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Maharashtra: ECI Team To Hold 2-Day Discussions With Stakeholders & Review Preparation For Upcoming Assembly Polls From Today

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Maharashtra: ECI Team To Hold 2-Day Discussions With Stakeholders & Review Preparation For Upcoming Assembly Polls From Today

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar-headed Election Commission of India (ECI) team will hold two-day discussions with various stakeholders and review the preparations for the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election starting from Friday.

The team, which was welcomed by the state chief electoral officer S. Chockalingam on Thursday night, will hold discussions with the political parties, state government officers, enforcement agencies, district collectors and Superintendents of Police from 10 a.m. onwards on Friday and Saturday. The CEC along with two Election Commissioners, Ganesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, will address the media on Saturday.

The ECI team on Friday will meet political parties to seek their views. During the day, it will have discussions with the state Chief Electoral Officer, enforcement agencies, the state chief secretary, the director general of police and other administrative secretaries and senior police officers with regard to the deployment of the necessary manpower and law and order situation.

On September 28, the ECI team will hold an interactive meeting with the district collectors and superintendents of police to take stock of the ground-level preparations. Thereafter, CEC will address the press conference. The ECI team’s visit is important as Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had recently said that the Assembly election may take place in the second week of November. The term of the present Assembly ends on November 26.

The ECI’s visit comes after the state CEO on September 12 and 13 met the deputy district election officers, district collectors and chief district election officers and reviewed the preparations for the elections in 288 Assembly constituencies. The CEO reviewed the status of electronic voting machines, the updated voters’ list, the status of polling material and district-level poll management, especially, the availability of the required number of staff and security arrangements for free and fair elections.

Further, the CEO also took stock of the situation of the district-level preparedness for conducting counting smoothly. He also reviewed the plan to start polling stations in high-rise buildings and cooperative societies with over 200 families. Maharashtra has added 2.4 million new voters during the special drive conducted between August 6 and 20.

In view of this, the number of total voters in the state rose to 95.4 million, up from 92.94 million at the end of the Lok Sabha election. Over 2.08 million applications for voter addition and 370,000 applications for name deletion due to death or duplication were received by the Election Commission of India during the special drive. 

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Ticket Checker Forces Marathi Couple To Talk In Hindi, Gets Them Detained; Suspended After Incident Sparks Outrage

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Nalasopara: A ticket collector at the Western Railway was suspended after he forced a Marathi couple to speak in Hindi and was detained in the office of Railway Protection Force (RPF), the Marathi Ekikaran Samiti said. The couple was also forced to write on a paper, “We will never demand to talk in Marathi.” The incident has now sparked controversy and the Marathi Ekikaran Samiti members are protesting at Nalasopara station.

Commenting on the incident, the Western Railway spokesperson said that the TTE has been booked off duty and further actions will be taken after due investigation. Vasai GRP has registered an FIR under relevant sections and further investigation is on.

The incident came to light on Monday. However, the exact date of the incident is yet to be ascertained.

As per the initial information available, a couple with valid railway ticket was forced by an immigrant, non-Marathi speaking TTE , identified as Rakesh Maurya, demanded the couple to speak in Hindi and said, “If you are India, you should know Hindi.”

The couple was also forced to write on a piece of paper that they will never demand to speak in Marathi. The wife had recorded the incident on her phone, however she was forced to delete it. The couple was made to sit in the office for long time and later arrested by RPF, the media statement released by Marathi Ekikaran Samiti said.

The Marathi Ekikaran Samiti has called the incident a “disrespect to Marathi language” and have staged a protest at Nalasopara station’s railway master’s office.

The Western Railway said, “For us passengers of all religions, languages, regions are equal and our aim is to provide them with the best service. The matter will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken if any fault is found.”

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Maharashtra

Who Is Sanjay Verma? 1990-Batch IPS Officer Replacing Rashmi Shukla As New Maharashtra DGP

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IPS Sanjay Verma to be next Maharashtra DGP

IPS Sanjay Verma has been appointed as the new Maharashtra Director General of Police by the Election Commission of India. The poll body, a fortnight before the Maharashtra Elections 2024, had ordered previous DGP Rashmi Shukla’s transfer after receiving a complaint from state Congress chief Nana Patole. 

Following her removal, ECI had sought from the state government names of three senior-most IPS of Maharashtra cadre of which Verma was one. The other two senior officers were Sanjeev Kumar Singhal and his batchmate Ritesh Kumar. 

IPS Sanjay Verma is a 1990-batch officer and is currently serving as DG of law and Technical. He is set to retire in April 2028 and was topping the list of consideration for the Maharashtra DGP post. 

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Manoj Jarange-Patil Won’t Play Poll Spoiler; Asks His Candidates To Withdraw Their Nominations

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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.

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