National News
Mumbai Mayor Battle Intensifies As BJP And Sena (UBT)-MNS Draw Clear Lines Over Marathi Identity And Power In BMC
Mumbai: With two political gladiators – the BJP and the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS – announcing that the next Mayor of Mumbai will be a Marathi, the battle lines have clearly been drawn. The BJP, which heads the Mahayuti, had earlier announced that the city would be led by a Hindu, but later changed its stance, stating that the Mayor would indeed be a Marathi.
The reunion of Uddhav and Raj Thackeray has altered the political agenda and will now compel other parties to respond in kind. The civic body, with an annual budget exceeding Rs74,000 crore, is up for grabs – albeit with the Marathi asmita (pride) card firmly in play.
It was during the Congress-led rule that the battle for Mumbai was equally fierce. While the Congress stood for ‘Mumbai for all,’ the Shiv Sena–BJP alliance championed ‘Mumbai for Marathis.’ In 1992, when the Shiv Sena was at its peak under the late Balasaheb Thackeray, the BJP took a step back. It was officially announced by Thackeray and Pramod Mahajan that the two parties would fight separately. The Congress, led by Sharad Pawar, took full advantage of this split and went on to rule the metropolis for five years.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. After ruling the civic body with BJP support from 1997 to 2017, the Shiv Sena fought the last election on its own and survived by a narrow margin. In the 2017 BMC polls, the Sena won 84 seats, narrowly ahead of the BJP’s 82. The BJP chose not to stake its claim to the BMC, prioritising the alliance that was vital for running the Devendra Fadnavis-led state government.
The Uddhav-led Shiv Sena, which leaned more heavily on the Hindu plank after 2004, has now reverted to its original Marathi agenda. The shift has been driven largely by the 2022 party split engineered by Eknath Shinde with BJP support, which weakened the UBT faction as several leaders defected to the Shinde-led Sena. Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray – who has consistently upheld the Marathi language and Marathi Manoos agenda – has decided to join forces with his cousin Uddhav. Their reunion has sharply drawn the battle lines: Mumbai for Marathis or Mumbai for others?
The Marathi vote bank is estimated to be 32-37%. Electoral arithmetic shifts dramatically when this bloc votes en masse for a single party. Earlier, Marathi voters were divided between the Shiv Sena and the MNS; now, a unified push is likely. In 2007, when the MNS contested the BMC elections for the first time, it secured 10.43% of the vote, while the unified Shiv Sena polled 22.71%. In 2012, the MNS vote share rose to 20.67%, with the Sena at 21.85%. Had the Sena not allied with the BJP, which garnered 8.64%, the outcome could have been very different.
In 2017, when the Sena and BJP contested separately, the Sena secured 28.29% of the vote, while the BJP followed closely with 27.32%. The MNS managed 7.73%. Of the 227 seats in the BMC, the Congress won only 31, while the undivided Shiv Sena and BJP won 84 and 82 seats, respectively.
“Mumbai’s mayor will be Marathi, and he will be ours,” Raj Thackeray declared while announcing the poll pact. This sets up a major challenge for the Eknath Shinde–led Shiv Sena, which must now prove its relevance and identity in Mumbai.
National News
Professor Dr. Qazi Rashid Anwar Appointed AYUSH Advisor for Unani Medicine, Anjuman-e-Islam Congratulates

In a major development in the field of medicine and the promotion of Unani system of treatment, the Government of Maharashtra has nominated Prof. (Dr.) Qazi Rashid Anwar, Principal of Dr. Muhammad Ishaq Gymkhana Wala Tabiya Unani Medical College and Haji A. R. Kalsekar Tabiya Hospital (Versova, Mumbai) under Anjuman-e-Islam, to the prestigious post of Advisor on Unani Medicine (Advisor, Unani Expert) in Directorate of AYUSH, Government of Maharashtra. The appointment was formally approved by the Hon’ble Minister for Medical Education, Hon’ble Hasan Musharraf and Director of AYUSH, Dr. (Vidya) Raman Ghongralikar, felicitating Prof. Dr. Rashid Qazi on the issuance of the official order.
On this important honor, the President of Anjuman-e-Islam, a leading educational institution of the subcontinent, Padma Shri Dr. Zaheer I. Qazi, Vice President Mr. Mushtaq Antola, General Secretary Mr. Aqeel Hafeez and other members of the association as well as the Chairman of this college Imran Furniture Wala have congratulated Professor Dr. Rashid Qazi and expressed their best wishes for his new responsibility. The Arbab-e-Anjuman said that this appointment is not only a source of pride and joy for the institution but also augurs a bright future for Unani medicine in the state.
It should be noted that at present, a total of seven Unani medical colleges, including 3 government-aided (aided) colleges, are providing education and treatment services in Maharashtra, but despite this wider network, there was no expert or regular officer of Unani medicine in the Directorate of AYUSH, Government of Maharashtra, due to which a long-standing gap was being felt in policy making and technical guidance. In addition, the Maharashtra government has recently approved the establishment of the first government Unani Medical College with 100 seats and a 100-bed hospital in Savar village, Mahsala taluka (Raigad district), for which the guidance of a qualified expert was indispensable for its educational and technical formation. In this context, this step of the Maharashtra government is being viewed with great appreciation and hope in the medical community.
The President and members of Anjuman-e-Islam have expressed the hope that the vast teaching and administrative experiences of Professor Rashid Qazi, including the project of the new government college, will give a new prestige and a new dimension to Unani medicine across the state.
National News
Saini narrates his rise from computer operator to Haryana CM

In 1996, while operating a computer at the BJP office in Panchkula, Nayab Singh Saini had never imagined that he would one day become the Chief Minister of Haryana.
Years later came an electoral defeat in 2009 but a decisive victory in 2014 and eventually opportunities to serve as a minister, a Member of Parliament, the state BJP President and now the Chief Minister.
Sharing his journey with young entrepreneurs at the ‘Gen-H Yuva Udyami Chaupal’ in Gurugram University in Gurugram on Friday, CM Saini said there were no shortcuts in his journey, only the steady climb of hard work.
Referring to the young participants as Gen-H, the Chief Minister gave the expression a wider meaning. “You call it Gen-H for Haryana; I would call it Gen-HB — Haryana-Bharat. Gen-HB is the heartbeat of India,” he said.
In a candid interaction, young entrepreneurs asked the Chief Minister direct questions about advancing in politics without a legacy, recovering from failure, technology, sports, employment, the challenge of drug abuse, startups, the pace of government functioning and family.
The programme was watched live across more than 4,000 institutions. Drawing from his own experiences, the Chief Minister urged young people not to allow failure to become their identity, but to let their work define them.
Rather than chasing quick success, he asked them to make consistency, credibility and patience their strengths. Asked how he had reached this far in politics despite having no one behind him, CM Saini said his journey had no lift, only stairs, and there were times when even the next step was not visible.
After entering politics, he recalled his first electoral responsibility was not to contest an election himself but to help someone else fight one.
During that election, he worked until 2 a.m. When he was asked to contest in 2009 he did not have the money, but people came forward and helped him fight the election. He lost in 2009, but decided that defeat would not become his identity; instead, he would learn from it.
The very next day, he was back among the people. There was no position in hand and no assurance of another ticket, but he had made the decision to continue working. It was this approach, he said, that led to his victory by a significant margin in 2014.
The Chief Minister also recalled 1996 when Narendra Modi was the BJP in-charge for Haryana and had sent a computer to the party office in Panchkula. CM Saini said while operating that computer at the party office he had never imagined that he would one day become Chief Minister.
Referring to the period before 2014, the Chief Minister said there was a time when the youth were used for politics, but if a young person sought to move ahead in politics, that aspiration was suppressed.
Asked what the 2009 electoral defeat had taught him, the Chief Minister said he rose again the very same day with twice the enthusiasm. For him, a position had never been important; the spirit of ‘Nation First’ had always remained paramount.
The Chief Minister said his desire to help people led to the support he received in 2014. People elected him and the party entrusted him with ministerial responsibility.
The opportunities that followed, to serve as Member of Parliament, state BJP President and the Chief Minister, were the outcome of people’s affection, his sense of responsibility towards them and the opportunities given to him by the party.
National News
Punjab BJP criticises Congress leaders for remarks on Sajjan Kumar’s demise

Punjab BJP President, Kewal Singh Dhillon, on Friday condemned remarks by Congress leaders describing former MP Sajjan Kumar, an accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as a “role model.” He said that this statement once again exposed the party’s anti-Sikh mindset.Dhillon said even after 42 years of the horrific and painful 1984 riots, the wounds of the victim families remain unhealed.
At such a sensitive time, describing a key accused in the massacre as a “role model” is a condemnable attempt to rub salt into the wounds of the victim families and reopen their painful memories, he said.He further said no amount of condemnation “is enough for Congress’ anti-Sikh mindset. The Congress has repeatedly acted in a manner that has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community”.
Dhillon asked the party to unconditionally apologise to the families of the victims and the entire Sikh community for such irresponsible and shameful statements made by its leaders.Kumar, who was serving life imprisonment in connection with the riots, died on Thursday at a Delhi hospital at the age of 80.Kumar, who was lodged in Tihar Jail, was taken to Safdarjung Hospital after his health deteriorated. Doctors declared him brought dead on arrival.
The former Congress leader had been convicted for his role in the violence in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984, following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.On December 17, 2018, the Delhi High Court overturned a trial court’s 2013 verdict acquitting Kumar in the case. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case related to the murder of five Sikh men in Raj Nagar Part I, Palam Colony, as well as the burning of a gurdwara during the widespread violence.the High Court held Kumar guilty of criminal conspiracy and abetment and directed that he remain in prison for the remainder of his natural life. In its judgment, the court had described the 1984 anti-Sikh violence as “crimes against humanity”.
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