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Frowning at Congress’ ‘leakage’, Shiv Sena whacked by a ‘political cloudburst’!

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4 years ago

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Uddhav-Thackeray

Exactly a month ago (May 21), the Shiv Sena had expressed serious concerns over the badly “leaking” Congress with so many leaders deserting the party, and how the youth of India would lose confidence in the grand old party.

A month later, the Sena has been knocked down and practically washed out, by an unexpected “political cloudburst” that hit the saffron party last Monday (June 20-21) night, with a series of nightmarish developments in quick succession.

The Sena was rudely shaken, when it became clear by early Tuesday morning that a major storm in the form of a “MLAs’ revolt” was raging and threatened to uproot the 30-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress.

Ironically, on May 21, the Sena was distressed over the desertion by leaders like Sunil Jakhar and Hardik Patel in quick succession, preceded by Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada.

“The Congress’ condition is like a cloudburst. The problem is where to put the patch and seal it. The leaks started on the concluding day of the party’s recent Chintan Shivir in Rajasthan,” the sagely Sena had said.

Perhaps unknown to the Sena, it was around that time the group of rebels led by senior party leader and Minister Eknath Shinde were busy hatching their own little political deluge – with a flood of outgoing MLAs – that now threatens to sink the MVA.

Sena’s anxiety for its ally came on a day when the Congress observed the death anniversary of the late ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (May 21), and ironically, the “Hindutva” party’s own countdown to a probable diminution started on the Summer Solstice Day (June 21).

There is seething rage and helplessness at various levels in the Sena, how it failed to catch the signals of a rebellion brewing up right under its noses, why it could not plug the “leaks” in time after they were belatedly detected and finally culminated into a flash flood within barely 48 hours.

There are reports that the State Intelligence Department (SID) and other agencies had sounded out drab warnings around March-April on the developments, but the MVA failed to take them seriously or react.

Some Congress and NCP senior leaders were visibly irked over how such a large chunk of MLAs could “disappear” into the dark night of June 20-21 at a single shot, undetected and unsuspected, and by the time the grim reality dawned on them the next morning, it was already “too late”.

A Congress leader pointed out that the most shocking aspect was the “Sena MLAs’ quietly slipping off”, taking advantage of the fracas witnessed during the MLCs polls results on Monday and the boisterous celebrations that followed.

One leader said that it has now surfaced how the MLAs sneaked out citing bland reasons like “going to the loo,” “getting a headache”, “not well”, “upset tummy” etc, and vanished from the “party scene” altogether.

A Congress leader even questioned how the MLAs’ police escorts got no whiff of the murky goings-on, why they did not alert the police control or other authorities especially while crossing the district or state borders, and perhaps helped nip the rebellion in the bud.

The current status is the Sena is left with around 18 MLAs, the rebel group is claiming the support of around 40-plus MLAs, enough for a vertical split and joining any potential new dispensation that may materialise.

Barely 48 hours after the shock revolt, the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray quietly vacated his official residence and shifted to his private home, amid speculation that he would rather quit – to save the party from a split and the government from a downfall.

Watching the party and government slipping out of the hands like sand, the Sena, along with NCP-Congress are making all-out efforts to salvage the situation or prepare to sit in the Opposition – a classic scenario of hoping for the best and preparing for the worst!

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Municipal Corporation Elections 2025-26: Final voter lists with voter photographs available for sale at the Central Election Office

Published

11 hours ago

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January 6, 2026

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Mumbai: State Election Commission, Maharashtra has announced a revised schedule for publication of polling station wise voter lists in connection with the Municipal Corporation General Elections 2025-26. The order states that the complete municipality wise voter list shall be published as soon as it is completed. Accordingly, Mumbai Municipal Corporation has received polling station wise voter lists of 226 out of 227 wards from the State Election Commission today, January 6, 2026. The said lists along with polling station wise voter photographs are available for sale at the concerned Central Election Offices from Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The Municipal Administration appeals to the citizens/political parties to purchase these voter lists from the concerned Central Election Offices.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai municipal elections: A series of rebellions among political parties

Published

13 hours ago

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January 6, 2026

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Mumbai: Ahead of the Mumbai municipal elections, the migration of disgruntled party leaders to other parties has begun. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has suffered a major setback before the municipal elections. Several MNS leaders have joined Shiv Sena Shinde Sena. Along with this, Santosh Dhuri, a close associate of Raj Thackeray, joined the BJP. Even after this, the party change is not stopping and many senior MNS leaders have joined Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde and raised the flag of rebellion against the party. Before the BMC elections in Mumbai, Raj and Uddhav Thackeray had formed an electoral alliance, but the rebel leaders of these parties are still separating from the party, due to which there is a long series of rebellions in both the parties. Many leaders, unhappy with not getting tickets, are leaving their party and joining other parties. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena General Secretary Raja Bhau Chogle, MNS spokesperson Hemant Kamble, MNS Chhatrapati Sena General Secretary Rahul Topalonde, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena Sandesh Shetty, Munawar Sheikh, Ashish Mark, Prathamesh Banerjee, Santosh Yadav joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. On this occasion, Shinde welcomed all of them into the party and wished them well for their future. On this occasion, Shiv Sena General Secretary Rahul Shivale, Shiv Sena Secretary Sushant Shelar, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sheetal Mahatre and all local office bearers and workers of Shiv Sena were present.

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Maharashtra

“I Picked Him Up from the Footpath and Made Him an MLA, But He Did Nothing for the Party”: Abu Asim Azmi’s Sharp Attack on Rais Shaikh

Published

16 hours ago

on

January 6, 2026

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Mumbai: (Kamar Ansari)The internal rift within the Samajwadi Party in Maharashtra has now come out in the open. Maharashtra Samajwadi Party President Abu Asim Azmi, in an interview to a private YouTube channel, launched a scathing attack on party MLA from Bhiwandi, Rais Shaikh. Azmi claimed that he had “picked Rais Shaikh up from the footpath and made him an MLA on a Samajwadi Party seat,” but alleged that Shaikh has never worked for the welfare or strengthening of the party.

Abu Asim Azmi accused Rais Shaikh of continuously working against the Samajwadi Party and said that he should resign from the party on moral grounds. According to Azmi, Rais Shaikh personally conducted interviews of candidates for the Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation and Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections and played a key role in ticket distribution. He further alleged that Congress candidates were deliberately fielded against Samajwadi Party candidates in order to defeat them.

Azmi stated that when the party refused to give a ticket to Rais Shaikh’s brother, Shaikh, out of resentment, encouraged his supporters to contest elections on Congress tickets against Samajwadi Party candidates. He also accused Rais Shaikh of promoting dynastic politics, which the party strongly opposed, leading to the denial of tickets.

On the other hand, Rais Shaikh has so far failed to clearly explain where his political loyalties lie. While Congress candidates are reportedly contesting elections with his support, he has not formally resigned from the Samajwadi Party. Abu Asim Azmi said that Rais Shaikh’s “double-faced politics” would soon be exposed before the public. He also hinted at strict action against Shaikh after the municipal corporation elections.

Responding to the allegations, Rais Shaikh claimed that several political parties are using his photographs without his consent to mislead voters and gain electoral advantage. He maintained that he was not involved in any decision related to ticket distribution within the Samajwadi Party and that he had been sidelined by the party much earlier. According to Shaikh, the candidates contesting on Congress tickets have been given tickets by the Congress party itself, and he has no connection with those decisions.

Amid this political tug-of-war, Muslim voters associated with the Samajwadi Party find themselves in a state of confusion. They are unsure whether to support Congress candidates allegedly backed by Rais Shaikh or to vote for official Samajwadi Party candidates, as it remains unclear who is aligned with whom in this election.

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