Mumbai: Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has congratulated SP President Akhilesh Yadav for his struggle to protect the nation and the Constitution. He stated that Akhilesh Yadav has the capacity to save the country, and the nation’s 1.4 billion citizens should recognize his efforts. Abu Asim Azmi emphasized that a strong alliance is essential to eradicate communalism and hatred from the country. He further added that the distribution of seats within such an alliance should be based on the strength of a party’s grassroots workers and its ability to secure the highest number of votes. Highlighting the political significance of Uttar Pradesh, he remarked that the path to Delhi runs through the state; therefore, a robust alliance must be formed to secure power in Uttar Pradesh and, in turn, halt those who propagate hatred.

Amid humiliating defeat in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituency polls, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has convened a core committee meeting on Monday at her official residence Devgiri in Mumbai to self introspection and discuss future strategy especially for the local body elections.

The NCP had renominated a three-term legislator Satish Chavan in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituency but he was defeated by the NCP-SP nominee Pratapsinh Patil.

Chavan lost the poll due to internal friction among the MahaYuti allies and also because Gen Z and minority community voters deserted the NCP.

NCP’s decision comes a day after Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar on Thursday admitted that the Maharashtra Legislative Council election results call for self introspection.

She was reacting after the NCP nominee Satish Chavan lost to the NCP-SP candidate Pratapsinh Patil in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ seat.

As far as the MahaYuti alliance is concerned, it won Pune and Amravati Teacher’s seats while the Maha Vikas Aghadi has bagged three seats including Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituencies.

Speaking to reporters, Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar said, “In any election, there are victories and defeats. Even when the results come out, self-introspection is necessary, and we will do so. We will try to improve. I genuinely feel that this result calls for self-introspection on our part.”

Her reaction comes after the NCP Working President Praful Patel in his post on social media platform X on Wednesday said, “Today’s Vidhan Parishad election results serve as a definitive wake-up call. The time has come for urgent introspection to rebuild trust, realign our priorities, and fix our organisational structure.”

Earlier, Patel had also called for corrective steps to further strengthen the party organisation.

On the other hand, the Maharashtra NCP Chief Sunil Tatkare said, “We will sit together and analyse the outcome.”

Earlier, he emphasised that candidate selections and election outcomes reflect a collective failure and joint responsibility of the party leadership rather than individual missteps.

Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar’s comment comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena engaged in a war of words over the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls.

MahaYuti leaders expressed their displeasure and blamed Shiv Sena for the defeat.

BJP placed the blame on Shiv Sena, saying that the loss occurred due to a lack of support from their ally.

BJP accused the Shiv Sena’s stance of undermining the MahaYuti’s strategy.

On the other hand, Shiv Sena said that the BJP, which claims to be the world’s largest party, should introspect on its own electoral strategy and internal discontent instead of shifting the blame of defeat onto its allies.

Monday’s core committee is taking place after the NCP had met on October 25 and gave explicit refusal to entertain any merger or share organisational control with the NCP-SP.

Beyond a mere denial of reconciliation, this decision codifies the permanent structural rift within the Pawar legacy and reshapes coalition dynamics across both sides of the state’s political divide.

The refusal to share control or merge signals that the era of tactical ambiguity between the two NCP factions is officially over.

Both outfits are now set on divergent trajectories, setting up a long-term electoral contest for the legacy of the party’s original mandate.

By firmly ruling out a merger or power-sharing agreement, the ruling NCP faction after its core committee meeting held on Sunday reinforces its commitment to the MahaYuti alliance alongside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena.

Having secured official recognition and symbol rights from the Election Commission, the ruling NCP seeks to establish itself not as a temporary breakaway group, but as the sole legitimate vehicle of the party’s administrative future.

Retaining full structural autonomy allows the party to maintain its bargaining power within Cabinet portfolios and regional seat-sharing negotiations without the threat of internal ideological dilution.

Despite taking a firm stance against the merger, the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP however, faces crucial unaddressed internal challenges.

The conflict between the youth wing and seasoned veterans remains unmanaged, threatening cohesion.

The lack of alignment between party office-bearers and government representatives leaves the cadre without clear direction.

The DRI arrested two drug traffickers from a bus and seized 3.01 kg of amphetamine drug having an illicit market value of nearly Rs 2.4 crore in Nagpur, an official said on Friday.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Nagpur Regional Unit of Mumbai Zone, claimed to have dismantled an inter-state drug trafficking syndicate through the operation.

The contraband was concealed in three ladies’ suits, which appeared to be unusually heavy, said the DRI Nagpur Regional Unit.

Acting on specific intelligence, officers of DRI Nagpur Regional Unit intercepted two passengers travelling by bus from Delhi to Bangalore, passing through Nagpur on October 28, 2026, on suspicion of carrying narcotic substances in their luggage, said a DRI statement.

The officers boarded the said bus at Bhagimari Toll Plaza on NH-47, Nagpur. They undertook a detailed examination of the passengers’ luggage, which revealed that three ladies’ suits appeared to be unusually heavy, it said.

On examination, white-coloured pouches concealed inside the suits were found to contain transparent polythene packets filled with a white crystalline substance, it said.

Field testing of representative samples, drawn separately from all three packets, gave a positive indication for the presence of amphetamine, the DRI said.

The three packets containing a total of 3.01 kg of amphetamine, with an illicit market value of approximately Rs 2.4 crore, were recovered from the two passengers and were subsequently seized under the relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, the DRI said.

The two passengers were arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985 and were produced before the JFMC at Nagpur on September 29.

These sustained efforts against organised narcotics trafficking networks operating across state borders reflect the steadfast commitment of DRI towards combating drug trafficking and contributing to the Government of India’s vision of a “Nasha Mukt Bharat”, said the statement.