Mumbai Diary

Express News Service

Uddhav’s Dussehra speech creates ripplesMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has emerged as a strong leader when it comes to taking on the RSS. Uddhav Thackeray’s speech at the Dussehra rally created a lot of ripples among the BJP. Thackeray spoke on various subjects and directed a blow at hardline Hindutva elements within RSS and BJP to imbibe the inclusive Hindutva ideals practiced and propagated by his grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray. The Uddhav Thackeray speech from Dussehra showed that the chief minister not only wanted to limit himself within Maharashtra, but aimed to pitch himself as a pan India figure. 

Aryan Khan case and BJP’s plan for Ashish ShelarThe Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) arrest and detention of Aryan Khan in the ongoing drug case may purportedly destabilise the vote base of sitting BJP MLA Ashish Shelar in the Bandra West constituency. Home to several Bollywood A-listers, and dominated by the Muslim and Christian voters, the election mandate in Bandra West constituency, could see repercussions following the developments in the Aryan Khan case. With Ashish Shelar’s cordial relations with both the communities, the buzz within the BJP ranks suggest that leaders who are senior and among the top brass in Maharashtra are trying to settle the score with the MLA’s stellar image – by unsettling his clout with the Muslim and Christian voters through the developments in the Aryan Khan case.

Former MLA earns PhD by taking time off duties Former BJP MLA Medha Kulkarni recently earned a PhD from the Savitribai Phule Pune University. Kulkarni was denied BJP ticket in the preceding state Assembly elections to accommodate the BJP state president Chandrakant Patil. Her constituency was picked by Patil back then to take advantage of the votebank dominated by the RSS and the Brahmin community. According to experts, he was unsure of a win from his native Kolhapur constituency, which led him to choose Medha Kulkarni’s home Kothrud constituency. While this reportedly slowed down her political career, the MLA has put her time to good use by realising her dream of doing PhD.

Sharad Pawar takes up ministers’ grievancesNationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has expressed his displeasure over unfulfilled demands of NCP ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet, despite repeated persuasions put to party leader and Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil. The ministers had complained to Pawar that the home minister was not easily approachable and that the political cases filed against NCP workers during the previous BJP regime in the state were not withdrawn. Meanwhile, Pawar also conveyed his dissatisfaction over the inaction from the part of the home minister and asked the NCP state president to ensure the interest of the NCP workers at all costs.

Sudhir Suryawanshi Our correspondent in Maharashtra [email protected]