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Maharashtra

Vedanta-Foxconn bombshell: Shinde blames Uddhav, MVA says ‘treachery, bulldozer on Maharashtra’

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Rattled by the political fallout of the Vedanta Group-Foxconn Rs 2.06 lakh-crore mega project choosing Gujarat, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde blamed former CM Uddhav Thackeray’s government for the loss. At the same time the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi allies slammed Shinde for “treachery, and bulldozing the state economy”, here on Wednesday.

Clearly taken aback by the political-economic bombshell with long-term ramifications, Shinde spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Tuesday where the latter reportedly assured him of “giving even bigger projects to Maharashtra” in the future.

“We are finding out the details. We have come (to power) only two months ago but Vedanta-Foxconn did not get the desired response from the earlier (MVA) government,” said Shinde.

Both Shinde and Industry Minister Uday Samant confirmed the discussion with the Prime Minister and the reported promises, but there were no takers in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of the Nationalist Congress Party-Congress-Shiv Sena.

Virtually all parties have demanded a thorough probe into the sequence of events leading to Vedanta-Foxconn opting for Gujarat when more than 90 percent of its deal was finalised with Maharashtra, including allotment of 1,100 acres of land near Pune.

Leader of Opposition, NCP’s Ajit Pawar shot off a letter in which he has alleged that the project has gone to Gujarat due to high-level political pressure, and said Shinde must take steps to ensure it returns to Maharashtra.

Attacking the government, NCP MP Supriya Sule said Shinde must immediately catch a plane to New Delhi and ensure that the Vedanta-Foxconn project — “which had come to Maharashtra on merits” — is immediately restored.

She rejected the claim that “bigger projects” would be given to Maharashtra and demanded that first the Vedanta-Foxconn project must be brought back in the interests of the state’s youth and economy.

Shiv Sena’s ex-Minister Aditya Thackeray said that Shinde has again resorted to ‘treachery’ – first by toppling the MVA government in June with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and now failing the people of this state by allowing the mega project to go to the BJP-ruled Gujarat.

Congress state president Nana Patole accused Shinde of being “a dummy CM” with Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah running the show, “which is a very serious matter and detrimental to this state”.

“Maharashtra had given a very attractive package to the Vedanta-Foxconn project, but it has chosen Gujarat due to the BJP’s ‘conspiracy’ to weaken Maharashtra economically,” said Patole.

In a virulent statement, Shiv Sena national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari said that the Shinde-Fadnavis government is running “a bulldozer in Maharashtra to crush the economy and aspirations of jobless youths in the state only to help Gujarat”.

“If Shinde’s allegations are true, then Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal must clarify how the MVA did not cooperate with him and also reveal if he was under any political pressure to shift the project to Gujarat,” Tiwari demanded.

Dismissing Shinde and Samant’s contentions, Congress state general secretary Sachin Sawant said that “Maharashtra is always No. 1 in industrialisation and doesn’t need any favours from the PM”, but called upon Shinde-Fadnavis to advise Modi to show less love for Gujarat.

Deputy Leader of the Shiv Sena Dr Raghunath Kuchik accused the Shinde-Fadnavis government of “a systematic conspiracy with all projects being diverted to destroy Maharashtra’s economy and boost Gujarat’s development agenda” with an eye on the upcoming elections there.

NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said “this is the price that Gujarat has extracted for making Shinde the CM” and he remained helpless as Vedanta-Foxconn slipped out of the state.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray said when the project was virtually wrapped-up by Maharashtra, “how could it go to Gujarat” and demanded an investigation into the matter.

Senior leaders from the MVA like Subhash Desai, Balasaheb Thorat, Atul Londhe, Jayant Patil and Ramdas Kadam (Shinde group) have issued tough statements in the matter.

Since the past two days, the Opposition has gone hammer and tongs at the Shinde-Fadnavis regime after it notched up what is considered its ‘biggest political-economic disaster’ as Vedanta-Foxconn ditched Maharashtra for Gujarat.

Maharashtra

Big decision of Shani Shingnapur Devasthan, 167 employees dismissed, including 114 Muslim employees

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Ahilyanagar: Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahilyanagar has taken a big decision. 167 employees working at Shani Devasthan have been dismissed from work. Among the dismissed employees were 114 Muslim employees. Shani Devasthan has given an explanation that the employees were dismissed due to irregularities and non-compliance with discipline. 

Meanwhile, for the past few days, Hindu organizations had been pressuring the Muslim employees to be fired. On the fourth day of Shani Dev, a protest was held on behalf of the entire Hindu community due to the work being done by Muslim people. 

A warning was given that a large march would be taken out by the entire Hindu community outside the temple on June 14.

The controversy had escalated over the appointment of Muslim employees at the famous religious place Shri Kshetra Shani Shingnapur Temple in Ahilyanagar district. Hindu organizations have become aggressive against the 114 Muslim employees working at the Shani Shingnapur Temple Trust. The organization demanded that the trust immediately remove all Muslim employees from work. Otherwise, it had also warned that a big march would be taken out by the entire Hindu community outside the temple on June 14. 

On May 21, 2025, Muslim craftsmen installed a grill on the holy platform of the temple and cleaned and painted the platform of Lord Shani. The matter had heated up even more then. As soon as the information about this incident came to light, the Maharashtra Temple Federation and Hindu organizations raised strong objections. After that, the temple’s board of trustees has decided to remove all Muslim employees. The temple trust had given a clarification in this regard, according to which it has admitted that 114 Muslim employees work in the trust. However, according to the trust, none of these Muslim employees are on duty in the main sanctum or on the platform of the temple. These employees are mainly working in the agriculture department, waste management department and education-related work. Out of these, 99 employees have been absent from work for the last five months and their salaries have also been stopped. The remaining 15 employees have been serving for many years, some of whom have more than 20 years of experience. Hindu organizations were aggressive in demanding the dismissal of 114 Muslim employees working at the Shani Shingnapur Temple Trust. They had also warned of taking out a protest tomorrow (June 14) in this regard. 

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Maharashtra

One arrested from Dombivali with firearms

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Mumbai: Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has claimed to have seized 4 country-made pistols and 35 live cartridges worth Rs 7.5 lakh from a suspect who was coming to sell weapons. The ATS had received information that a 35-year-old man was going to sell weapons on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Dombivali, adjoining Mumbai. The ATS team laid a trap and searched him and recovered 3 country-made pistols and 35 live cartridges from his possession. A case has been registered against the accused at ATS Kala Chowki under other sections including the Arms Act. The accused was also arrested with a firearm during technical investigation. So far, the police have recovered 4 firearms, 35 live cartridges and 2 migraines, which are said to be worth Rs 7.5 lakh. Further investigation is underway.

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Maharashtra

After occupying the Dargah in a village of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, what is the social boycott of Muslims doing?

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Mumbai: After occupying an ancient shrine of Ramzan Ali Shah Baba in the Goha area of ​​Ahmednagar, Maharashtra and installing an idol there, a social boycott of Muslims is now being imposed here. If any non-Muslim in the village buys, sells or transacts with the Muslims of the village, the non-Muslim mischievous elements here impose a fine on him. Such an undemocratic and immoral environment has been going on in Maharashtra under the nose of the BBJP government since 2023, and the government has remained a silent spectator.

Such an expression was expressed by Tushar Gandhi at a meeting organized by an organization called ‘Hum Bharat Ke Log’ at Mumbai’s Islam Gymkhana under the leadership of Maulana Syed Moinuddin Ashraf alias Moin Mian. Former Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader Arif Naseem Khan, former MIM MLA Waris Pathan, Nizamuddin Raein, social activist Feroz Methi Borwala, Javed Janeja, Saeed Noori and other socio-political and national figures were present at that time. Where it was decided that soon a delegation would meet the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and both Deputy Chief Ministers, besides the leaders of all political parties, on this issue.

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