Mumbai, Dec 22: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Monday alleged that the BJP-led Mahayuti won the elections to the nagar parishad and nagar panchayat in Maharashtra due to money and muscle power.

The party in its mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, said that if “these victories are to be bought with money, then the pride and honour of Maharashtra have been dragged through the dust. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra appears to be crawling, helpless before the money. This picture is dangerous for the country.”

The Saamana editorial sharply criticised the State Election Commission (SEC) for its perceived “inaction”, describing the body as being in a state of “slumber” while instances of kidnapping, terror, and open money distribution took place across the state.

The editorial claimed that the BJP has started a sole business of winning every election through dishonesty. “After the British, the BJP and its allies have looted the country the most. Elections are fought and won using that very looted money. Furthermore, a significant amount of ‘drug money’ was also used in the election. This raises questions about what our democracy is doing and how the ‘Voter King’ actually votes.”

According to the latest figures from the State Election Commission (SEC), the BJP has emerged as the single largest party, winning over 100 municipal president posts. The Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP have each secured more than 40 seats. In contrast, the combined opposition, including the Congress, Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP), and Shiv Sena(UBT), managed to secure roughly 60 seats. This result mirrors the “pattern” seen in the recent Assembly elections, where the Mahayuti secured a similar landslide victory, said the editorial.

The Thackeray camp has characterised the elections as a “game of money power”, alleging that in several municipal areas, the “market rate” for a single vote ranged from Rs 4,000 to Rs 10,000. In more competitive zones, it is claimed that the BJP pushed the rate as high as Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per vote, leading to internal friction within the ruling alliance.

A specific incident was reported in Sindhudurg, where a public spat broke out between Shinde-faction MLA Nilesh Rane and BJP State President Ravindra Chavan over the distribution of funds.

“Reports of coercion and electoral malpractice and voter intimidation in particular have surfaced from multiple districts. In Dharmabad (Nanded), allegations emerged that BJP office-bearers detained nearly 1,500 voters, including women, in a marriage hall to force them to accept bribes ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000. Those who refused were reportedly threatened. In Ambernath, police investigations were launched into allegations of bogus voting involving over 200 women brought in from neighbouring areas. In Panvel, discrepancies in voter lists were flagged, including one instance where 268 voters were allegedly listed with the same father’s name,” said the editorial.

The Thackeray camp has cited the local body elections held in the neighbouring state of Telangana, where the State Election Commission did not use EVMs but conducted on a ballot paper, resulting in a crushing defeat for the BJP.

“In Telangana’s local bodies, the Congress made a strong surge and secured a major victory. Similarly, in Punjab’s local body elections, AAP surged ahead, leaving both the BJP and Congress behind. In both these states, despite the BJP playing a heavy game of money, the voters were not bought,” it said.

The editorial observed that the way the elections are conducted and fought in Maharashtra raises a serious question of the integrity of the democratic process.

As the state moves toward the next major electoral battle — the BMC elections in January 2026 — the questions regarding electoral transparency and the influence of wealth in Maharashtra’s politics will continue to intensify.

New Delhi: A Mumbai-bound Air India flight AI887 returned to the Delhi Airport minutes after take-off due to a technical issue. The Delhi–Mumbai flight made an emergency landing according to standard operating procedure.

As perv an Air India spokesperson, the aircraft (Boeing 777) landed safely at Delhi, and the passengers and crew disembarked.

The Boeing 777 suffered an engine issue soon after take-off, reported The Times of India. The aircraft reportedly took off at 6.10 am and returned to the airport at 6.52 am. The aircraft is currently undergoing necessary checks.

As per the report, the airline arranged another B777 (VT-ALP) for passengers and even provided refreshments for them.

On Sunday, over 100 flights were cancelled from the Delhi Airport due to dense fog conditions in the national capital. Meanwhile, more than 400 flights were also delayed at the airport.

Over the past few days, most parts of the nothern and northwestern regions of the country are witnessing dense fog condition.

“Dense to very dense fog conditions during night/morning hours very likely in some parts of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana till morning hours of 21st; in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana during 25th-27,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said in its press statement on Sunday.

On Friday also, an Air India flight travelling from Mumbai to Varanasi was forced to make an emergency diversion to Bhubaneswar after deteriorating weather conditions made landing at the destination airport unsafe. The aircraft landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) as a precautionary measure, airline officials confirmed.

Mumbai, Dec 22: Indian benchmark indices opened in green zone on Monday, breaking the last week’s trend of edging lower, amid strong buying in the US and China markets.

As of 9.30 am, the Sensex advanced 507 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 84,436 and the Nifty added 165 points, or 0.64 per cent to 26,132.

The broad cap indices performed in line with the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.58 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 adding 0.51 per cent.

Hindalco, Tech Mahindra and TCS were among the major gainers in the Nifty Pack, while losers included Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Max Healthcare and Cipla.

All the sectoral indices on NSE were trading in the green with metal, IT and media being the major gainers — up around 1.48, 1.23 and 0.77 per cent, respectively.

Analysts noted that market is likely heading for a year-end rally. The rupee’s sharp reversal and FIIs’ cash market purchases can accelerate this rally, as they lead to short covering, pushing benchmark indices higher. The Goldilocks domestic economic set up and potential earnings growth uptrend can support a market upturn, they added.

The US markets ended mostly in the green zone on the last trading day, as Nasdaq advanced 1.31 per cent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.88 per cent, and the Dow moved up 0.38 per cent.

As investors parsed China’s central bank keeping loan prime rate steady, Asia-Pacific markets rose on Monday.

The People’s Bank of China maintained its 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates steady, which affects most new and outstanding loans and mortgages.

In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index advanced 0.64 per cent, and Shenzhen dropped 1.36 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 1.75 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.29 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.72 per cent.

On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,387 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 5,200 crore.