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Mumbai: Andheri by-election pits Uddhav-led Sena against Shinde Gut and BJP

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It will be the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena versus the BJP in the Andheri East Assembly by-election on November 3. The BJP will field Murji Patel, who had garnered 31.14 per cent votes as an independent to finish second to the Sena’s winner, the late Ramesh Latke, in 2019. It is learnt that the Eknath Shinde faction is not interested in contesting the by-poll because it does not have a candidate with good electoral prospects.The Shiv Sena factions’ petitions for the party’s official symbol of bow and arrow are pending before the Election Commission of India for the hearing which has been cleared by the Supreme Court.

The first big election to be held after June’s power shift will be watched for the EC’s decision, if any, before the by-poll nomination process ends on October 14. People in the know said they did not expect Thackeray’s candidate to get the official symbol. They said in similar cases in the past, the symbol was frozen and the warring factions told to pick new symbols. The Thackeray faction could be the one to forego the bow and arrow against the BJP’s established lotus.

Sources said the Sena was prepared to meet the challenge and has asked party workers to ensure victory even if they fight with a new symbol. Thackeray has decided to nominate Rujuta Latke, the former local MLA’ s widow who could get sympathy votes. Her husband had gained 42.67% votes against Patel’s 31.14%. The Congress’ Amin Kutty had finished third with 19% share.

The BJP expects to breach the gap, but the Sena sees its prospect better, not just because of sympathy votes, but also because the Congress has decided to not field its candidate expecting to shift its valuable share to the Sena nominee.State Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe told mid-day that it was the MVA’s policy to keep the seat with the respective winner. “We wonder why the Shinde group, which according to the BJP is the real Sena, has not been given the seat?” he asked, saying the Congress will be with the Sena. The Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) boss Sharad Pawar declared his party’s support to the Thackeray Sena on MondayThe unified Sena and BJP were in a pre-poll alliance in 2019 and yet Patel contested as an independent to prove his worth with tacit support from the party. His great finish landed him the official responsibility. He was asked to prepare much ahead of the by-poll announcement on Monday. The polling will be on a working day, Thursday, November 3, followed by the counting on November 6.

In 2019, the BJP had marched ahead of the Sena by winning 16 of 36 seats in Mumbai which was its best ever show in the metro that had voted it to win 82 seats in a close fight against the Sena (84) in the BMC polls two years before. The Sena won two short of the BJP’s Assembly tally in the city. The Congress was reduced to four seats. The NCP and Samajwadi Party got one each.

The by-poll comes ahead of the BMC election slated to be held this year end or early next year. It is expected to be a pilot in terms of the collaboration between the BJP and the Shinde group, which would also like to take credit if the rival group is defeated.

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Red alert issued for extremely heavy rainfall on Sunday; citizens advised to avoid stepping out unless necessary.

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Mumbai: In view of the ongoing heavy rains in Mumbai, the entire Mumbai Municipal Corporation system is working on a war footing. More than 10,000 officers and employees of the Municipal Corporation are deployed in various parts and are continuously monitoring the situation and taking necessary measures. Due to the continuous heavy rains, water has accumulated in some low-lying areas and traffic has been temporarily closed on some roads in view of the safety of the citizens. The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for heavy rains on Sunday, July 5, 2026 and the Burhan Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration is appealing to the citizens not to step out of their homes unnecessarily.

In view of the ongoing heavy rains in Mumbai, State Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan today visited the Emergency Control Room at the Municipal Corporation headquarters. He also reviewed the situation in Mumbai. Also, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde visited the Emergency Control Room at the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Headquarters today (July 4, 2026) and reviewed the entire situation.
Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide is continuously reviewing the situation from the Emergency Control Room at the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Headquarters. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijeet Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Eastern Suburbs) Avinash Dhakne, Deputy Commissioner (Public Health) Sharad Uday, Director (Emergency Management) Mahesh Narvekar, Principal Officer (Emergency Management) Rashmi Lokhande and concerned officers are present.

Mumbai city and suburbs have been receiving heavy rain since the morning of July 4, 2026. As a precautionary measure for the safety of students, a holiday has been declared for the afternoon session in all private/government schools and colleges in Mumbai on July 4, 2026.

Due to heavy rains in the western suburbs, the Mogra Nallah is overflowing and the smaller drains connected to the Mogra Nallah system are also overflowing. Due to which some roads in the area are submerged in water and traffic is affected. The continuous rain is delaying the drainage of water. In this backdrop, Noor Elahi Seva Road in Chembur, Veera Desai Road in Andheri, Municipal Market Road, Swami Vivekananda Marg, Andheri Bhuvari Marg, Himamaal Junction in Vikhroli, Gandhi Nagar Junction and Parish Park Market roads were temporarily closed for traffic as a precautionary measure. An appeal was made to take alternative routes.

All Zonal Deputy Commissioners and all Assistant Commissioners (Ward Officers) along with concerned officers and employees are present in the office or in their actual work areas. The Deputy Commissioners should personally verify this, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide has given clear instructions. As per these instructions, the entire Mumbai Municipal Corporation system is on alert, and officers and employees are working in their actual work areas to deal with any emergency. Heads of all departments, engineers, pump operators, health workers and emergency response teams have been deployed at various locations. Currently, 10,000 employees are working in the field, constantly monitoring the situation and taking necessary measures. Complaints received from citizens through the Municipal Corporation’s emergency control room are being recorded immediately and forwarded to the concerned departments for immediate action. Special attention has been paid to the performance of storm water systems, sewage systems and pumping stations and necessary measures are being taken on a war footing to ensure smooth drainage of rainwater. Officers and employees of the Solid Waste Management Department are working in the field, and health workers are providing continuous services at various locations to ensure that floating solid waste, tree branches and other waste flowing with rainwater do not get stuck in manholes or drains and obstruct the flow of water. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is working round the clock to ensure that even during heavy rains, the area remains clean, there is no foul smell and Mumbaikars do not face any inconvenience, and all the concerned employees are taking necessary measures together.

In the backdrop of the ongoing monsoon situation, the Municipal Corporation administration has appealed to the citizens to take necessary precautions to avoid the disease of Leptospirosis. The field employees of the Municipal Corporation should also take Doxycycline 200 mg as a preventive medicine for Leptospirosis. These tablets are available from the Municipal Corporation dispensary/dispensary.

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Mumbai bank accounts activated, cyber fraud company exposed, 6 arrested

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Mumbai: Crime Branch has claimed to have busted a gang that was providing bank accounts for cyber fraud. In this case, the police have arrested 6 accused. The Mumbai Crime Branch received information that bank accounts were being provided for cyber fraud through a fake company at Masjid Bandar and bank accounts were activated and money was deposited in the account under the knowledge of the same company. On this basis, the Crime Branch conducted a raid and exposed this racket. Accounts were opened in several banks in Mumbai and details of new current accounts were obtained. After activating the bank account with the SIM card, the above SIM card was sent to Dubai and from here this SIM card was used for cyber fraud. On this basis, Unit 2 Crime Branch raided and seized a total of 66 ATM cards of several banks, 12 mobile SIM cards, 15 passbooks of several banks, 122 cheque books of several banks, 2 pen drives, 68 stamps, bank account opening forms, electricity bills and other documents. The accused have been produced in court and sent to remand. This information was given here today by Mumbai Crime DCP Raj Tilak Roshan.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai : EOW takes action in 30 crore share market investment scam, accused arrested, 1 crore recovered.

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Mumbai: Mumbai Economic Wing EOW has claimed to have arrested the accused in a case of fraud and irregularities in giving 2 to 5 percent profit to investors under the guise of investing in the share market in the name of InvisTok app. A case of fraud including the MPID Act was registered in the EOW in which a company named InvisTok has committed a fraud of Rs 30 crore, in which 42 investors have been cheated, the value of which is said to be Rs 30 crore. Mumbai EOW Unit 5 received information that the person who cheated people is hiding in Gujarat, on which the EOW team has arrested the accused from Gujarat. Rs 1.65 crore has also been recovered from his possession and has appealed to the citizens not to invest in capital schemes so that they do not fall prey to fraud. Along with this, citizens should invest only according to the scheme of Abi Eye.

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