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Unprecedented swapping of friends and foes in Maha politics as parties gear up for municipal elections

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Mumbai, Dec 31: In an unprecedented political development, the traditional battle lines of Maharashtra politics have dissolved into chaos ahead of the upcoming elections for 29 Municipal Corporations. The state’s major political fronts — the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — have failed to maintain a uniform seat-sharing formula, leading to a confusing scenario where allies in one city are bitter rivals in another.

As of Tuesday, which was the last day for filing nominations, the political landscape is so fragmented that leaders may find themselves attacking a party in an afternoon rally in one city, only to praise the same party in another city by the evening.

Until Monday, it was expected that the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena would contest most seats together. However, by Tuesday, several cracks appeared in the Mahayuti alliance. Similarly, the Congress has formed different local tie-ups across various cities, further complicating the MVA’s national image of unity.

In a surprise move, the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar — who are rivals at the state level, have joined hands for the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections. Conversely, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, which is contesting solo in Nagpur, has formed an alliance with the BJP in Akola.

The ruling Mahayuti alliance has failed to reach an agreement in 24 out of 29 municipal corporations. In these cities, the constituent parties (BJP, Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP) will contest against one another. The impacted cities include Jalna, Parbhani, Latur, Amravati, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Akola, Malegaon, Nanded, Nagpur, Sangli, Nashik, Dhule, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi, and Vasai-Virar.

The BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar) alliance is limited to only Akola, Ahilyanagar, and Panvel. On the other hand, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance is formed only in Chandrapur, Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, and Bhiwandi. Further, the Mahayuti parties will face off directly in four locations: Ichalkaranji (friendly fights), Kolhapur, Jalgaon, and Panvel.

As far as Maha Vikas Aghadi is concerned, it has also seen widespread fragmentation, with the alliance breaking down in 17 locations, including Nagpur, Malegaon, Parbhani, Latur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded, Sangli, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi, and Vasai-Virar.

The MVA remains intact in only five locations: Panvel, Jalna, Solapur (including MNS), Nashik (including MNS), and Dhule. Moreover, the Congress has allied with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) only in Mumbai. A similar attempt was made in Pune but failed due to conflicts between local leaders.

In the case of Thackeray-MNS-Sharad Pawar” factor, these parties have joined hands in Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar and Kalyan-Dombivli.

Some of the key cities witness a flurry of activities to stitch alliances, though some parties at the last minute decided to take a U-turn. In Mumbai, a multi-cornered battle emerges. Congress has allied with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) has joined forces with MNS and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. The BJP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena remain united here.

In Pune, in a rare display of “family unity”, the Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar factions of the NCP have formed an alliance. They face a front consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena(UBT), and MNS. The BJP is allied with the RPI, while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is contesting solo.

In Thane, the BJP and Shiv Sena are contesting together, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is going solo. On the other side, Shiv Sena(UBT), MNS and Sharad Pawar’s NCP have tied up while Congress is fighting independently.

Nagpur, which is CM Devendra Fadnavis’s home turf, sees a BJP-Shinde Sena alliance. However, the Congress, BSP, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP are all contesting independently.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, similar to Pune, both NCP factions are united. The BJP remains with RPI, while the Shinde Sena, Congress, and VBA are all going solo. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur see a complete breakdown of major alliances, with BJP, Shinde Sena, and Shiv Sena(UBT) all contesting independently.

The “pick-and-choose” nature of these local alliances has left voters and party workers bewildered. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who will campaign together in Mumbai and Thane, will be forced to campaign against each other’s candidates in several other corporations.

The data indicate that local political equations have completely superseded state-level pacts. With the Mahayuti split in 24 cities, and the MVA in 17, these elections will feature highly localised and multi-cornered contests.

Political analysts suggest that this “unprecedented swapping of friends and foes” reflects the high stakes of local body elections, where regional dominance often outweighs state-level ideological pacts. With no clear “opponent” common across the 29 corporations, the 2026 municipal elections are set to be the most unpredictable in Maharashtra’s history.

Business

Piyush Goyal to lead business delegation to Spain, Belgium and Finland to deepen trade, investment ties

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New Delhi, July 12: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead a high-level Indian business delegation on a five-day visit to Spain, Belgium and Finland from July 13 to 17, as India seeks to deepen its economic engagement with Europe through enhanced cooperation in trade, investment, technology, innovation and sustainability, it was announced on Sunday.

The delegation will include leading Indian companies from sectors such as advanced manufacturing, clean energy, digital technologies, gems and jewellery, food processing, healthcare and design. The visit is aimed at expanding business-to-business partnerships and exploring new opportunities for collaboration with European industries, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said.

The visit will begin in Spain on July 13, where Goyal will participate in a business roundtable jointly organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, CEOE and ICEX Spain Trade & Investment. The discussions are expected to focus on sectors including automotive, renewable energy, railways, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, food processing and tourism.

The meeting will bring together industry leaders from both countries at a time when India and Spain are celebrating the Spain-India Dual Year 2026, marking 70 years of diplomatic relations. Several Spanish companies, including Iberdrola, Acciona, CAF, Talgo, Gestamp and Indra, have already established a strong presence in India, while Indian technology and engineering firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro are expanding their operations in Spain to support digital transformation and Industry 4.0 initiatives.

In Belgium, where the delegation will travel on July 14 and 15, the minister will visit the Port of Antwerp to study Europe’s leading logistics hub and gain insights into multimodal connectivity, green logistics and resilient supply chains.

During the Belgium visit, Goyal will hold CEO-level meetings with senior executives of Thales Group and Silox Group.

The minister will also participate in the India-EU Business Roundtable and the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Plenary, where discussions will cover foreign direct investment, trade facilitation, sustainable technologies and resilient supply chains.

The final leg of the tour will take the delegation to Finland on July 16 and 17. Goyal will participate in the India-Finland Business Roundtable, engaging with Finnish companies across digitalisation, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and the circular economy.

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Crime

Speeding Ferrari crashes into apartment building in Hyderabad Jubilee Hills

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Hyderabad, July 12: A speeding Ferrari car crashed into the gate of an apartment building in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills area in the early hours of Sunday. There were no casualties, said officials.

The incident occurred on Road Number 5 in the upscale Jubilee Hills under the Film Nagar Police Station limits.

The occupants abandoned the heavily damaged Ferrari Roma, said to be worth more than Rs 3.50 crore, and fled before police arrived at the scene.

The gate of Fort View Apartments was completely damaged in the collision. The front portion of the luxury car was badly mangled.

The man driving the vehicle escaped after the accident. Police suspect that the person at the wheel was under the influence of alcohol and driving the vehicle at a high speed and in a rash manner.

Police registered a case and launched an investigation into the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Police were examining the CCTV footage to ascertain if there were other persons in the vehicle.

Police shifted the damaged Ferrari to the police station with the help of a towing vehicle.

This is the second such incident in Jubilee Hills in less than a week. An SUV had crashed into Tollywood actor Dharma’s residence on the night of July 9.

A man who was under the influence of alcohol had rammed the SUV into the residence of Dharma on Road Number 10. The compound wall of the actor’s house was damaged in the incident.

The accused was identified as Karthik Kumar, who drove the SUV in a rash and negligent manner before losing control and ramming into Dharma’s house. Luckily, there were no casualties.

The actor alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and arrested the accused. A breathalyser test confirmed that the accused was drunk while driving the SUV.

Police registered a criminal case against Kartik Kumar and launched further investigation.

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National News

4.5 magnitude earthquake in Bay of Bengal triggers tremors in Visakhapatnam

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Visakhapatnam, July 12: A 4.5 magnitude earthquake in the Bay of Bengal triggered tremors in parts of Visakhapatnam and adjoining districts of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

Some areas in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam were jolted by the tremors around 5.05 a.m.

The tremors were felt in Gajuwaka, Mangalapalem, Sagar Nagar, Pedda Waltair, Arilova, MVP colony, Appughar and other areas.

According to the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a mild earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale occurred in the Bay of Bengal early on Sunday, and mild tremors were felt in several parts of Visakhapatnam city.

National Center for Sesimology said the earthquake occurred at 5:05:46 a.m. IST at a depth of 10 km, with its epicentre located about 225 km off the Kakinada coast in the Bay of Bengal. The epicentre was located at latitude 16.805 degrees N and longitude 84.381 degrees E.

No casualties, property damage or any other loss have been reported due to the earthquake.

There are reports of tremors being felt in parts of Anakapalli, Vizianagaram, Kakinada and Konaseema districts.

Experts described it as a shallow earthquake. They said there was no need for people to be worried as the tremors were mild due to structural adjustments. They pointed out that the region is considered tectonically stable.

In November last year, Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharamaraju districts were jolted by a mild earthquake.

An earthquake of magnitude 3.7 had struck the Alluri district in north coastal Andhra on November 4, 2015. The tremors triggered panic among residents in some areas. People ran out of their houses on hearing a loud sound. However, there were no casualties or any other damage. According to the National Center of Seismology, the epicentre of the earthquake was at G. Madugula in Alluri Sitharamaraju district at a depth of 10 km. The epicentre was 110 km from the port city of Visakhapatnam.

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