Mumbai: Ravindra Chavan, known as a trusted lieutenant of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will take over as BJP’s state unit president on Tuesday.

The incumbent, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, will hand over charge at a party conclave in Mumbai. The mantle is being handed to Chavan, whose grassroots planning ensured BJP’s impressive electoral performance in Thane and the Konkan belt, with an eye on the coming elections to the local bodies, according to party sources.

Chavan was the only candidate who filed his nomination papers on Monday at BJP state headquarters in the presence of Fadnavis, Bawankule and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Arun Singh. Union minister Kiren Rijiju was present as the central observer.

Chavan represents Dombivali for the fourth term in the Assembly. He was a member of the Fadnavis cabinet between 2014 and 2019 and the Eknath Shinde-led government from 2022 to 2024. There was speculation of his elevation to the key party post started when he was denied a Cabinet berth after last year’s Assembly elections. He has been officiating as the working president of the state unit for the last few months.

The BJP is eyeing maximum number of municipal bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprising 8 municipal corporations. With the elevation of Chavan, known for his aggressive politics, BJP seems to be sending out a message to deputy CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which is likely to ask for lion’s share of seats for the civic polls. As an experienced leader, Chavan will shoulder his responsibilities with vigour and strength, Fadnavis asserted.

Mumbai, June 30: The Maharashtra government on Monday tabled the bill for the establishment of the 16-member Gadchiroli District Mining Authority for the coordination and supervision of orderly and rapid development of the mineral-bearing area and execution of plans and projects.

The authority will be headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Gadchiroli district guardian minister. The government’s move is important as it hopes to finish the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and develop Gadchiroli as the next steel city of India.

The district is endowed with abundant minerals such as iron ore, hematite, magnetite, BHQ, limestone, Dolomites and coal, which are used as raw materials for various manufacturing industries.

Further, Gadchiroli district, which is rich in iron ore, has the potential to be developed as a hub for mineral-based industries, especially the steel industry, said the bill.

“Currently, the absence of an integrated administrative mechanism hampers the swift execution of the mining project. Hence a need was felt for the establishment of a unified authority comprising of certain ministers and secretaries of the relevant departments under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister to expedite mining approvals and foster the growth of mineral based industries such as steel and cement, thereby accelerating the holistic development of the Gadchiroli district and consequently of the state,” said the bill.

It pointed out that the authority will act as a catalyst in speeding up the process of operationalisation of approved mining leases, and will also generate employment in the district and boost the revenue of the state.

According to the bill, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and rules framed thereunder govern the development and regulation of mines and minerals. The major mineral blocks are auctioned following the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015. The mining concession holder is required to obtain various clearances and no-objection certificates from various departments and district officers of the government and local authorities within the timelines prescribed in the rules.

If the bidder fails to meet the prescribed timeline, the alloyed major mineral blocks will have to be auctioned again.

The Chief Minister last week at the industry conference said, “Gadchiroli 10 years ago was zero industrial area, nobody thought that it would become an Industrial magnet. Due to a slew of policies, Gadchiroli is becoming a new steel city of India to produce one-third of India’s steel that will change the entire outlook of the district.”

Mumbai, June 30: Shiv Sena(UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said the Hindi language cannot be forced upon people now as the power of the Marathi people has compelled the state government to withdraw two of its resolutions on introducing Hindi along with Marathi and English for Classes 1 to 5.

Thackeray, who attended the Monsoon Session of the state legislature on its first day, said, “We will announce in two to three days what exactly the victory rally or victory march will be like and where on July 5 it will be held (as the joint morcha has been cancelled due to the government’s decision). We are also talking to everyone about that. The Marathi traitors raise their heads as soon as they realise that we are a little scattered. Yesterday, we crushed this head. If we don’t want them to come back, then we should maintain this unity instead of waiting for another crisis. We will not stop until we create a vision of this unity on July 5. We will definitely celebrate the victory. Everyone forgot their party differences and came together with us during the movement. We need to show the same unity in the victory march.”

“Love for the mother language should be beyond the party, the government has made a lot of efforts. Still, I thank them. A new committee has been appointed under the chairmanship of Narendra Jadhav (former Planning Commission member). I am telling the government that this is a matter of education, and you have appointed a committee of an economist. Whatever the committee, the issue of compulsion is over now. Even if a committee is formed now, Hindi cannot be forced on us; the power of the Marathi people has shown this yesterday,” said Thackeray at the press conference.

Thackeray said that the slogan of ‘Jai Maharashtra’ has once again been raised in every village and corner of Maharashtra.

“Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks were at the forefront in raising this slogan of Maharashtra. But along with that, I sincerely thank all the political parties and Marathi-speaking people who forgot their party differences and participated. We will know in the coming days whether the government has shown wisdom or not. But they immediately cancelled the government resolution on making Hindi compulsory. It was achieved due to the unity of the Marathi people. If they had not cancelled it, many Marathi lovers from the BJP, Shinde group and Ajit Pawar group would have participated in the July 5 morcha, which now will become a victory rally,” he added.

Thackeray on Sunday said the government’s power faced defeat before the power of Marathi Manoos on the contentious issue of the introduction of Hindi as a third language after Marathi and English for Classes 1 to 5. “Now this unity of Marathi people should continue,” asserted Thackeray.

“The BJP’s hidden agenda was to divide the Marathi people and attract the non-Marathi voters by raking up the Marathi vs Non-Marathi issue. But the good news is that the Marathi people took a sensible stance. They are not against the Hindi language, but against coercion. Since there was a movement against coercion, there was no division. The government thought that the division of the Marathi people would be beneficial to it,” claimed Thackeray.