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Maharashtra

Thackeray calls for scrapping Election Commission, warns of anarchy after 2024

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In a stunning statement, Shiv Sena-UBT President and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said the party name-symbol verdict of Election Commission was “unacceptable” and demanded that the poll panel must be “disbanded”.

Thackeray’s shocker came at a media conference when he termed the EC ruling of last Friday as “incorrect” and said his party has challenged it in the Supreme Court, while apprehending a “dictatorship” in the country after 2024.

“Such undemocratic decisions cannot be made on the basis of money power… It’s an unconstitutional verdict. We demand that the ECI should be dissolved, an impartial EC should be elected like the judges, and till then its work should be handled by the Supreme Court,” roared Thackeray.

He sought for the need to “elect” and not “appoint” election commissioners with a proper procedure, on the lines of the procedures of appointing judges in the Supreme Court.

Thackeray warned that if the scenario is not halted, then the 2024 elections may be the last in the country and after that anarchy will begin, and called upon all parties to remain vigilant.

He termed the latest political developments as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strategy to systematically destroy the Shiv Sena for which it had contracted (Chief Minister) Eknath Shinde.

Last Friday, the EC had declared the faction led by CM Shinde as the “real” one and awarded it the original party’s name Shiv Sena and election symbol of bow and arrow, sparking howls of protests from the Thackeray side.

Questioning the haste in the matter, Thackeray pointed out that his group had requested the EC to defer its ruling till the matter of suspended MLAs is pending in the SC.

If the EC wanted to select who would get the party name-symbol on the basis of their legislative strength, “then why did they ask for affidavits, certificates and other documents for which we spent lakhs of rupees”, he said, adding that they should have taken into consideration the timeline of the chain of events in the matter.

“Everything has been stolen from us… The name and symbol of our party, even the (temporary) symbol of ‘Flaming Torch’ may be snatched, but they cannot steal the name Thackeray. We have challenged the EC ruling in the SC and the matter will come up tomorrow (Febeuary 21),” said Thackeray.

After the EC’s order, a livid Sena-UBT chief spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut claimed on Sunday that an amount of over Rs 2,000 crore was spent to grab the party’s name-symbol and has threatened to make more exposes on this in the coming days.

Thackeray held discussions with his top leaders and district party heads to decide the future course of action, the upcoming Budget Session of Maharashtra Legislature, the upcoming cases in the SC, etc., even as his party units protested in different parts of the state against the EC.

Maharashtra

Three arrested in theft at Sewri Jain temple; police track down accused even after damaging CCTV

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Mumbai: The police have claimed to have arrested three masked robbers who ransacked a Jain temple in the limits of the Sewri RA Kadwai Marg police station. On April 22 at 2 am, three unidentified robbers broke the lock of the Jain temple and entered the temple. They stole the idol’s ornaments – gold tikka, gold kapati, silver mace, donation box worth a total of more than Rs 7 lakh and cash and fled.

During the theft, the unidentified robbers had damaged the CCTV camera and video footage and had also cut its wires, so it was difficult to find them, but the police team examined more than 70 CCTV footage at 29 places in the area, in which these accused were identified. The accused had covered their faces with a handkerchief so that they could not be identified. However, using technology, the police arrested the three thieves, Sunil Singh Suraj Singh, Rahul Singh Parveen Singh, and Jagar Dinesh Singh Vaghela. The stolen goods and equipment have been recovered from the possession of the accused. This operation was carried out under the leadership of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti on the instructions of Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Chaudhary and DCP Ragasudha.

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Maharashtra

SP leader Raees Sheikh writes to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vishnu demanding special trains for UP and Bihar

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Mumbai: In the wake of the unavailability of train tickets for North Indians from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Samajwadi Party legislator Raees Sheikh on Saturday demanded that the Railways run special trains from Mumbai to these states. Sheikh made the demand after images of crowding of people on train tracks and railway platforms and lack of basic civic amenities went viral on social media. A large number of people from the North Indian community are upset due to the lack of proper train services.

In his letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vishnu, Sheikh said that railway stations like Bandra Terminus, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) and Dadar are crowded with passengers for tickets. A large number of North Indians travel to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during the summer, which coincides with the wedding season. Lack of sufficient trains and resulting overcrowding are causing severe hardship to the North Indian community in Mumbai, said MLA Raees Sheikh, who demanded that the Railways immediately run special trains from Mumbai to Gorakhpur, Patna and other places in Purvanchal, departing from Bandra, LTT and CST stations. Sheikh added, “The Railways should also set up proper help desks and GRP assistance booths at major stations in Mumbai to manage the crowd and assist passengers.” He further stressed on the need to add additional general and sleeper coaches in all trains going to UP to accommodate the rush. He also urged the Railways to take all necessary steps to ensure better coordination with the authorities concerned.

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Maharashtra

Accused of verbally abusing Environment Minister Pankaja Munde arrested from Pune

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Mumbai: The Maharashtra Cyber ​​Cell has claimed to have arrested a youth from Bhosari area of ​​Pune for harassing Environment Minister Pankaja Munde. According to details, the accused used to harass the minister continuously through several messages and personal mobiles and also made derogatory comments. After that, the Cyber ​​Cell department received a complaint and when the above number was traced, it was found in Bhosari, Pune. A case was registered under the provisions of the Cyber ​​​​Technology Act and BMS and in this case, the accused Amol Chhagan Rao Kale has been arrested. He is an engineering graduate and is also a resident of Beed district. The accused was produced in the court where an order was issued to keep him on remand. The accused used to harass the minister repeatedly. In this case, the police have also claimed to have seized the mobile phone and other devices used in the crime.

Along with collecting digital evidence, an investigation is also underway to find out who else is involved in this matter. The cyber department takes immediate action on complaints related to women and if someone misuses social media platforms to target women, strict action is taken against them. If someone is found involved in the crime of defaming or threatening women by disclosing their personal information, the cyber department takes strict action against them. The cyber cell has appealed that if any woman is a victim of harassment, she can contact the cyber cell immediately.

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