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Maharashtra

Devendra Fadnavis Takes Oath As 18th Chief Minister Of State; Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar Sworn In As Dy CMs

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BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on Thursday in the presence of PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other NDA leaders. 

Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP’s Ajit Pawar were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers.

This oath-taking ceremony marked Fadnavis’s third stint as Maharashtra Chief Minister. The 54-year-old leader first served in the top post from October 2014 to November 19, becoming the youngest CM of the state. Fadnavis’s second stint, though, lasted only five days, from November 23 to 28, 2019 after the undivided Shiv Sena walked out of an alliance with the BJP. 

Shinde, who was the Chief Minister in the previous Mahayuti coalition government, was reportedly not happy as he had to cede the top post to the ally BJP, and was reluctant to take the deputy CM post.  However, after Shinde was requested by his MLAs to accept the post of DyCM, he confirmed his decision and took oath along with ally and NCP chief Pawar. 

The formation of the new government comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls and results on November 23.

Grand ceremony

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders were present at Azad Maidan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami were also present at the event.
Union Ministers including Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Chirag Paswan, along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also graced the occasion.

Prominent celebrities such as cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Madhuri Dixit were among those in attendance.

On Wednesday, Fadnavis, with Shinde and Ajit Pawar, met Governor Radhakrishnan to formally stake claim to form a government, presenting letters of support from the coalition partners. 

Before that, Fadnavis was elected as leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting on Wednesday morning.

Special arrangements were made to accommodate 40,000 BJP supporters and a separate seating arrangement was made for 2,000 VVIPs, including leaders from various religions for the grand ceremony.

More than 4,000 police personnel were deployed for security in and around the swearing-in venue. 

The Mahayuti alliance won a whopping 230 seats out of 288 Assembly seats in the November 20 elections. The BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena and NCP got 57 and 41 seats respectively. 

Maharashtra

Muslim organizations’ legal action to register case against Kirit Somaiya

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Mumbai: Muslim organizations have now started legal proceedings against Mumbai BJP leaders and former MP Kirit Somaiya. In an important meeting of Muslim elders and scholars in the Mumbai Peace Committee, it was decided that a case should be registered against Kirit Somaiya for disturbing communal harmony in Mumbai city, creating enmity between two communities, and spreading religious hatred. Applications should be filed in various police stations of the city to register a case against Kirit Somaiya. Despite all these legal proceedings, if the police is unable to register a case against Kirit Somaiya, then they should approach the court against it. Muslim organizations have also decided to knock on the door of the court if the case is not registered.

Mumbai Peace Committee President Fareed Sheikh said that the atmosphere of the city has deteriorated due to the provocations of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and the loudspeaker removal campaign against mosques. There is also a risk of communal violence and religious hatred. This has also created a rift between Hindus and Muslims. Therefore, a request has been made to the Mumbai Police to register a case against Kirit Somaiya. At the same time, we have also demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis take action against the mischievous leaders because this is deteriorating the atmosphere of Maharashtra. Maulana Ijaz Ahmed Kashmiri, the preacher and imam of Handiwala Mosque, said that the provocation of Kirit Somaiya regarding the removal of loudspeakers from mosques in Mumbai has led to communal tension and in such a situation, a law and order problem has arisen in Maharashtra and Mumbai.

He said that this meeting was held regarding the issue of loudspeakers in mosques as well as the legal action against Kirit Somaiya’s provocation, in which it was decided that NGOs and organizations will approach the police stations to register a case against Kirit Somaiya. If a case is not registered despite all these requests, then the court should be approached soon. He said that it is very important to stop leaders like Kirit Somaiya to maintain a peaceful atmosphere in Mumbai. Kirit Somaiya has started a campaign to make Mumbai free of loudspeakers, due to which he visits police stations within the limits of mosques and tries to put pressure on police officers, due to which there is law and order here. The problem of discipline arises. In all these situations, there is a risk of tension in Mumbai. Therefore, we also demand from the government to take action against leaders like Kirit Somaiya and make efforts to maintain peace and order in Mumbai city. Maulana Anis Ashrafi, Naeem Sheikh, Shakir Sheikh, APCR head Aslam Ghazi, Advocate Abdul Karim Pathan were also present in this meeting.

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Maharashtra

Accused of beating blind woman in disabled compartment of Mumbai local train arrested

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Mumbai: The Railway PRP has claimed to have arrested Mohammad Ismail Hassan Ali for allegedly beating up a blind woman in a disabled compartment in a Mumbai local train. Mohammad Ismail Hassan Ali was travelling in a disabled compartment with his pregnant wife and 10-year-old daughter in a train departing from Mumbai’s CST railway station. During this, a blind woman, 33, entered the compartment. Other passengers requested Hassan Ali to give up his seat for the disabled woman. He refused. During this, the victim abused him, so Hassan Ali, 40, got angry and started beating up the woman. Somehow, the passengers in the compartment saved the blind woman and the beating went viral on social media, after which comments on it also started on social media. Taking notice of this, Kalyan GRP took action and arrested Mohammad Ismail Hassan, a resident of Mumbra, and the matter has been handed over to the police for further investigation. A case has also been registered against Hassan Ali for traveling in a disabled compartment without any excuse, assaulting, and violating the rights of a blind passenger.

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Maharashtra

Traffic police collect fines worth over Rs. 556 crore

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‎Mumbai: Through the ‘Mumbai One State One Challan’ digital portal, the Mumbai Traffic Police Department has collected challans worth a whopping Rs 556 crore 64 lakh 21 thousand 950 (₹5,564,219,050) between January 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025. This revelation came through an RTI application. During the said period, a total of 1,81,613 online complaints were received on the portal, out of which 1,07,850 complaints were rejected. That is, about 59% of the complaints were rejected.

Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Galgali had sought information from the Mumbai Traffic Police on e-challan complaints. According to Mumbai Traffic Police, the classification of complaints received based on vehicle types (such as two-wheelers, four-wheelers, goods vehicles, passenger vehicles, etc.) is not available on the ‘One State One Challan’ portal, due to which it is currently impossible to analyse the action taken on specific vehicle categories.
‎Complaint Investigation Procedure:

‎All complaints are investigated at the Multimedia Cell, Traffic Headquarters, Worli, Mumbai. It involves examining the images of the vehicle and the visual evidence around it. If the images or evidence are not clear, it is sent to the concerned traffic department or police station for investigation. The final decision to uphold or cancel the challan will be taken only after receiving the local investigation report.
‎RTI activist Anil Galgali said that it is the need of the hour that the e-challan system should be transparent. Citizens should be given a full and fair opportunity to present their views and every complaint should be investigated fairly and thoroughly.

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