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Maharashtra Politics: AAP Releases 2nd BMC Candidate List, Takes Tally To 36

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Mumbai: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday released its second list candidates for the 2025-26 BMC elections, with 15 names. This takes the total number of candidates announced by the party to 36. Last week AAP in its first list has announced 21 candidates. 

AAP in its debut in the BMC elections have decided to contest all 227 wards in Mumbai, ruling out alliance with any party.

“AAP releases it’s second list of candidates; while BJP, Congress, both the Shiv Sena factions and both NCP factions haven’t been able to finalise a single list so far. AAP candidates have hit the ground,” said party leadership said. 

Speaking on alliance of the Thackeray brothers, Preeti Sharma Menon, the party’s Mumbai President said, “We are happy that two brothers have come together. But all we have seen is Uddhav and Raj Thackeray and the BJP’s Ashish Shelar trade barbs at each other. The Congress is as usual missing in the action. The fact is that all existing parties are status quo beneficiaries and have looted the BMC, whether as the ruling party or by being complicit as the opposition.”

“None of these parties have agreed on a single list, while the Aam Aadmi Party has hit the ground with our leader Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Kaam Ki Rajniti’ and has already released two lists,” Menon said.

On Tuesday, AAP released it’s list of star campaigners for the 2025-26 BMC polls, featuring the party leadership across Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Goa and Gujarat. The list of 40 campaigners includes it’s national leaders including former Delhi chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi and other ministers including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and others, who will campaign in Mumbai.

MP Sanjay Singh last week said, “Despite being India’s ‘Urbs Prima’, Mumbai is in a mess. BMC has a whopping Rs. 74,447 Crore annual budget- the largest in Asia. Mumbaikars pay the highest taxes in the country and yet get shoddy public services. The BMC is a cesspool of corruption and monumental ineptitude. Every political party has looted Mumbai, prioritising their selfish interests over public good.”

Singh had highlighted that with just seven corporators, AAP will have a house leader and representation on all statutory committees, adding that when the party last contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it got 5.16% of the vote share, which came to over 2,73,000 votes. 

The voting for the 2025-26 BMC polls is scheduled on January 15, 2026 and counting of votes will be on January 16. The nomination papers submission for the candidate began on December 23 and will continue till December 30. The final list of candidates for all parties will be declared on January 3.

Maharashtra

Mumbai Fake police fraud gang busted, four FIRs registered so far, and four individuals—including mastermind Raj Khatib—arrested: DCP.

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Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have busted a gang of fraudsters posing as police officers who used to intimidate people by giving them police badges and fake identity cards. Earlier, the Crime Branch had claimed to have arrested three fake police officers in this case. The search for their accomplices was also on. These absconding accused were arrested today. The accused had told the complainant that the blood money would be returned with interest. After that, the Crime Branch took action on the complainant’s complaint and arrested Mohammad Ghaus Ibrahim Khatib and Rajesh Bade Singh. The search for the absconding accused in this case was on. In this case, Raj Bade Singh was arrested by the Crime Branch from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The accused had cheated the complainant of about Rs 15 lakh and taken money from his several bank accounts. Not only that, Raj Khatib used to tell the police that he would get the complainant’s money back. So far, the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested four accused in the fraud case, in which the mastermind is Muhammad Ghaus alias Raj Khatib. In this case, three accused were arrested in the first complaint. At that time, the accused had promised the complainant a loan of Rs 1 crore from the bank and then cheated him. In this, Raj Khatib, his son Musab Khatib were arrested. Raj Khatib used to call himself a DCP and cheated the complainant of Rs 16 lakh on the pretext of getting money from a builder along with interest. This complainant was confronted after the news was broadcast. After that, another complainant came forward who said that he had received Rs 12 lakh from three candidates in the name of police recruitment. After that, four FIRs have been registered against these accused so far, this information was given by the Mumbai DCP. Raj Tilak Roshan has said that the number of his victims is likely to increase, so he appeals to the citizens that if they have been cheated by this gang, they can file a complaint with the Crime Branch.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra ATS Operation : Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti and two associates of Lawrence Bishnoi questioned, released after interrogation.

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has intensified its crackdown on anti-social elements including gangsters like underworld, Pakistani don Shahzad Bhatti and Lawrence Bishnoi. The ATS in Osmanabad Dharashio carried out Operation Lawrence Bishnoi and detained two suspects and released them after questioning them. Mumbai On July 10, 2026, ATS officers in Dharashio detained and questioned two persons on suspicion of interacting (liking/commenting) on ​​WhatsApp links associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. They have been identified as Vishal Bankat Kamble (age 35, resident of Tarna Colony, near Chhaya Deep Lawn, Dharashio) and Jirabi Bandiwan Sheikh (age 22, resident of Jalkot, Taluka Tuljapur, District Dharashio). During the inquiry, it was found that they were following the links of three groups associated with this controversial gang. However, no data was found posted by them on these groups. Their mobile phones have been seized, further investigation is underway. Vishal Bankat Kamble’s (late Bankat Kamble) father served as a police constable in the Dharashiv police department. He passed away after retirement. Jirabi Sheikh had followed the controversial link using his father’s mobile phone. As soon as this came to light, his father switched off the phone. However, the old SIM card was reactivated and checked, which confirmed that the controversial link was indeed followed.
To retrieve the old data, both the mobile phones and the SIM card have been sent to the ATS office in Chhatrapati Sambhaj Nagar and the electronic gazette has been sent to the Forensic Examination Laboratory. The ATS is conducting further investigation. Both have been released, however, the ATS has not given them a clean chit so far.

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Maharashtra

BMC sets up helpline for manhole-related issues following the SakiNaka incident; dedicated WhatsApp chatbot launched for complaints.

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Mumbai: After the death of Aslam Sheikh in a manhole at Mumbai’s Sakinaka, the BMC has now gone on alert mode and has set up a helpline and a WhatsApp chatbot for grievance redressal to avoid such incidents. The Municipal Corporation (BMC) has provided a more robust and transparent grievance redressal system to facilitate quick registration and prompt resolution of grievances. Citizens can easily register complaints regarding open, broken or missing manhole covers, drain cover issues and other civic grievances through various digital channels.

To ensure quick resolution of complaints related to open, broken or missing manhole covers, the corporation has introduced a dedicated WhatsApp chatbot (9324500600). To use this facility, citizens need to initiate a conversation by sending a message to the designated WhatsApp number. After that, they need to select the “Submit Complaint” option, share the location of the incident, and upload a picture of the issue. On successful registration, the citizen will receive a complaint registration number for future follow-up.

Register complaints through ‘My BMC Marg’
Citizens should first open the ‘My BMC Marg’ app and log in using their mobile number and OTP. After that, they should select the ‘New Registration’ option and select the complaint type. If required, a brief description of the issue should be provided. Users should upload a current photo of the location or take a geo-tagged photo and upload it. After submitting the complaint, the citizen receives a complaint registration number for future follow-up. *Complaint registration through other channels
Apart from the ‘MyBMC Marg’ app and the dedicated manhole chatbot, citizens can also register complaints through the municipal corporation’s WhatsApp chatbot (8999228999), official website, and 1916 helpline. Complaints can be registered by sending the location and a photo of the issue to the WhatsApp chatbot (8999228999). To report potholes, one can send a message with the keyword “Do it” (or “Said”) and for complaints related to manhole covers, the keyword “Manhole” (or “Manhole”) (or “Manhole”) (or “Manhole”).

Citizens can also file complaints through the municipal corporation’s website (portal.mcgm.gov.in) by visiting the options: ‘Citizens File Complaints All’.

Additionally, complaints can be filed by calling the 1916 helpline and providing the necessary details.
In cases where a photo is required, citizens are sent a link to upload or capture a geo-tagged photo. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appeals to citizens to report incidents of open, broken, or missing manholes, as well as other dangerous civic issues, using the available complaint channels. Citizens are encouraged to use the ‘MyBMC Marg’ mobile application or WhatsApp chatbot (8999228999) for quick registration and effective follow-up of complaints. The corporation has also specifically appealed to citizens to use the dedicated WhatsApp chatbot (9324500600) for complaints of open, broken, or missing manholes.

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