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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

Mumbai MIDC Police major operation… Accused wanted in Bhangarh Galle murder case 9 years ago arrested from Karnataka

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Mumbai: The police have claimed to have arrested a fugitive accused who was wanted for 9 years in a murder case. He was arrested during a search in Goa and Karnataka. In 2017, a tea vendor’s brother, Vizagullah Mohsin, was called by his acquaintance and then in a Bhangarh area under the MIDC limits, Sahib Rao said that he had informed the police. After that, Sahib Rao along with Feroz, Sabir Ali and others surrounded Vizagullah and his relative and then attacked Vizagullah with a pipe from Lokhand, which led to his death. The police had already arrested 6 accused in this murder case. In this, the wanted accused Mehtab Alam Azmatullah was the absconding accused and he was later declared a declared accused. After that, the police received information about the absconding accused that he was hiding his identity and working as a Scorpio in Karnataka. On this basis, the police confirmed it from his relatives and his social media accounts and then laid a trap and arrested him from Karnataka. This action has been taken by Senior Inspector Ghanshyam Nair of DCP Dutta Nalode MIDC on the behest of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Mayor is also unaware of the tender for the Mayor’s Bungalow, the bungalow is surrounded by a garden and this work is under the purview of the Garden and Maintenance Department.

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Regarding the tender for the Mumbai Mayor’s bungalow, Mayor Ritu Tawde has expressed her ignorance about the tender. The Mayor’s bungalow is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India and the tender that has been called is not related to the bungalow and the Mayor is also unaware of it. Various media outlets have reported that a new tender has been floated for the services and amenities related to the residence of the Mumbai Mayor. The explanation of this matter is given below.

The residence of the Mayor of Mumbai is located in the premises of the Virmata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo. The maintenance, repair and upkeep of the entire garden and zoo premises is done by the concerned Garden and Zoo Department.

The Mayor’s residence is a heritage structure, and the work related to it is done by the Heritage Maintenance Department. It has been clearly stated that this tender was not floated by the Maintenance Department.

Therefore, it is clarified that the tender in question and the works described therein relate to the surrounding areas and the zoo premises as a whole, and not to the Mayor’s residence itself. The Mayor has no knowledge of this tender nor does the Mayor have any reason to be aware of it. Furthermore, the Mayor did not request these works. It is specifically noted that the proposed works are not located within the Mayor’s bungalow. The Department and officers who handled the entire tender process have full knowledge of the need for these works and the relevant administrative procedures. Consequently, it is requested not to attempt to link the Mayor with this tender process or the work involved.

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Maharashtra

Mankhurd: Unused toilets in Shivaji Nagar will be converted into a free pharmacy, a gym for women, and a kindergarten: Abu Azmi.

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Mumbai: Many public toilets in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar assembly constituency are in a very dilapidated (out of repair) condition. At many places, these toilets are not needed by the local citizens and are unused. Local MLA Abu Asim Azmi has demanded that all such unused and dilapidated toilets be bulldozed at the earliest and this land be used for public welfare works. MLA Azmi has expressed his determination to build a ‘generic medical shop’, a modern ‘gym’ for women only and a ‘kindergarten’ for children on these lands for the convenience of the citizens. In this regard, correspondence has been written to the Municipal Commissioner and the administrative officers of ‘M East’ ward and it is strongly demanded that this proposal be approved at the earliest. Public places should be used for the direct benefit of the people. Removing unused toilets and providing medical and social facilities there will greatly benefit the women and children of the area. If the administration gives immediate permission, we will start the real work.

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