Mumbai, July 10: The Maharashtra government on Friday passed a Bill to reconstitute the trust governing the historic Ram temple at Ramtek, drawing sharp rebukes from Opposition leaders who question the legality and logic of legislating religious devotion.

The legislative move comes on the heels of a separate controversy surrounding the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust in Ayodhya. Rocked by an alleged Rs 1,400-crore donation theft row, the Ayodhya trust recently began searching for its first CEO, stipulating that “Ram ke prati shraddha ka bhav” (devotion to Lord Ram) is the foremost prerequisite for the role.

However, while Ayodhya’s search committee treats this as an internal hiring preference, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government has taken it a step further by making a declaration of faith a statutory legal requirement.

Located roughly 50 km from Nagpur, Ramtek holds immense religious significance. Local tradition holds that Lord Ram stayed there during his 14-year exile, and the site attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually for festivals such as Ram Navami and Kartik Purnima.

The new Bill seeks to revamp the administration of the Bhosala Devasthan at Ramtek, an ancient temple complex currently overseen by a court-appointed Sub-Divisional Officer. Under the new law, any prospective member of the trust’s management committee must submit a formal declaration affirming they are a “devotee of Shri Ram of Ramtek.”

The newly constituted board will feature government-appointed office-bearers alongside ex officio members, including the local Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and the president of the Ramtek Municipal Council. Trustees will be entitled to an honorarium, travel allowances, and daily allowances funded directly by the temple’s management reserves.

The mandate sparked intense debate on the assembly floor, with Opposition MLAs cutting straight to the clause’s theological and practical absurdities. NCP SP MLA Jayant Patil asked how anyone could be a devotee of Lord Ram from a particular area and whether the government was dividing devotees of Lord Ram.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Varun Sardesai questioned the enforceability of the mandate, asking what the affidavit meant and whether the government had a mechanism to cross-check its authenticity.

Beyond the spiritual metrics, Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar took aim at the Bill’s financial provisions, invoking the recent financial shadow over Ayodhya. Wadettiwar noted that a total theft of Rs 1,400 crore was reported in Ayodhya.

He questioned why political leaders were being placed on the trust and why trustees should be paid allowances for serving Lord Ram.

The Bill was introduced by Minister of State Ashish Jaiswal, who represents the Ramtek Assembly constituency.

Jaiswal defended the legislation as a necessary step toward transparency, arguing that the temple’s expanding activities, growing financial footprint, and substantial properties require modernised, efficient administration.

However, Minister Jaiswal’s dual role sparked immediate pushback. NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad publicly questioned whether a clear conflict of interest existed, given that Jaiswal introduced a piece of legislation under which he would automatically secure a seat as an ex officio trustee.

Minister Jaiswal did not respond to the conflict-of-interest allegations or to the Opposition’s questions regarding the verification of the devotion affidavit.

Mumbai: Abu Asim Azmi expressed concern over the lack of medical facilities and poor arrangements and deteriorating conditions in hospitals in the Mumbai Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, drawing the government’s attention to these important issues. He told the House that the condition of patients in government and municipal hospitals is pathetic. Here, patients are not provided with medicines along with treatment, due to which patients have to arrange medicines from outside. In such a situation, the situation is worse due to poor arrangements in government hospitals. In Mumbai’s JJ Hospital, a patient was given 5 to 6 thousand rupees per day and these medicines were not available in the hospital, they had to be purchased from private clinics. When I complained about this to the Dean, he was not even aware of it. On this, the Dean said that all the medicines will be provided to the patient from here. He asked me why the patient did not complain to me about this? To which Azmi said that doctors forbid patients from talking to any doctor during the visit. Due to the lack of an MRI machine in the hospital, there are many problems. Three thousand patients come to JJ Hospital for treatment every day, out of which only forty patients can be examined with the MRI machine. When will the rest of the patients be diagnosed? It should be decided in how many days MRI, sonography and other tests will be scheduled for patients coming to Mumbai from remote rural areas? Azmi drew the attention of the House to this and said that a child was brought to Wadia Hospital here in Mumbai for treatment. I called him and charged him Rs. 300 for the form and then he was not admitted and after leaving the hospital, the child dies. This is the condition of hospitals. There is a lack of facilities including poor arrangements in hospitals. Azmi said that MRI and other test machines are closed in Nair and other hospitals. In hospitals where the machine is closed. In hospitals where there are medical colleges, the machine is also closed, so how can medical students get education on these machines? Minister of State Megha Skorekar Bordekar said that necessary steps will be taken in the hospitals. To this, Azmi asked whether new hospitals have been started, why have arrangements not been made in the hospitals so far? On Azmi’s demand, the said woman said that she would visit the hospital suddenly one day along with Azmi. The Minister said that MRI machine will be started in four hospitals KM, Sine, Cooper Nair by June. Its system requires two months. MRI will be available in four hospitals in October. MRI is being provided at other places at government fees. In 16 hospitals, MRI machine in PP model and other machines will be installed, after which testing will be done at government fees. The Minister also assured of necessary steps in the hospitals.

Mumbai, July 10: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has launched a major statewide operation to investigate alleged contacts between individuals in the state and Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti, with the agency questioning 112 people identified so far in connection with the case.

According to an official statement by the Maharashtra ATS, teams from all 14 ATS units across the state began the action at around 7 a.m. on Friday. The teams have been visiting the locations of individuals who were allegedly in contact with Bhatti through social media platforms and are questioning them as part of the ongoing investigation.

The ATS said that several locations across Maharashtra are being searched as part of the operation. Searches and enquiries are underway in areas including Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira Road, Sangli, Satara and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, among other places.

The agency is examining possible links between the identified individuals and Shahzad Bhatti, who is suspected of allegedly using social media platforms to influence or encourage young people towards anti-national activities. Based on these inputs, the ATS initiated the statewide action to verify the nature of the alleged contacts and gather further information.

The agency is also collecting details related to their communication patterns, online interactions and any possible association with the Pakistan-based gangster.

The ATS has clarified that the investigation is currently underway and further action will be taken based on the findings of the enquiry.

Since the year 2025, the police have busted nine modules handled by Pakistani national Shahzad Bhatti.

This man, who was once a social media influencer has become the latest headache for the security agencies and would continue to remain for some more time as Bhatti is waiting for complacency to set in so that he can strike India.

Bhatti has emerged as the key figure in the modules that have been busted by the police.

While four separate modules relating to Bhatti have been busted by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), five were shut down by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that a clear pattern has been emerging and the Indian agencies are battling a new type of threat. Usually when nine modules are busted back-to-back by specialised agencies, the ones who are in charge tend to pull back.