Mumbai: Citizens of Bhiwandi on Friday spontaneously organised a ‘Tiranga Pail Yatra’ (Tricolor March) to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the ‘NEET’ paper leak scandal and to express solidarity with the nationwide student protests. Led by Samajwadi Party MLA (Bhiwandi East) Rais Sheikh, the foot march was attended by a large number of local citizens as well as opposition party workers and leaders. The march covered the route from Amjadiya Road in Bhiwandi to Shanti Nagar and was concluded in the evening. No flags of any political party were hoisted during the rally, but citizens held the tricolor in their hands and expressed the spirit of unity. The peaceful procession demonstrated the spirit of unity ‘One Nation, One Passion’. Many participants raised slogans demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, including “Inqilab Zindabad” (Long Live the Revolution) while others held placards protesting against the Modi government. The march ended with the presentation of a memorandum to the Bhiwandi Sub-Divisional Officer.

Speaking to the media during the event, MLA Raees Sheikh said that the ‘Tiranga March’ was not affiliated with any specific political party but was a spontaneous initiative by the citizens of Bhiwandi. He noted the growing nationwide anger against the central government over the ‘NEET’ paper leak and the brutal lathicharge on protesting students. The aim of the march was to support the student movement and demand an end to corruption in the examination system. The participants demanded that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign, holding him responsible for the ‘NEET’ paper leak incident. The memorandum issued by the ‘Tiranga Rally’ has put forward four demands: a judicial inquiry into the brutal lathicharge on student protesters at Delhi’s ‘Jantar Mantar’; a financial assistance of Rs 1 crore to the families of students who committed suicide following the NEET paper leak; and withdrawal of police cases registered against student protesters in Delhi as well as all states and union territories.

Mumbai: After the shameful act of a police officer during a protest in Shivaji Park Dadar in Mumbai came to light, the Mumbai Police has defended the constable Deepak and said that the video that has gone viral on social media is irresponsible. The officer did not intend to misbehave or flirt with the woman. When the officer went to arrest a man during the protest, the woman protester came in the middle and this is the video. After the investigation in this case, the senior officers of the police department have given a clean chit to the above-mentioned police officer after carefully examining the video footage. This is causing resentment among the citizens. The police have said in their denial statement that there is no mistake on the part of the constable who controlled the protesters. He did not touch the woman intentionally. It is certain that he was controlling the protesters.

In this case, advocate Nitin Satpute has expressed surprise at the clean chit given to the police constable and has appealed to the victim to register a case against the official himself. If a case is not registered in this case, he will approach the court to register a case. He said that the videos of violence against students in Mumbai and other places that are going viral are worrying. In this, many videos have also come to light that are based on extreme brutality. In one video, a constable is threatening to implicate two students in a false drug case, while in the other video, this shameful act of a police constable has come to light. After this video, many political leaders have also tweeted it and demanded action. While the police have given a clean chit to the constable in this case, this has also affected the image of the police department. This video has tarnished the Mumbai Police. The public is angry with the police’s behavior and is also surprised by the police’s latest stance that the constable is innocent and has done nothing wrong.

Mumbai, July 24: Facing existential threats due to the high-profile defections by six Lok Sabha MPs who joined the Eknath Shinde faction, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is deploying a three-pronged approach to save the party, i.e. ideological reclaiming, issue-based youth mobilisation, and constitutional litigation.

Rather than playing defence after losing key party members, the Sena (UBT) is attempting to shift the political momentum back onto the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti/NDA coalition.

Thackeray has raised the issue of financial irregularities in the Shri Ram Temple donations by launching a statewide “Ram Raksha” campaign and a “BJP-free Ram movement.”

This is important as Hindutva has traditionally been the BJP’s sole ideological moat. By questioning the financial integrity of the Ram Temple movement and demanding accountability for donations (especially the silver bricks), Thackeray has targeted the BJP’s core voter base.

It forced the BJP onto the defensive on its home turf. Challenging the BJP in its ideological citadel of Nagpur, is designed to signal to traditional Sena voters that the UBT faction has not abandoned its core ideological roots despite political realignments.

Visiting Jantar Mantar, condemning the police lathi-charge on NEET paper leak protesters, comparing the government to Colonial rulers, and setting up free legal aid cells, Thackeray for a while has changed track beyond the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s traditional hyper-ethno-nationalist and religious appeal to retain relevance among younger, urban, and middle-class voters.

Joining student protests Uddhav Thackeray highlighted governance failures in education, exam integrity and state heavy-handedness. The comparison to Colonial rule and past democratic precedents like Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, aimed to frame the ruling alliance as autocratic, thus appealing to neutral and youth voters affected by systemic administrative failures.

While the SC declined an interim stay on July 22, 2026, obtaining show-cause notices against the Speaker, Secretariat, and rebel MPs keeps a legal sword hanging over the Shinde faction. Legally, it tests the boundaries of the anti-defection law regarding split vs merger provisions when an original party maintains its independent legal identity.

Politically, it framed the rebel MPs as opportunists who betrayed the public mandate under which they were elected. Historically, the split between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray fragmented the traditional Sena voter base in the Mumbai-Thane-Konkan belt.

Re-aligning with Raj Thackeray creates a formidable regional bloc. It consolidates the Marathi vote in upcoming civic body (BMC) and state-level contests, presenting a unified front that is difficult for national parties to divide.

While Thackeray’s aggressive posture has created immediate momentum, several vulnerabilities remain. The ongoing defection of elected MPs/MLAs undermines organisational stability at the constituency level, even if public sympathy favours the UBT faction.

Political observers said that balancing hardline Hindutva messaging through Ram Temple campaigns with broader social/youth issues and coalition politics requires careful calibration to avoid alienating either traditional nationalists or secular alliance partners.

Constitutional litigations in the Supreme Court often stretch over long periods. Without immediate legal stays, the political reality on the ground (recognised mergers) can become difficult to reverse practically before major election cycles.

However, Thackeray through his recent actions signals that his party is refusing to be sidelined into regional irrelevance. By combining ideological counter-attacks, constitutional challenges, youth mobilisation, and tactical regional unity, he is attempting to frame the broader conflict as a fight for democratic accountability and local identity against centralised power.