Connect with us
Sunday,28-June-2026
Breaking News

Maharashtra

Maharashtra: Row Erupts As BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani Presides Over Mumbai Mayoral Election

Published

on

Mumbai: The mayoral election process was conducted by BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani in the BMC’s historic Committee Hall in his capacity as the state-appointed presiding officer. A confrontation quickly erupted over the appointment of BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani as the presiding officer.

Raising a point of order, Shiv Sena (UBT) group leader Kishori Pednekar objected to the commissioner presiding over the election. “We have many senior corporators, including Shraddha Jadhav, who has been elected for the seventh time. While all corporators will work for the city’s development, the commissioner should not have been placed on the dais as presiding officer, as per the rules,” she argued.

Gagrani responded by citing a recent state government resolution, which authorises commissioners to preside over the election of the mayor and deputy mayor at a special meeting of newly elected corporators. With the ruling clarifying the procedure, the Opposition’s challenge was effectively closed. Shiv Sena (UBT) chose not to field a candidate, following which Gagrani formally declared Tawde elected unopposed.

In a similar uncontested outcome, Ghadi was appointed deputy mayor. The House, however, remained restive. Congress corporators staged a protest over the city’s deteriorating air quality, entering the chamber wearing masks. Amid the din, Tawde proceeded with her maiden mayoral address, underscoring her intent to focus on civic issues despite the disruptions.

Tensions flared again when deputy mayor Ghadi rose to speak. Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators tore up his prepared speech, raised slogans of “50 khoke ekdam okay,” and staged a walkout. Ghadi, once a member of the undivided Shiv Sena, had joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction after the party split, a move that continues to rankle the UBT camp and added to the day’s acrimony.

For the BJP, the moment carried historical resonance. Its first and only mayor before Tawde, Prabhakar Pai, held office in 1982–83. Four decades later, Tawde’s unopposed election marks not just a personal milestone but a watershed in Mumbai’s civic politics, with the BJP firmly staking its claim over the city’s most powerful municipal institution.

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Crime Branch action against self-styled police officer arrested on charges of extortion

Published

on

Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have arrested a self-styled fake police officer who used to commit fraud by pasting fake police identity cards and several government stickers on his car. He used to use a car with police stickers to gain people’s trust in the name of getting loans from banks and defraud them by collecting money from them. A 54-year-old man involved in these crimes has been arrested. He claimed to be a senior police officer. The police have arrested him with his fake documents. Cases have been registered against him in Kasturba Marg, Sakinaka, and Kherwadi police stations in Mumbai, this was informed by DCP Raj Tilak Roshan in a press conference. Further investigation into the matter is underway.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

The race to save his son’s political career has begun, Uddhav Thackeray should start an ‘apology tour’, Shiv Sena Secretary Kiran Pawaskar attacks Uddhav

Published

on

Mumbai: Shiv Sena Secretary and Spokesperson Kiran Pavaskar has strongly attacked Uddhav Thackeray’s visit to Vidarbha and Marathwada. He claimed that the visit of the MPs who joined Shiv Sena to the Lok Sabha constituencies is not to apologize to the voters, but to save Aaditya Thackeray’s political career. At a press conference in Mumbai, Pavaskar said that if Uddhav Thackeray really cared about the people and workers, he would have fought the local body elections as well. He alleged that during this time, the workers and candidates were left to save their lives, while now the MLAs are being visited after they left the party. Pavskar said that this is not an apology to the people, but an attempt to save his son’s political base. He also claimed that many MPs joined the Shiv Sena due to dissatisfaction with the work of the Uddhav Thackeray group. Pavskar said that while Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray are currently touring Vidarbha, during the municipal, town council, and district council elections, the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray’s faction did not even plan to go out of Bandra. They left their workers and candidates to their own safety. He said that many members joined the Shiv Sena due to dissatisfaction with the work of the Uddhav Thackeray faction. Now an attempt is being made to apologize to the voters by visiting the Lok Sabha constituencies of these same MPs. But the question is, if the people and workers were so concerned, why was this visit not made earlier? Pawaskar said that the workers, office bearers, taluka heads, and district chiefs of Vidarbha and Marathwada will ask the same question to the Uddhav Thackeray faction. He alleged that the visit is not being made to apologize to the voters but to save Aaditya Thackeray’s political career.

Pawaskar further said that to ensure his son’s victory in a reserved constituency like Worli, the Uddhav Thackeray faction had to cancel the tickets of two MLAs. MLAs Sunil Shinde and Sachin Ahir had to be reinstated as Legislative Council candidates. He alleged that even today, the Uddhav Thackeray faction is visiting Vidarbha only to save its son’s political career.

Pawaskar said that 65 corporators have joined the Shiv Sena, expressing confidence in the leadership of core Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde. Similarly, 40 MLAs from Uddhav Thackeray’s faction joined the Shiv Sena, taking the party’s MLA strength to 60. He claimed that six MLAs have joined the Shiv Sena today, and in future this number will increase to 12.

Pavaskar said that the allegations of breaking up MLAs, MPs and corporators no longer make sense. He said that the Uddhav Thackeray faction should examine itself as to why all these public representatives are joining the Shiv Sena to work under the leadership of Shiv Sena’s central leader and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He said that even today, MLAs, MPs and other public representatives from every corner of the state are eager to join the Shiv Sena. The main reason for this is that Eknath Shinde’s leadership works at the grassroots level and not from home. He also criticized Uddhav Thackeray’s faction on the issue. Pavskar claimed that important news regarding new additions to the party will be released soon in the coming days.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Mumbai : Citizens and businesses must use the Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s analytical laboratory for water and food quality testing.

Published

on

Mumbai: Water and food are inseparable parts of our daily lives. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is running an analytical laboratory to ensure that both these things are available to the citizens in a pure and quality manner. The Municipal Analytical Laboratory at the ‘G’ office in Dadar tests over 70,000 water and food samples every year. The laboratory has provided the facility of providing water testing reports on the user’s mobile and email at a very low cost and within 24 hours. However, Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajakta Vermalongare has appealed to the citizens and commercial establishments to take advantage of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s analytical laboratory for testing the purity of water and food.
The Municipal Analytical Laboratory under the Public Health Department of the Burhan Mumbai Municipal Corporation is a laboratory that is almost 123 years old and has been continuously serving the people of Mumbai since then. Started in 1903, the laboratory has been updated over time. In the last ten years, more than 7 lakh water and food samples have been tested in this laboratory. This is the only laboratory of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for testing food and water samples, which is functioning in Dadar. In this laboratory, water samples distributed daily by the Municipal Corporation’s Water Supply Department, fast food in the food court, ice samples, water used for construction, water used for swimming pools, etc. are regularly tested and analyzed. Therefore, it is possible to know the quality and purity of the relevant water and take necessary measures in time. The latest equipment and technology are used for analysis in this laboratory for testing the samples. More than 45 thousand water samples are tested by the laboratory in a year. Importantly, the test report of the water samples is available in just 24 hours. The report is made available on the website for institutions and on email and WhatsApp to citizens. Food and water samples are also sent to the Municipal Analytical Laboratory for testing by Central Railway, Western Railway and Konkan Railway. Apart from this, samples of mid-day meal served in schools, samples of prohibited items sent by various police stations of Mumbai, gutkha, fragrant supari and fragrant tobacco are tested. About 8 thousand such samples are tested in this laboratory during the year. Due to the use of latest equipment and technology in this laboratory, this laboratory has been given the status of a state-level food laboratory by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. For safe and quality health facilities of Mumbaikars, a plan has been initiated to modernize the laboratory for more detailed analysis and more tests through the laboratory of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Prajakta Verma Longare said in this regard that both food and water should be available for the health of Mumbaikars. For this, it is also necessary to upgrade the laboratory for more analytical and detailed tests. The role behind this is to ensure that a laboratory with international standards and testing capacity is constantly available at the service of Mumbaikars. The laboratory provides food and water testing facilities at a very low cost. Citizens, housing societies, food vendors and other commercial establishments should take full advantage of this facility. So that the quality of our food and water can be ensured.

Continue Reading

Trending