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Maharashtra

Yuvraj Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje scion withdraws from Rajya Sabha race

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Citing ‘self-respect’ and to prevent ‘horse-trading’, Yuvraj Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje, the scion of the Kolhapur throne, opted out of the Rajya Sabha race here on Friday.

Sambhajiraje – who was hoping to contest as an independent with the support of the extra votes of various parties and independents – said his decision arose out of ‘self-respect’, to prevent ‘horse-trading’ and concern for the masses who are his real strength.

The 13th direct descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj also attacked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of “not honouring” his word to support his solo candidature and insisting that he (Sambhajiraje) should first join Shiv Sena before getting a ticket.

“For me the RS seat is not the concern… The welfare of the masses is more important for me… I will go on a statewide tour to strengthen the idea of ‘Swarajya’ now and see my strength,” said Sambhajiraje with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

He said that two Sena MPs had met him in a five-star hotel recently to discuss the issue and conveyed the CM’s desire that Sambhajiraje should become a Shiv Sena member and the party would immediately nominate him for RS.

“I made it clear that I wish to contest as an independent and will not join any party for the RS ticket… Now, I shall have nothing to do with the RS elections,” Sambhajiraje declared.

He made it clear that he had no ‘angst or ill-will’ against any party as they all had their respective agendas to pursue and he respected their stand.

Sena MP Arvind Sawant denied Sambhajiraje’s allegations against the CM and blamed him for not accepting the Sena’s offer and missing a ‘great opportunity’.

“He was earlier an NCP member then what prevented him from joining Sena… You stick to your views, we stand by our opinions” said Sawant.

BJP Leader of Opposition (Council) Pravin Darekar slammed the Sena for ‘insulting and humiliating’ Sambhajiraje and said the people of the state will not forgive them.

Congress President Nana Patole said it desired Sambhajiraje to enter the Rajya Sabha and whether he is an MP or not, the Congress will always stand with him.

A few days ago, the Chhatrapati had announced his plans to contest the RS polls solo with the backing of all other parties like the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, smaller parties and independents.

Though most parties kept silent, the Shiv Sena was prepared to offer him a ticket with a pre-condition that he should join the party as it wanted to increase its tally in the Upper House of Parliament.

Last week, the Sena invited him to CM’s residence to tie the ‘Shiv Bandhan’ and join the party, but Sambhajiraje spurned the offer.

A day later, Thackeray finalised the name of Shiv Sena Kolhapur District President Sanjay Pawar, who – along with Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut – filled their RS nomination papers on Thursday.

Maharashtra

Mumbai drivers should be given 25% discount on purchase and conversion of electric vehicles: Raees Shaikh

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Mumbai: Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East Raees Shaikh has written a letter to the state transport department on the draft Motor Vehicle Aggregators Rules, 2025, suggesting that drivers be given a 25 per cent subsidy on the cost of converting to an electric vehicle (EV) and it should be provided from the Driver Welfare Fund. The transport department had published the draft rules in this regard on October 9 and the last date for submission of suggestions and objections is October 26.

MLA Raees Shaikh said that to increase the income of drivers, the daily working hours limit should be increased, passengers should be given a fixed period to cancel the ride without being charged a fine, a government grievance redressal portal should be created, delay compensation should be given to passengers, medical and psychological tests of drivers should be conducted and regular testing of GPS should be done from funds.

Raees Shaikh, in a letter to the Transport Commissioner, suggested a phased transition to EVs to promote sustainable transport in draft Rules 18 and 20. Since drivers will not be able to bear the heavy costs, these changes will be possible if a 25% subsidy is provided through the Driver Welfare Fund. Raees Shaikh has suggested major changes in the ride cancellation policies under Rule 17. Passengers should be fined only if the driver comes within 200 meters of the pick-up point. In addition, passengers should be given a grace period of 2-3 minutes to cancel after booking without any fee.

The cost of fines due to software glitches or GPS errors should be borne by the aggregators, not the drivers. In case of vehicle malfunction, passengers should be refunded 10% of the fare if there is a delay beyond the permissible limit. MLA Raees Shaikh has recommended that there should be a government portal for complaints that are not resolved for more than seven days.

On driver welfare under Rule 10, Raees Shaikh has insisted that the cost of mandatory medical and psychological tests should be borne entirely by the aggregators. The limit of daily working hours should be increased to 14 hours. This will help increase the income of drivers.

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Maharashtra

Controversy over offering prayers at Hazrat Khwaja Shah Dargah in Pune Saniwar Wada… Hindu organizations protest, tense situation, peace maintained, police arrangements increased.

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Mumbai: In the ancient historical fort of Saniwar Wada area of ​​Pune, Muslim women offered Friday prayers in the premises of the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Shah (may Allah be pleased with him), after which the police have registered a case against the three prayers and started an investigation. A conspiracy has started to give this incident a religious color. BJP MP Medha Kulkarni took out a front here to straighten out the area and demanded that a case be registered. The police have registered a case against the three unidentified women under pressure from Hindu organizations, while the situation in Pune has become extremely tense after this incident.

The video of the three worshippers offering prayers went viral on social media at the time, on this basis the police have registered a case, while in Pune, Medha Kulkarni said that offering prayers in Saniwar Wada will not be tolerated. After offering prayers in Saniwar Wada, politics has also started on it by giving it a Hindu-Muslim color. After the video went viral, a Hindu organization named Patis Pawan filed a written complaint and the police have registered a complaint on the complaint of Ishwar Babban Kode. The accused have not been arrested yet. There is a fear that Hindu organizations will once again stage a protest in Saniwar Wada. After rejecting the protest, sectarians led by Medha Kulkarni raised slogans of Jai Shri Ram and hoisted saffron flags on the dargah’s lattice. Not only that, Siddhi Karan was performed outside the premises and Gautam Buddha was sprayed. The situation is peaceful, but tension remains. This dargah is under the influence of the Waqf Board and now Hindu organizations have also started demanding the removal of this shrine. The police have issued an alert after this incident and have increased the arrangements.

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Maharashtra

“Mumbai Deepfake Fake Video Share Trading Fraud Interstate Gang Uncovered ; 4 arrested”

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Mumbai: The Cyber ​​Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have busted an inter-state gang that was trying to lure investors into investing in the share market by creating fake and deepfake videos of experts on a renowned business news channel. The complainant is a registered analyst with SEBI. On September 29, 2025, an attempt was made to lure investors into investing in the share market by using his fake deepfake video on social media. The complainant is a share trading expert and also works for various companies. An attempt was made to deceive him by creating a deepfake video on his Instagram. When the complainant got the information, he filed a complaint against him at the Cyber ​​Police Station. When the investigation was started, his trace was found in another state. The accused were working as an inter-state gang. The accused were arrested from Bengaluru, Karnataka. The accused have been identified as Jijel Sebastian, 44, of Bengaluru, Dipane Tapan Banerjee, 40, of Karnataka, Daniel Arudha is 25 years old from Bengaluru, and Chandrashekhar is 42 years old. This interstate gang has created deepfake accounts on social media including Facebook to lure big companies into share trading and has cheated ordinary citizens and companies on deepfake social media accounts to prepare companies for fraud and has violated the terms and conditions of the share market company. This gang has created fake accounts several times. The accused have created a Facebook ID in the name of Wellelip India Services Private Limited and received 30 million Indian currency in Dubai currency from a Chinese citizen in the name of investment. In India and Mumbai, fraud is being committed in the name of share trading under the guise of deepfake and fake videos. Therefore, creating such fake videos on social media and committing fraud is a serious crime and action will be taken against it. This action has been taken by the Cyber ​​Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch here on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti. DCP of Mumbai Cyber ​​Crime Parshottam Karad said that this action has been taken in the case of cyber fraud and this interstate gang has created fake accounts on social media. Fraud was committed by creating an account, so there is a need to be alert during share trading. Cases of creating deep fake accounts of famous companies have come to light. Attempts to commit fraud are being made by creating fake accounts of famous companies on Instagram and Facebook. Therefore, verification is mandatory before share trading. Before share trading, one should invest in the share market only after consulting an authentic and experienced SEBI officer and expert. Do not trust social media and avoid investing on the basis of calls and SSMs on social media. This poses a risk of fraud. So far, the police have registered more than 600 cases of share trading, in which fraud of Rs 400 crore has been committed and in many cases, money has been recovered and frozen from the bank account. These accused also used to create deep fake videos with the help of AI.

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