Mumbai: Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi condemned the hooliganism of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal at Kalyan Ideal Pharmacy College and said that in this country, there is a market of division and hatred in the name of Hindus and Muslims. Offering prayers in the country is not a crime. It is obligatory for Muslims to offer prayers at the prescribed time. Therefore, if someone offers prayers, worships and practices, then why object to it? He said that arrangements for prayer rooms are necessary in institutions where students want to worship. The way in which students were forced to apologize is completely wrong and hooliganism. I demand that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the administrative body take strict action against such sectarians so that no one can enter an educational institution and force students to apologize. He said that Shivaji Maharaj, in front of whose statue students were forced to apologize, was a secular king. There were Muslims in his army. The way in which the miscreants have committed hooliganism is worrying. Action must be taken against it. He said that praying is not a crime in the country. The administration of Ideal Pharmacy College in Kalyan’s Ambernath was responsible for protecting Muslim students, but the administration did not do so. It was negligent in its responsibility.

The students who offered prayers were forced to apologize. Azmi said, “I request Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to order the provision of rooms for prayers in educational and other institutions and take strict action against this politics of hatred. Only then will brotherhood flourish in Maharashtra and the country.” He said, “Why is there a controversy over prayers everywhere and then hatred is created by giving it a Hindu-Muslim color? Now the water has risen above the head. The government should pay attention to this.”

Chennai, Nov 24: In a devastating road accident, six passengers were killed and more than 20 others were injured when two buses collided head-on near Duraisamipuram, close to Kadayanaallur in Tenkasi district.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. and immediately sent shockwaves through the region.

According to police sources, a private KSR bus was travelling towards Tenkasi when it reached Duraisamipuram junction. At the same time, another bus — operated by MR Gopalan Travels and heading from Kovilpatti to Tenkasi — was approaching from the opposite direction. In a split second, both vehicles rammed into each other with immense force, trapping several passengers inside.

Local residents, who rushed to the spot upon hearing the loud crash, joined police and fire-rescue teams in pulling out the injured.

The Tenkasi district administration, led by District Collector and District Superintendent of Police reached the site within minutes and is supervising rescue operations, which are still underway.

The injured have been admitted to Tenkasi Government Medical College Hospital, where several remain in critical condition. Officials fear that the death toll may rise.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos, with shattered glass and twisted metal scattered across the road. Several passengers had to be extricated using hydraulic cutters, and emergency teams faced considerable difficulty due to the impact of the collision.

Monday‘s accident comes at a time when Tamil Nadu has witnessed multiple fatal mishaps in a short span, raising serious concerns about road safety and vehicle regulation.

Just days ago, four members of a family died in Tiruvannamalai district after their car collided with a lorry. In another incident in Coimbatore, two college students were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding bus.

Last week, three persons lost their lives in Ramanathapuram after a private van overturned due to reckless driving. Data from the state transport department indicates that Tamil Nadu continues to rank among the states with the highest number of road fatalities in India.

Police officials say speeding, fatigue of long-distance drivers, and poor enforcement continue to be major factors.

As rescue teams continue their work at Duraisamipuram, authorities have ordered a detailed enquiry into the cause of the collision. The tragic accident has once again underscored the urgent need for stricter safety protocols and regular inspection of private buses operating on busy inter-district routes.

Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Monday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a large-scale “unopposed election scam” in Maharashtra’s local body polls, using “puppeteers” like Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a metaphor for those working behind the scenes to fix outcomes.

It claims that a web of uncontested victories, first alleged in the context of Delhi and Bihar, is now being replicated across districts and talukas in Maharashtra, raising questions about the state of democracy and the Constitution. In a scathing editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Thackeray camp claimed repeated reliance on threats, money and administrative misuse to engineer unopposed wins, shows a fear of genuine electoral competition that is causing the “visible collapse” of all pillars of democracy.

“If such trends continue in a politically significant state like Maharashtra, the moral authority of the Constitution and the credibility of elections will be gravely damaged, even as the BJP publicly projects the local body polls as a prestige battle to demonstrate its dominance,” it warns.

The editorial accuses the BJP of systematically ensuring that relatives of party leaders are elected unopposed to municipal corporations, Nagar Parishads and Nagar Panchayats by forcing Opposition candidates to withdraw through threats, pressure and inducements.

It cites alleged instances in Jamner, Daund and a Nagar Parishad in Solapur district, where public anger reportedly spilled over into violence, and claims that in places like Chikhaldara and Daund, family members of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and minister Jaykumar Rawal have secured posts without facing a contest, mirroring wider Opposition complaints that BJP-linked relatives are winning unopposed in the ongoing local body elections.

According to the editorial, this pattern is part of a broader “money-and-power-driven” strategy in which BJP leaders openly boast of having “bags of money” to fight elections and allegedly signal that government control will take care of expenses, while the election authorities remain passive.

“From Gram Panchayats to housing societies and cooperative banks, BJP is trying to entrench dominance by deploying financial clout and manipulating institutions, turning itself into an ‘election-obsessed’ organisation more focussed on securing and managing victories than respecting democratic norms. Key decisions on whose nomination forms to accept or reject, and who should be left unopposed, are effectively taken before formal scrutiny, with money purportedly changing hands even in uncontested seats for officials and local intermediaries,” says the editorial.

Drawing a link to its earlier criticism of the Bihar Assembly election outcome as a “scam” driven by a pre-decided formula, it suggests that a similar playbook is now being used in Maharashtra’s civic polls through what it calls “Gyanesh Kumar-type operators” embedded in the system.