chest. The police registered a murder case in this matter and started investigation. Then they examined about 100 CCTV footage in this matter and it was found that the accused had fled after the murder in Gujarat. After that, the police arrested the accused from here and handed him over to Powai police for further action. The accused, Deepak alias Deepa Nathu Prasad Verma, 26, had an argument with Yusuf over something a week ago, which angered him and he killed Yusuf and fled. The police have taken action in this matter and claimed to have arrested the accused and solved the case. This action was taken by DCP Detection Nonath Dhole on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti. .

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Maharashtra

Mumbai ANC Action Drug trafficker Haroon sent to Yeru Da Jail for one year

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Mumbai: Anti-Narcotics Cell ANC has sent drug smuggler Haroon Farooq Khan (41) to Pune Yerwada Jail for one year. A case has been registered against him under the NDPS Act. The accused was found involved in drug trafficking even after being released on bail, so while taking action against him, ANC proposed action against him under the PIT NDPS Act, 1988 and after approval from the Home Ministry, he has been sent to Yerwada Jail for one year. Haroon is active in drug trafficking. There are 8 NDPS cases registered against him in different police stations.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Commissioner Ashwini Bhide Tightens Civic Maintenance Supervision, Pushes In-House Repairs & Flood Preparedness In Suburbs

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Mumbai: Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide on Wednesday directed civic officials to strengthen supervision in maintenance works and maximise the use of in-house municipal labour for routine infrastructure repairs instead of relying on contractors. During an inspection visit to civic maintenance facilities in the Andheri and Vile Parle areas of the western suburbs, Bhide said that while the Maintenance Department has adequate manpower, the supervision by Junior Engineers (JEs) lacked the expected level of rigor.

She also instructed assistant commissioners of all civic wards to review staffing levels at every maintenance post and ensure that routine works such as laying curb stones, repairing footpaths and fixing road dividers are carried out primarily by municipal workers. The commissioner also directed officials to minimise the appointment of contractors for regular maintenance activities and issue necessary instructions to assistant engineers, secondary engineers and junior engineers.

Bhide inspected sanitation posts, pesticide department facilities, road repair and storage depots, and maintenance posts during the visit. While interacting with sanitation workers, she instructed officers to maintain sanitation and pest control facilities in good condition and ensure adequate service amenities for staff.

The commissioner further directed assistant commissioners to conduct regular inspections of civic checkpoints in their respective jurisdictions and prepare detailed regional maintenance plans. She said the plans should be implemented in phases through a combination of in-house labour and contractors wherever required to ensure visible improvement in road maintenance works across Mumbai.

As part of the inspection, Bhide also reviewed pre-monsoon preparedness works at the solid waste management post near Andheri Railway Station, the pesticide post at Tata Compound in Vile Parle (West), and the conservation post at Bajaj Marg in Vile Parle (West). She additionally visited Irla Nala, SNDT Nala and the Gajdarbandh pumping station.

Highlighting flood mitigation measures, Bhide instructed officials to ensure that the Irla Rainwater Harvesting Centre in Juhu functions at full capacity on a continuous basis to provide relief from waterlogging in areas such as Milan Metro, Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle railway station and the Juhu-Vile Parle Development Scheme area.

She also directed immediate implementation of measures to prevent solid waste and floating debris from flowing towards Juhu beach.

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