Nagpur: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and “guaranteed” the Opposition’s victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.

Addressing the media in Nagpur, Pawar said he introduced the duo to the leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi.

The disclosure by Pawar comes amid a huge row over Gandhi’s “vote theft” charge against the BJP and the Election Commission.

“Two persons met me in New Delhi before the 2024 assembly polls in Maharashtra. They offered to help the Opposition (Maha Vikas Aghadi) win 160 of the 288 seats with a guarantee,” the former Union minister claimed.

“I introduced them to Rahul Gandhi. He ignored what was told to him. He was also of the view that we (Opposition) shouldn’t get involved in such things and go to the people directly,” he added.

Pawar claimed that since he didn’t assign any importance to claims made by the two individuals, he didn’t possess their names and contact details.

The BJP won 132 seats in the assembly elections with allies Shiv Sena and NCP adding 57 and 41 constituencies, respectively, to the saffron tally.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which bagged 30 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra months before the assembly elections were held, had attributed its rout to discrepancies in EVMs and fudging of data.

Gandhi on Thursday made explosive claims of a “huge criminal fraud” in polls through collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission, citing an analysis in a constituency in Karnataka, and saying it was “a crime against the Constitution”.

Mumbai: A 53-year-old woman, Ambubai Sonawane, succumbed a day after a road accident in Goregaon East. She was riding pillion on a motorcycle driven by her 29-year-old acquaintance, Shubham Ghatwal, when the incident occurred at the Goregaon check naka while attempting to overtake a BEST bus on August 5. She was declared dead during treatment on August 6.

About The Accident

According to the police, Sonawane, a junior artist in the film industry, resided in Shanti Niketan, Goregaon East, with her family. On August 4, she went to Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari for a film shoot. The next morning, around 8.30 am, while returning home, she met Ghatwal, who offered her a ride. As they headed towards the Goregaon check post, Ghatwal attempted to overtake a bus and collided with an oncoming two-wheeler.

Sonawane fell, sustaining serious injuries. She was first taken to Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri. After receiving first aid, she was brought home. Later, her son took her to Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari East, where she was declared dead during treatment.

Mumbai: In a major crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), police on Thursday deported 112 people, 92 from Mumbai and 20 from Mira-Bhayander and Thane.

The immigrants were first taken to Pune on Wednesday and then transported to the Assam-Bangladesh border in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Thursday, where they were handed over to Bangladesh security forces.

719 Deportations In Mumbai Alone

With Thursday’s action, deportations from Mumbai alone have reached 719 this year, compared to 152 in the entire year of 2024, a senior police officer said. The documents reveal the illegal immigrants were detained from across Mumbai between June 12 and August 5. Of the 92 from Mumbai, 40 were women, 34 children, and 18 men. The breakup of the 20 detained from Mira-Bhayander and Thane was not available.

“This time the government decided to drop the illegal immigrants at the Assam-Bangladesh border, which is heavily secured and manned by the Indian Army, making illegal re-entry almost impossible. They were handed over to the Bangladesh border security force.

Another officer confirmed that between January 1 and August 5, Mumbai Police deported 719 Bangladeshi nationals found staying illegally in the city. Most were detained in the last week of July after being found to have violated visa norms and entered India illegally through the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Series Of Crackdown On Illegal Immigrants In Mumbai

A senior IPS officer said they were deported under Section 3(2)(c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, after completing all legal procedures. The first deportation of the year took place in February when 12 people were sent back.

The crackdown intensified after the January 16 arrest of Shariful Islam, a Bangladeshi national accused of attacking actor Saif Ali Khan in his Bandra residence, who was found with a duplicate Aadhaar card and an illegally procured Indian SIM card.

Police said the operation began after informants tipped them off about suspicious individuals at building construction sites. Suspects were called to police stations, and evidence such as call records to Bangladesh and suspicious bank transactions was gathered before detentions were made.

The data shows that Amboli in Andheri recorded the highest number of arrests, with 11 immigrants caught. In at least four cases, only mothers were found living illegally with their minor children.