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Maharashtra Political Deadlock Ends As Eknath Shinde Accepts Deputy CM Post

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Mumbai: Maharashtra can heave a political sigh. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has finally veered round to the view that he must reclaim his political space in the Mahayuti government by joining the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet as a Deputy Chief Minister. The denouement came in the form of an extended meeting when Fadnavis called on Shinde for the second time in two days, at Varsha, the caretaker Chief Minister’s official residence.

Shinde has purportedly relented to pressure from party colleagues and allies and will go with the political flow, for the time being. Shinde, who was initially insisting on the Home Department, appears to have resolved the dilemma in his own mind by accepting other crucial portfolios. Political exigency and compulsions of coalition dharma have essentially prevailed.

Eknath Shinde Likely To Get Urban Development Portfolio

Shinde is tipped to get the Urban Development portfolio, which is expected to assuage his pride. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Fadnavis and Shinde took their discussion forward and also finalized a list of ministers who are expected to take oath on Thursday. That should set at rest the speculation that government formation is in a state of limbo.

Shinde was reportedly hesitant to accept the Deputy CM’s post without the Home Department; the BJP leadership convinced him that the portfolio would remain with Fadnavis, who had managed the key portfolio from 2014 to 2019. The latter also made a cryptic statement, that ‘‘the Chief Minister’s post is just a technical agreement between us… We have been together to take decisions and will continue to do so”. Shinde can join the dots at leisure.

Party leaders, including Shiv Sena MLAs and BJP allies, underscored Shinde’s role as being pivotal for political stability and the party’s future. They cautioned that his absence from the cabinet could result in creation of another power center, potentially destabilizing the alliance. Despite lingering doubts, Shinde’s colleagues, including Uday Samant, Sanjay Shirsat, and Shambhuraj Desai, were eagerly awaiting the meeting’s outcome. Voices within the Sena stressed Shinde’s inclusion as essential for Maharashtra’s governance.

During a press conference at Raj Bhavan, Fadnavis expressed optimism. “All Mahayuti MLAs want Shinde to join the cabinet. I met him on Tuesday and tried to convince him,” he stated. Addressing the media alongside Fadnavis, Shinde said, “Two and a half years ago, Fadnavis proposed my name for CM. Now, I have the opportunity to propose his name for CM. As Devendraji mentioned, everything will be clear soon, so please wait.” Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant echoed this sentiment, stating, “All Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs believe Shinde should be sworn in as Deputy CM. While Shinde Saheb is willing to focus on organizational tasks, we hope he accepts our request to join the cabinet for Maharashtra’s benefit.”

With Shinde relenting, the political stalemate appears to have reached a resolution, paving the way for the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet on Thursday.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra: Abu Asim Azmi presents bill in the House against religious hatred and blasphemy, application of MCOCA and UAPA also included in the draft bill

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Mumbai: Nagpur Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi presented a private bill in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly against those who spread blasphemy and religious hatred. The bill demands action against hate elements and calls for action under MCOCA and UAPA against those who spread religious hatred, in addition to ten years of imprisonment and a bail of Rs 2 lakh so that sectarians do not get bail and such cases of spreading religious hatred are banned. He told the House that there has been an increase in cases of blasphemy in the country and in such a situation, tension arises in the country. Action should be taken against such elements to maintain law and order. This will be possible only when action is taken against such sectarians who promote a hate agenda under the guise of freedom of expression. He said that the Supreme Court had also issued an order for strict action against hate elements and miscreants and has banned inflammatory and hate speech. In such a situation, Maharashtra The bill has been formally introduced in the House to take action against those who spread religious hatred and incite hatred against important people. The draft bill proposes to register a case against communalists under the section of the MCOCA UAPA, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years, so that such elements cannot be granted bail.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai fuel theft gang busted, 13 accused arreste, The gang of thieves had attempted to steal fuel in November

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Mumbai: Police claims to have busted a petrol theft gang. The accused were arrested for attempting to steal petrol from BPCL company on November 14 at around 3:30 am under the limits of RCF police station in Mumbai. A complaint was registered for attempting to steal fuel from the underground 18-inch Mumbai Manmade Multi-Product pipeline on Mumbai Gadkari Road. Vinod Devchand Pandit was arrested from Chembur on November 17 on the basis of technical investigation and information from an informant. His investigation revealed that the mastermind of this racket, Riaz Ahmed Ayub (59), Salim Mohammad Ali, Vinod Devchand Pandit had hatched a plan to steal fuel. 13 accused including Gopal Narayan, Mohammad Irfan, Vinay Shashikant, Ahmed Khan Juman Khan, Nishan Jagdish, Mustafa Manzoor, Nasir Shaukat, Imtiaz Asif have been arrested. All these accused have been arrested from various areas. Their arrests were made from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas. This operation was carried out by Additional Commissioner Mahesh Patil and DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.

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Maharashtra

Vasai-Virar Faces 50,000 Duplicate Entries In Voter Roll; Voters Asked To Choose Single Booth

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Virar: More than 50,000 duplicate voters have been found in the Vasai-Virar city area. The Municipal Corporation has published a list of these voters on its website. The Corporation has appealed to those whose names appear in duplicate to visit and vote at any one polling center of their choice and inform the Corporation of their decision in advance.

More than 50,000 duplicate voters were found in the draft voter lists published by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. This large number of duplicate entries has created a major conundrum. To resolve this issue, the Election Commission has allowed voters with duplicate names to cast their vote at any single designated polling center.

Accordingly, the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation has published the list of 50,000 duplicate voters on the municipal website. Municipal Commissioner Manoj Kumar Suryawanshi has appealed to these voters to check their names, select one polling center, and vote there.

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