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Losing cool over criticism, Shinde-Fadnavis govt slaps cases against Sena (UBT) leaders

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Under siege from the continuous onslaught of the Opposition Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), several of its leaders have been targeted with police cases by the government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Among them are a Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant, a deputy leader Sushma Andhare and MLA Bhaskar Jadhav, besides other leaders, following complaints by Dattaram Gavas, an activist of Shinde’s Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena.

Sawant has been booked for ridiculing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane whom he referred to as ‘kombdi chor’ (chicken thief) at a public rally in Thane this week, ruffling feathers.

Jadhav has been slapped with a case for aping Shinde’s style of reading out a prepared speech at his October 5 Dussehra Rally in Bandra Kurla Complex.

Andhare, has also been booked — for mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promises of giving employment to two crore youths — at a Thane meeting.

In a statement on the October 9 meeting, the Naupada Police Station (Thane) has named other local level leaders and activists like Anita Birje, Madhukar Deshmukh, Sachin Chavan, and Dharmarajya Party’s Rajan Raje.

Accordingly, the police have charged them under various sections of Indian Penal Code for inflammatory speech, using objectionable language, attempts to incite passions and sullying the image of CM Shinde, etc.

Sena (UBT) leaders have cried foul over the police action, terming it as a ‘political vendetta’ intended to “silence and destroy the Opposition”.

Senior farmers leader of the Sena (UBT) Kishore Tiwari said that the Shinde-Fadnavis government is “selectively targetting” party’s leaders who raise their voice against the regime to demoralise the party rank-and-file.

“Does the government have the courage to throw them in jail like other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders? How many Opposition leaders will they imprison… This is blatant misuse of power and harassment of those who oppose them,” said Tiwari grimly.

Condemning the development, Nationalist Congress Party Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that “the validity of this (Shinde-Fadnavis) government is still pending before the Supreme Court”, and the Opposition leaders have a fundamental right to criticise the government’s shortcomings.

“Under such circumstances, such police actions are anti-democracy and the government is trying to brow-beat the Opposition and silence them from speaking out,” Tapase added sharply.

Strongly flaying the police cases, veteran Sena (UBT) union leader Dr. Raghunath Kuchik said that the Shinde-Fadnavis government has “crossed all limits of political decency” by targeting political opponents.

“When the BJP was in the Opposition, they used foul language against the Maha Vikas Aghadi CM (Uddhav Thackeray), other ministers and party leaders, but we did not hound them with flimsy cases… The government should withdraw these police cases,” demanded Dr. Kuchik.

Congress state G.S. Sachin Sawant said this was another example of how the BJP muzzles the Opposition parties all over India.

“Although the language used by the BJP leaders is extremely derogatory and abusive, no action is taken against them. Two sets of laws are vividly seen currently, one for the bjp leaders and the other for the opposition which is extremely unfortunate,” rued Sawant.

An unfazed Andhare said that if speaking the truth is an offence, then she was ready to face all the consequences of the police case lodged against her, but would continue to raise her voice against any injustice to the people.

Though both Andhare and Jadhav said they had received no communication from the police, they said whatever they spoke is in the public domain, even as the Thane Police continues its probe.

Earlier, Thane MP Rajan Vichare had alleged that the police were under pressure from CM Shinde and even people who attended Thackeray’s Dussehra Rally (October 5) at Shivaji Park last week were being served notices or facing cases.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: ‘Baatna & Kaatna Is What BJP Does,’ Says Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge

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Nagpur: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge turned the tables on the Bharatiya Janata Party by saying that it is the party that is engaged in “baatna and Kaatna,”

He was referring to the slogan “batenge to katenge’ popularised by UP chief minister Adityamnath Yogi and adopted by the RSS.

Addressing a press conference here, Kharge said while Yogi talked of Batenge , Katenge, Modi was raising a new but contradictory slogan of ‘Ek hai to safe hai.”

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge At Deekshabhoomi In Nagpur Before His Election Campaign In Vidarbha On Saturday.

The BJP should make up its mind whether they want to divide or unite. “It is BJP which does nothing but give provocative speeches, misleading people by spreading lies and never practices what it preaches,” said Kharge. Such provocative speeches are made by Modi and his leaders only to divert attention from pressing issues like unemployment, agrarian crisis, failing law and order and security of women, he added.

Congress President On Financial Allocations

Reeling out figures from the official budget document of Karnataka government, Kharge said that financial allocations were made properly for each of the guarantees made by the Congress government in election promises to the people, he said each of the promised schemes was being implemented.

“It is shameful that a prime minister speaks blatant lies and says that Karnataka is not implementing the promised schemes,” he accused Modi of lying. He also dared Modi to prove that his government had ever fulfilled promises like bringing back black money, doubling farmers incomes, etc. “In my 60 years of public life, I have never seen a PM who speaks so many lies and gets away with it,” said Kharge.

Accusation Made By Congress President Against BJP

The Congress president also accused the BJP of forming the government in state with factions of Shiv Sena and NCP (Ajit) by using agencies like ED and CBI. And now they want a fresh lease for the illegitimate government and using all its chief ministers to campaign for the Mahayuti.

He said the Ram temple built by Modi in Ayodhya was leaking and so was the new Parliament building. The bullet train project was so much delayed and now the bridge constructed for it had already collapsed. Kharge who is here to campaign for party candidates in Amravati and Nagpur, appealed to voters not to trust the BJP which was full of liars and to ensure that the MVA candidates were elected with a majority in Maharashtra.

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Maharashtra

‘Won’t Allow Maharashtra To Become An ATM For ‘Mahaghotalebaaj,’ Says PM Modi, Taking Jibe At Maha Vikas Aghadi

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Akola: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the BJP-led Mahayuti will not allow Maharashtra to become an ATM for the ‘Mahaghotalebaaj (most corrupt)’ people of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

He claimed that the entire nation knows that Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) stands for corruption.

PM Modi Steps Up His Attack On The MVA

In his speech at the poll rally for the Mahayuti candidates in Akola, PM Modi stepped up his attack on the MVA (comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP) saying that “it stands for multi-crore scams, for extortion and token money. It stands for transfer posting racket and is completely immersed in scandals, loot and corruption.”

The PM chose to target the Congress in particular and the MVA in general when the Mahayuti comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP is leaving no stone unturned to come back to power in the state.

“The Congress Party knows that the weaker the country is, the stronger the Congress will be. That is why it is the nature of Congress to make different castes fight. Since Independence, the Congress never allowed our Dalit community to unite. The Congress also kept our ST community divided into different castes. The Congress gets irritated on hearing the name OBCs. To ensure that the OBC community does not have a separate identity, the Congress has played various games,” claimed the Prime Minister.

He further said, “The Congress wants that different castes of SC society keep fighting and quarreling among themselves. Because the Congress knows that if different castes of SC society keep fighting among themselves, their voice will get dispersed, their votes will get dispersed and as soon as this happens, the way will be paved for Congress to come to power.”

PM Modi Comments On The Present Political Situation In Jammu & Kashmir

Commenting on the present political situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the Prime Minister said, “Today, the country is concerned about another sensitive issue. In the J&K Legislative Assembly, Congress and its allies have passed a proposal to restore Article 370. I ask you, should Article 370 be reinstated in Jammu and Kashmir?”

To this, the people gathered at the rally shouted “no” saying that they would not allow the reinstatement of Article 370 in J&K.

He alleged that Congress and its allies neither care about Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution, nor the courts nor the sentiments of the country.

“From Nehru ji till today, the top family of the Congress has repeatedly insulted Baba Saheb Ambedkar. During the time of Congress, Baba Saheb Ambedkar was not given credit for any major work done by him,” he remarked.

Referring to the slew of schemes launched in agriculture and empowerment of farmers by the Centre and the Mahayuti government, the Prime Minister said, “Our resolve is that the farmer himself should be so empowered that he emerges as the hero of the country’s progress! Therefore, we are increasing the income of the farmer and reducing their expenses. We started the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the Mahayuti government gave its support to it. The result is that farmers of Maharashtra are getting Rs 12,000 annually.”

“The Congress is snatching away the rights of the Scheduled Caste community. Cheating on the SCs is both ‘Chaal’ and ‘Charitra’ of the Congress party. You all must remember that ‘Ek Hai to Safe Hai’ (if united we are safe),” said the Prime Minister urging the people to foil attempts to divide on the lines of castes, religion, and creed.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s Remarks In Sangli Ignite Debate On Mahayuti’s CM Candidate

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Mumbai: In the upcoming state assembly elections, the three parties of the ruling Mahayuti are contesting under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s leadership. However, when asked who would be the CM face of the alliance, Mahayuti leaders have so far avoided giving a direct answer.

Lately, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah has been campaigning in Maharashtra. At a speech in Shirala, Sangli district, Shah hinted that Devendra Fadnavis could be the alliance’s chief minister candidate.

Remark Of Home Minister Amit Shah

When Maharashtra will vote on November 20, voters will play a decisive role that day. He said he had toured Maharashtra two months ago, where he sensed people wanted Devendra Fadnavis as CM. This statement has fuelled further political discussion about the CM position in the state.

Response Of NCP Executive President Praful Patel

NCP Executive President Praful Patel responded by saying, “I can’t decide who will be the chief minister just sitting here.” He explained after the election, the CM will be decided based on the seat distribution and mutual agreement among the three alliance parties.

Patel also noted that the Mahayuti alliance had agreed to move forward under Eknath Shinde’s leadership. Ajit Pawar commented Shah has the right to make such statements in his speeches.

Shah also criticised the MVA at other rallies. “We are working for development, and the central leadership will make the decision regarding the chief minister’s position,” said the state BJP chief, Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

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