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Amit Shah’s Ganeshotsav trip to Maharashtra may be devotional-cum-political

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 Over two months after the alliance government of Shiv Sena rebel faction leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took charge, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to visit Mumbai on September 5, at the height of the Ganeshotsav festival.

Shah’s customary annual visit to the state’s biggest festival for the past few years used to be a largely religious affair – visiting the Lalbaugcha Raja and other important venues, and taking ‘darshan’ of Lord Ganesha at the homes of several BJP bigwigs in the city.

This year, however, the devotional menu may be laced with a subtle political docket intended to strengthen the Shinde-Fadnavis regime – currently bedevilled by internal, external and legal hassles, plus other political ghosts.

Fadnavis acknowledged all the possibilities with a grin, indicating “there will be a political agenda” during Shah’s visit on Monday, but declined to elaborate.

The Shinde-Fadnavis government has been struggling to attain credibility among the masses after it toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, led by Uddhav Thackeray.

The MVA has viciously targeted and vituperatively lampooned them for the manner in which the government came to power, with embarrassing choruses of “Khoke Ok” (boxes, implying Rs 50 crore), “traitors”, etc. haunting the “ED sarkar” and needling the 40-odd legislators of the rebel group who sneaked out from June 10 onwards.

The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena even went a step ahead comparing them with a famous Arabian Nights tale of 40 dubious characters, attracting howls of protests and bitter counter-attacks from the “turncoats”.

Shinde faced flak for the massive delays in the cabinet expansion with 18 Ministers – which took place 41 days after he and Fadnavis took oath on June 30 – followed by the hiccups in allocating portfolios, and the hanging swords of the legal tussle in the Supreme Court.

Now, he confronts discontent afresh with many MLAs from his and BJP side clamouring for ministerial berths, and while a second round of expansion may take a while, Shah may cast a benign “glance” and placate the restless legislators.

There is the pending issue of the proposed tie-up with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, which the BJP has been hoping for since the past over a couple of years.

Once a sharp BJP-baiter, Raj Thackeray apparently sobered up his pilgrimage to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2019, and now the “ED sarkar” is “after” him for a much-anticipated partnership, ahead of the upcoming crucial civic polls.

After recovering from a hip surgery, Raj Thackeray has been the flavour of the season for the BJP with a host of leaders calling on him, like Shinde, Fadnavis, state and city party heads Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Ashish Shelar, respectively, and others.

There’s intense speculation that Shah may home in on the reluctant Raj Thackeray and nudge him into a cooperative alliance – for the mutual benefit of MNS-BJP-Shinde Group – in the civic elections, to begin with, and get a “Thackeray” on the BJP side.

In recent weeks, some prominent Congressmen like ex-CM Ashok Chavan, have been doing multiple rounds of several BJP leaders, rattling the party’s state unit.

However, Congress leaders and Chavan have been claiming that these meetings pertain to “official or constituency-related works”, but the political grapevine is furiously spreading into a vineyard!

It is not immediately clear whether Shah will devote any attention to this new political development – that may well spell further doom for the MVA.

Maharashtra

Mumbai bus travel becomes more expensive, fares increase

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SOURCE: FREE PRESS JUORNAL

Mumbai : Mumbai citizens have been hit by inflation ahead of the BMC elections. The fare hike for BEST buses has been approved. An additional fare of twice the fare will be implemented from today, which will now mean that BEST passengers will have to pay an additional fare, which will affect the pockets of the passengers. The BEST administration has decided to implement the new fare from May 9. The fare has been increased for distances of 5, 10, and 20 kilometers.

The fare for a distance of 5 kilometers has been doubled. The fare for a distance of 5 kilometers has been increased from Rs 6 to Rs 12. No concession has been given in the fare for a 12-year-old child. The daily pass was previously Rs 60, but now the new fare has been increased to Rs 75. The monthly pass is from Rs 900 to Rs 1,800. The facility of Chalo Bus Pass has been provided for children of the Municipal Corporation. The increase in bus fares and tickets in Mumbai has put a burden on the pockets of the citizens. Shared taxis and auto rickshaws are also operated in Mumbai city and its suburbs, but due to the fare, many passengers are unable to pay for these shared means of transport and travel by buses.

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Maharashtra

The verdict in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case will be announced on July 31

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Mumbai: The verdict in the September 29, 2008 bomb blast in Malegaon will be pronounced on July 31. BJP leader and former MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt. Col. Srikant Prasad Purohit, former Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Ajay Rahirkar, and Sameer Kulkarni are accused of being involved in illegal activities. A bomb was planted in Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s scooter, after which the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested 13 accused in the case and charged 7 accused. The hearing of the Malegaon bomb blast will be completed in April. The verdict was expected to be pronounced today, but the court gave the reason that more than one lakh pages are under study and therefore the matter has been adjourned till July 31.

A bomb blast in a scooter at Bhakko Chowk killed 7 people and injured 100. In this case, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare investigated and MCOCA was also applied to the accused, but this investigation was later handed over to the NIA in 2011. The NIA has sought death penalty for the accused in this case. Statements of 223 witnesses were recorded in this case and 23 witnesses defected in the court, including 8 witnesses from the army and defense department. The court has ordered all the accused to be present on July 31 and if anyone is absent, action will be taken against him. The court will pronounce its verdict in this case only on July 31 because the hearing of the case has been completed and the court has also reserved its verdict.

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Maharashtra

Digital Rakshak secures money of five complainants who were scammed in the name of Digital Arrest

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Mumbai: Five complainants who were scammed on social media in the name of digital arrest through the Mumbai Police’s Digital Rakshak (Digital Protector) have been protected by the Digital Rakshak. In Mumbai, CBI, ED and police officers send notices on social media and WhatsApp in the name of Digital Arrest, demanding huge money for video calling in the name of investigation and saving them from the case in the name of investigation. Accordingly, Mumbai Police has developed the Digital Rakshak app. The complaint of five victim complainants was processed on this helpline. In Mumbai’s Chembur area, a video call was made to an elderly person on social media calling him Digital Arrest and it was said that he had huge money in his bank account and his documents, Aadhaar card and PAN card were used in illegal activities.

The caller on the call told the elderly person that he was a CBI officer and demanded money without disconnecting the video call. During this, the victim When the daughter entered the house, she found her father scared and then she asked her father why he was scared. On this, the father told her that it was a call from a CBI officer and that he had transferred money in this matter. After that, the victim contacted the Mumbai Police’s Digital Rakshak helpline and then informed the police about this notice. After that, it was confirmed that this notice was prepared by the CBI and ED by creating a fake notice and sending it on WhatsApp. The police have resolved five cases of digital arrest and have appealed to the citizens that no security agency does digital arrest and neither is investigation done on WhatsApp, so be careful of such elements.

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