Mumbai: The State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare on Monday (December 15) announced the dates for the long-awaited Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections in Mumbai. While addressing the press conference, the SEC said that the BMC polls will be held on January 15, while the counting of votes will be held on January 16. The last polls for the 227 seats were held in February 2017. Apart from Mumbai, SEC also announced the dates for the 28 Municipal Corporations, including Pune, Nagpur, Thane and Nashik.

The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar), is set to contest the polls together, while, in contrast, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is grappling with its stance on the MNS. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) wants to fight jointly with the MNS, the Congress remains apprehensive, fearing a loss of north Indian votes.

Of all the 227 seats, the undivided Shiv Sena won 84 seats while the BJP won 82 seats. Both parties were in alliance during that time. The Congress had won 31 seats while the United NCP secured 13 seats. Raj Thackeray’s MNS had won 7 seats.

Thane: As many as 11,827 pending e-challan cases have been settled by the Lok Adalat in Thane and fines of Rs 1.32 crore deposited in court, officials said on Monday.

Under the Motor Vehicles Act, traffic violators are issued e-challans, which are sent directly to their mobile phones, and cases are filed against those who ignore payments, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Pankaj Shirsat said.

Following an appeal by the Thane city transport department, vehicle owners were offered an opportunity to clear the outstanding fines.

The Lok Adalat was held on Saturday, and 11,827 cases were settled and fines of Rs 1.32 crore were collected, the official said.

The drive aimed at resolving long-pending cases against motorists who had failed to pay fines imposed for traffic rule violations.

“The Lok Adalat is not only a penal measure but also an awareness initiative to encourage citizens to follow traffic rules, reduce accidents and avoid the burden of fines,” Shirsat added.

Mumbai: Nagpur Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi presented a private bill in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly against those who spread blasphemy and religious hatred. The bill demands action against hate elements and calls for action under MCOCA and UAPA against those who spread religious hatred, in addition to ten years of imprisonment and a bail of Rs 2 lakh so that sectarians do not get bail and such cases of spreading religious hatred are banned. He told the House that there has been an increase in cases of blasphemy in the country and in such a situation, tension arises in the country. Action should be taken against such elements to maintain law and order. This will be possible only when action is taken against such sectarians who promote a hate agenda under the guise of freedom of expression. He said that the Supreme Court had also issued an order for strict action against hate elements and miscreants and has banned inflammatory and hate speech. In such a situation, Maharashtra The bill has been formally introduced in the House to take action against those who spread religious hatred and incite hatred against important people. The draft bill proposes to register a case against communalists under the section of the MCOCA UAPA, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years, so that such elements cannot be granted bail.