Maharashtra
Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Manoj Jarange-Patil Won’t Play Poll Spoiler; Asks His Candidates To Withdraw Their Nominations
Pune: In a dramatic move, the top leader of the Maratha reservation agitation, Manoj Jarange-Patil, announced on Monday that he had decided to stay away from active electoral politics and asked all his candidates to withdraw their nominations for the assembly polls on November 20.
Around 17 candidates had filed nominations as Independents, calling themselves supporters of Jarange-Patil in the Marathwada region; the exact number of candidates is not known. It was widely expected that these candidates would eat into the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s voter base and would indirectly benefit the BJP-led Mahayuti. Now, with Jarange-Patil’s withdrawal, Maratha candidates fielded in Marathwada by the Sharad Pawar NCP and Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena will benefit, as a division of the Maratha community votes will mostly be avoided.
Statement Of Maratha Quota Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil
“There is no point in fighting elections as we have realised that the chances of our candidates winning are slim. I don’t want my young candidates and the Maratha community to be disappointed with losses. Our candidates not winning will be a psychological blow to our people. I have taken the decision to withdraw from the polls as I feel electoral politics is not our business, But our agitation for the rights of the Maratha community and our fight for the demand of reservation for the community will continue. I have decided to ask all my candidates to withdraw their nominations. Now I am not supporting any candidate or any party. People should vote as they wish. But they should ensure that those who are against our demand for reservation are defeated,” JarangePatil told the media at a conference held on Monday morning, hours before the deadline to withdraw nominations.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it was evident that the Maratha reservation agitation had caused a lot of damage to the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. All of the Marathwada region was fired up by the Maratha reservation agitation and the Mahayuti lost all but the one seat of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where Eknath Shinde’s candidate, Sandipan Bhumre, won the polls. This time, the Mahayuti has been cautious, going mainly with Maratha candidates in most of the 46 seats in Marathwada.
The Shinde Shiv Sena is contesting 16 of these 46 seats, with almost all candidates being Marathas, while the Sharad Pawar NCP is contesting 15 seats, having fielded all Maratha faces. It is obvious that now, with the possibility of Maratha votes staying undivided, Shinde and Sharad Pawar will be the biggest gainers of Jarange-Patil’s decision to withdraw from the race. The BJP has fielded a combination of Maratha and OBC candidates in the region, while the Ajit Pawar NCP has mainly focussed on western Maharashtra in their candidate list.
In the initial days of Jarange-Patil’s agitation, he was flanked by Rajesh Tope and other leaders from Jalna who are close to Sharad Pawar; however, in recent phases of the agitation, some of Eknath Shinde’s leaders have been seen discussing strategy with Jarange-Patil, giving rise to speculation about whether he was influenced at various times, by Sharad Pawar’s deputies and Eknath Shinde.
Both Sharad Pawar and Eknath Shinde have repeatedly denied in the media that they have had anything to do with the agitation. NCP leader Ajit Pawar has been keeping away entirely, even avoiding visits to Jarange-Patil’s agitation sites. The Maratha quota stir has gained a lot of ground in the past two years, with its impact majorly seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Maharashtra
Kurla Bus Accident: Mumbai Police Probing Whether Accused BEST Driver Sanjay More Deliberately Caused Crash, Used Vehicle As A Weapon
Mumbai: The Kurla Police have arrested BEST bus driver Sanjay More (54) in connection with the horrific bus accident on December 9. A case of culpable homicide has been registered against him, and the court has remanded him to police custody until December 21.
Police Sub-Inspector Prashant Chavan (35) from Kurla Police Station lodged a complaint on behalf of the police, leading to the registration of charges under sections 105, 110, 118(1), 118(2), and 324(5) of BNS Act. Following his arrest, More was presented in Court No. 51 of Kurla Magistrate on December 10 afternoon.
Probe To Find Out If Crash Was Deliberate
According to police, reckless driving is alleged since More drove the e-BEST bus recklessly in a crowded area, endangering the lives of passengers and pedestrians. Police are investigating whether More deliberately used the bus as a weapon to harm citizens. Questions are being raised about whether this act was premeditated, part of a conspiracy, or done under someone’s influence.
Authorities are probing whether More had adequate training to operate the e-BEST bus and whether the accident occurred due to a lack of competence.
The incident resulted in the death of seven individuals and left over 30 others injured. Police are examining the accident bus in collaboration with the transportation department. They are also investigating whether More was under the influence of intoxicants at the time of the incident.
Sanjay More’s lawyer, Samadhan Sulane, strongly opposed the police’s demand for custody. Sulane argued that technical information and training details could be obtained through correspondence with the BEST administration. He further stated that the bus had already been seized and that More’s medical examination had been conducted.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Magistrate S.M. Gaurgonde granted police custody of More until December 21 to facilitate further investigation.
Maharashtra
‘EVMs Cannot Be Hacked,’ Says Maharashtra’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni On Opposition Allegations
Mumbai: Amid the Opposition’s allegations regarding Electronic Voting Machines after the Maharashtra polls in which the ruling Mahayuti alliance registered a landslide victory, state’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni has asserted that EVMs cannot be hacked.
He said that the chips used in the EVMs are one-time programmable, making tampering impossible.
“I say this with full responsibility, EVM cannot be hacked. EVM cannot be tampered with. There is a simple reason for this. First, it is a standalone machine …no connection with any network or outer gadget. So, hacking or tampering is not possible. Second, the chip used in it is one-time programmable, so there cannot be any reprogramming,” Kulkarni told ANI on Tuesday.
He further said that there was no need for misunderstandings regarding EVMs since Election Commission of India (ECI) dictates a procedure that allows for matching of the Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) count and votes a candidate has received through EVMs.
This process is observed to ensure there was no discrepancy in these figures, Kulkarni said, while adding that this procedure of comparing the number of votes through VVPAT slips and EVM votes is undertaken before the declaration of the final results.
“There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings among political parties and common citizens regarding EVM. But there is no need for such misunderstandings…When votes are counted and the counting of votes of all EVMs concludes, after that, before the declaration of the result there is a procedure which is prescribed by the Election Commission of India. The procedure says that a lottery is drawn by collecting numbers of all the polling stations in the Assembly constituencies. This lottery is drawn in the presence of the Observer and representatives of all candidates of political parties. Of these, 5 polling stations are selected and VVPAT machines for the 5 polling stations are brought to the counting area. In the presence of everyone, the VVPAT slips are taken out and counted. Which candidate got how many votes as per the slips is counted. This number is matched with the votes voted through EVMs. This is observed that there is no discrepancy in these two figures…The voting in Maharashtra Assembly elections was done in the proper manner by following proper procedure…” Kulkarni said.
Maharashtra Chief Election Office S Chockalingam Rejects Opposition Allegations
Earlier, the Chief Election Officer (CEO) S Chockalingam on Tuesday rejected Opposition allegations regarding the legitimacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the Maharashtra assembly elections and said “no mismatch” was found between the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) slips with their corresponding EVM numbers.
In a statement, the Maharashtra CEO explained that, as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, it is mandatory to count VVPAT slips from five randomly selected polling stations in each assembly constituency.
“VVPAT Slip count of randomly selected five polling stations per Assembly Constituency was conducted on November 23, during the counting procedure, in front of the Counting Observer / Representatives of Candidates. As per that, the slip count of 1440 VVPAT units from 288 Assembly Constituencies of Maharashtra State has been tallied with respective Control Unit data,” Chockalingam said.
“There is no discrepancy found between the VVPAT slip count and EVM Control unit count as per the reports received from the concerned DEOs,” Chockalingam added.
About The Row
This comes after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners raised questions about the legitimacy of EVMs following their defeat in the Maharashtra assembly election 2024.
The Mahayuti alliance, led by the BJP, secured a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections with the BJP emerging as the largest party with 132 seats in the 280-member Assembly, while its allies–the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar–won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback as Congress won only 16 seats, while its alliance partners, Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) secured just 10 seats.
disaster
Mumbai: Fire Breaks Out At Silver Cinema Building In Grant Road, No Casualties Reported; Visuals Surface
Mumbai: A fire broke out late Tuesday night at the Silver Cinema Building on Khambatta Street, Ninth Grant Road East, Mumbai. The incident was reported to the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) at 11:15 pm, and an update was issued by 11:50 pm. Fortunately, no injuries or casualties were reported during the incident.
Details Of The Incident
The fire was confined to the second and third floors of the three-story structure, a closed cinema theatre building. It primarily affected electric wiring, installations, tarpaulin sheets and other electrical materials within the premises. Visuals of the blaze have surfaced on the internet showing the structure engulfed in huge flames.
Fire Controlled In Short Time
Multiple agencies, including the MFB, Police, BEST and municipal ward staff, were swiftly mobilised to handle the situation. The MFB efficiently brought the fire under control and extinguished it by 11:20 pm, just five minutes after it was reported.
Cause Of Fire Yet To Be Ascertained
The prompt response by emergency services ensured that the fire was contained before it could escalate, minimizing potential damage to the structure and nearby areas. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and authorities are expected to conduct further inquiries to ascertain the details.
MFB To Launch Major Recruitment Drive
Meanwhile, facing a critical shortfall of 550 firemen, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) is set to launch a major recruitment drive in January 2025. To ensure transparency and avoid controversies like those that marred last year’s hiring process, the MFB is considering engaging an external agency to oversee the recruitment.
The shortage of firemen has been a persistent issue for the MFB over the past three years. In January 2024, the brigade initiated a recruitment drive to fill 910 vacancies. Candidates who met the eligibility criteria participated in rigorous ground tests held in Dahisar, which included demanding physical tasks such as pull-ups, an 800-meter run in under three minutes, rope climbing, and a 19-foot jump. The final merit list was published in May 2024.
However, the process faced allegations of irregularities after disqualified candidates accused the MFB of misconduct, sparking accusations of a recruitment scam. Additionally, female candidates staged protests demanding an inquiry into the selection process. In light of these issues, the MFB is now prioritizing transparency in future hiring efforts.
Meanwhile, the 750 candidates selected during last year’s drive are undergoing a six-month training program and are expected to commence duties in April 2024.
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