Maharashtra
Is Sanjay Raut causing more harm than good to Uddhav Thackeray?

Mumbai: If there is near a consensus within Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, it is that party MP Sanjay Raut, 61, has caused huge damage to the organisation by his highly controversial statements.
Recently, Raut claimed, without providing any evidence, that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son and MP Shrikant Shinde had hired a goon of Thane to eliminate him. In the past, he had made even more outlandish statements that caused incalculable damage to the party.
Raut’s controversial statements
After the COVID pandemic, Raut alleged that most of the doctors and nurses had abandoned their responsibility and fled from the hospitals. This evoked howls of protests from the medical fraternity, after which Uddhav was forced to undertake damage control.
In January 2020, Raut, who is the executive editor of the party mouthpiece Saamana, claimed that Indira Gandhi used to regularly call on the late drug lord Karim Lala at Pydhonie in central Mumbai. It is a different matter that Karim Lala operated out of Dongri and not Pydhonie. The Congress was understandably furious over this bizarre claim and slammed Raut. The MP, most recently, alleged that Rs2,000 crore had changed hands to get Shinde’s faction recognised as the Shiv Sena along with the bow and arrow symbol. Raut promised to produce evidence and as usual failed to proffer any.
Many supporters of Uddhav Thackeray say that their leader is paying a heavy political price by not taking action against Raut despite the huge damage he continues to inflict. The only thing Uddhav has done is not promote Raut as the editor of Saamana. Instead, he has appointed his wife Rashmi Thackeray as the editor, while Raut continues to be the executive editor.
Sources: Raut is useful to Uddhav as a conduit between him & NCP chief
According to sources close to Uddhav, Raut is useful to him as a conduit between him and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Though there is a perception that Raut is being used by Pawar to influence Uddhav, Raut’s proximity to Pawar can be gauged from the fact that when the MP was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the infamous Patrawala chawl multi-crore scam, the Maratha honcho personally called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his intervention in taking Raut out of the hook. Incidentally, Pawar did no such thing for his own partyman Nawab Malik who, too, was arrested by the ED.
It is not that Uddhav has always obliged Raut. For example, when Raut insisted that his brother and MLA from Bhandup, Sunil Raut, should be made a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which was helmed by Uddhav, the latter put his foot down and refused a ministerial berth for Sunil.
Raut’s career
Sanjay Raut started his career in Saamana as a journalist. When Bal Thackeray decided to publish a Hindi tabloid ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana’, Raut recommended Sanjay Nirupam as the editor. Thackeray Senior was so impressed with Nirupam’s aggressive propagation of the Hindutva line that he made him a member of the Rajya Sabha much to the chagrin of Raut.
Raut won over the confidence of Balasaheb by carrying a series called ‘Marathon Mulaquats’ or Marathon Interviews of the Sena founder. These interviews revealed Balasaheb’s thoughts on a host of issues and they were picked up by other newspapers and TV channels.
Balasaheb then decided to reward Raut by sending him to the Rajya Sabha. It is learnt that Raut does not share the same chemistry with Aaditya Thackeray as with Uddhav. “Given the widespread nature of resentment against Sanjay Raut within our party, I won’t be in the least surprised if he is politically downsized in the near future,” a top Sena source observed.
Maharashtra
Three arrested in theft at Sewri Jain temple; police track down accused even after damaging CCTV

Mumbai: The police have claimed to have arrested three masked robbers who ransacked a Jain temple in the limits of the Sewri RA Kadwai Marg police station. On April 22 at 2 am, three unidentified robbers broke the lock of the Jain temple and entered the temple. They stole the idol’s ornaments – gold tikka, gold kapati, silver mace, donation box worth a total of more than Rs 7 lakh and cash and fled.
During the theft, the unidentified robbers had damaged the CCTV camera and video footage and had also cut its wires, so it was difficult to find them, but the police team examined more than 70 CCTV footage at 29 places in the area, in which these accused were identified. The accused had covered their faces with a handkerchief so that they could not be identified. However, using technology, the police arrested the three thieves, Sunil Singh Suraj Singh, Rahul Singh Parveen Singh, and Jagar Dinesh Singh Vaghela. The stolen goods and equipment have been recovered from the possession of the accused. This operation was carried out under the leadership of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti on the instructions of Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Chaudhary and DCP Ragasudha.
Maharashtra
SP leader Raees Sheikh writes to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vishnu demanding special trains for UP and Bihar

Mumbai: In the wake of the unavailability of train tickets for North Indians from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Samajwadi Party legislator Raees Sheikh on Saturday demanded that the Railways run special trains from Mumbai to these states. Sheikh made the demand after images of crowding of people on train tracks and railway platforms and lack of basic civic amenities went viral on social media. A large number of people from the North Indian community are upset due to the lack of proper train services.
In his letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vishnu, Sheikh said that railway stations like Bandra Terminus, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) and Dadar are crowded with passengers for tickets. A large number of North Indians travel to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during the summer, which coincides with the wedding season. Lack of sufficient trains and resulting overcrowding are causing severe hardship to the North Indian community in Mumbai, said MLA Raees Sheikh, who demanded that the Railways immediately run special trains from Mumbai to Gorakhpur, Patna and other places in Purvanchal, departing from Bandra, LTT and CST stations. Sheikh added, “The Railways should also set up proper help desks and GRP assistance booths at major stations in Mumbai to manage the crowd and assist passengers.” He further stressed on the need to add additional general and sleeper coaches in all trains going to UP to accommodate the rush. He also urged the Railways to take all necessary steps to ensure better coordination with the authorities concerned.
Maharashtra
Accused of verbally abusing Environment Minister Pankaja Munde arrested from Pune

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Cyber Cell has claimed to have arrested a youth from Bhosari area of Pune for harassing Environment Minister Pankaja Munde. According to details, the accused used to harass the minister continuously through several messages and personal mobiles and also made derogatory comments. After that, the Cyber Cell department received a complaint and when the above number was traced, it was found in Bhosari, Pune. A case was registered under the provisions of the Cyber Technology Act and BMS and in this case, the accused Amol Chhagan Rao Kale has been arrested. He is an engineering graduate and is also a resident of Beed district. The accused was produced in the court where an order was issued to keep him on remand. The accused used to harass the minister repeatedly. In this case, the police have also claimed to have seized the mobile phone and other devices used in the crime.
Along with collecting digital evidence, an investigation is also underway to find out who else is involved in this matter. The cyber department takes immediate action on complaints related to women and if someone misuses social media platforms to target women, strict action is taken against them. If someone is found involved in the crime of defaming or threatening women by disclosing their personal information, the cyber department takes strict action against them. The cyber cell has appealed that if any woman is a victim of harassment, she can contact the cyber cell immediately.
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