Maharashtra Congress president and newly elected MLA from the Sakoli Assembly seat, Nana Patole, denied media reports about his resignation from the post of party chief in the state.

Speaking to the media, Patole said, “I am going to meet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. I have not submitted my resignation.”

Earlier it was reported that after the crushing defeat of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections, Nana Patole offered to resign as Congress state president, taking moral responsibility for the loss. However, conflicting reports claim that Patole has not yet made a final decision, and there has been no confirmation from him or the party regarding his resignation.

The ruling Mahayuti coalition secured a resounding victory, winning 235 seats with 49.6% of the vote share, while the MVA lagged far behind with just 49 seats and 35.3% of the votes. The Congress, in particular, suffered a major setback, winning only 16 of the 103 seats it contested.

Patole, who contested from the Sakoli seat, narrowly retained his position with a margin of just 208 votes—the smallest margin of his political career. This is a sharp contrast to his 2019 Assembly election performance, where he won the same seat by nearly 8,000 votes. His narrow victory this year ranks among the closest contests in the state.

Patole reportedly sought to meet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Monday to discuss his resignation but was unable to do so. The party high command has not yet acted on his reported resignation.

Mumbai: Based on profiling, AIU officers maintained discreet surveillance on a transit passenger who had arrived from Dubai to Mumbai and was scheduled to depart for Male.

About The Operation

During this operation, officers observed the transit passenger handing over an item to a private airport staff, immediately both the staff member and the transit passenger were intercepted by the officers. A personal search of the private airport staff revealed the concealment of 24 KT gold dust in wax form (12 pieces), with a gross weight of 3.976 kg and provisional net weight of 3.800 kg, and provisionally valued at ₹2.714 Crore.

The gold dust was hidden inside transparent self-sealing pouches and placed in the pockets of the pants worn by the private airport staff. During questioning, the private airport staff admitted that the gold had been handed over by the same transit passenger who had been under AIU surveillance. Both individuals were arrested under the Customs Act of 1962.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Monday attacked the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) over reports suggesting a potential “tweak” in the Ladki Bahin scheme, which had been credited with the resounding victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the state Assembly elections.

Referring to a news report in a post on X, Gokhale remarked, “It’s not even been 2 days since the Maharashtra results, and the BJP-led alliance is already preparing to break its manifesto promise.”

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Monday attacked the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) over reports suggesting a potential “tweak” in the Ladki Bahin scheme, which had been credited with the resounding victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the state Assembly elections.

Shortly after the Assembly election results were declared, the Maharashtra government is now finding it untenable to sustain the promised Rs 2,100 monthly payout under the Ladki Bahin scheme.

“This is ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ — float a ‘jumla’ during elections to deceive the people, and then plan to break the promise even before forming the government,” Gokhale alleged in his post.

However, the report does not indicate that bureaucrats are considering completely scrapping the scheme.

The scheme is projected to cost the upcoming government approximately Rs 33,000 crore between July 2024 and March 2025.

In the West Bengal Assembly bypolls, the TMC secured victory in all six seats that went to polls. The party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, congratulated the winning candidates in a social media post and expressed gratitude to party workers for their dedication and hard work.