News Analysis India

Tag: Bhagat Singh Koshyari

  • MVA vs BJP: After saffron party, ruling coalition leaders to meet Maharashtra Governor

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A delegation of the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition in Maharashtra will meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday and apprise him of “facts” amid false allegations, Congress leader Nana Patole has said.

    Earlier on Wednesday, a BJP delegation led by Devendra Fadnavis met the governor.

    Patole, state Congress chief, said their delegation will be led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

    Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar too will be a part of it.

    “We will keep facts before the Governor against the backdrop of false allegations levelled against the coalition,” Patole said.

    The BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to Koshyari, urging him to seek a “status report” from the state chief secretary on the law and order situation.

    Fadnavis told reporters that they requested the Governor to seek a detailed report as chief minister Thackeray was not taking action despite “numerous scandals” coming to light over the past few days.

    Meanwhile, asked about the BJP’s “vasuli sarkar” (extortionist government) jibe, Patole hit back, saying the opposition party was “sharing its own experience”.

    “All of us know what the (previous) Fadnavis government did in Maharashtra,” he said.

    The BJP has been trying to corner the government over police official Sachin Waze’s arrest in the Ambani security scare case, businessman Manshukh Hiran’s death, corruption allegations against home minister Anil Deshmukh and a purported intelligence report on `corruption’ in police transfers.

  • BJP leaders ask Maharashtra governor to seek status report from government

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A delegation of BJP leaders on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and urged him to seek a “status report” from state chief secretary on the law and order situation.

    Speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said BJP leaders requested the governor to seek a detailed report from the state government as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is not taking any action despite “numerous scandals” coming to fore over the past few days.

    “Extortion is exposed. There is a transfer racket. State officials are being threatened. All this is worrisome, but the chief minister remains silent. We requested the governor to seek a detailed report from the government as the CM is not taking any action,” the former chief minister said.

    Fadnavis said the governor has the right to seek such report from the state government.

    “It will reveal state’s inaction,” he added.

    Fadnavis said BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar compiled at least “100 incidents that had taken place in the state in the last one year which were anti-Constitutional and illegal. Our hopes are now on the governor”.

    Fadnavis also took a dig at the Congress, which is one of the three constituents of the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

    “It seems the Congress does not have any stand or is it a party to the extortion racket. How much share the Congress is getting out of such extortion should be made public?”, he said.

    Fadnavis’ jibe came days after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote to the chief minister claiming that state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who belongs to the NCP, had set a monthly “target” of collecting Rs 100 crore, including from bars and hotels in Mumbai, for police officers.

    Deshmukh had denied these allegations.

    On Tuesday, Fadnavis claimed he had 6.3 GB data of telephone calls intercepted by then Commissioner of Intelligence Rashmi Shukla in which names of several key police officers figured.

    He also met Union Home Secretary in Delhi and demanded a CBI probe into “corruption” in police transfers in Maharashtra.

    Reacting to NCP minister Nawab Malik’s claim that Fadnavis could face a legal action if he releases the call intercepts, the BJP leader said, “This MVA government has suppressed a cognizable offence and I have brought it out. I do not care if four more police complaints are filed against me. I will fight the case in court and will win it”.

    Fadnavis said the MVA government had no moral values and that the three parties (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) came together only to enjoy power.

    Besides Fadnavis, the delegation comprised state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, BJP’s Mumbai unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha and MLA Ashish Shelar.

    Before meeting the governor, a senior BJP leader, who was part of the delegation, said the state lacks resolute leadership in the current scenario.

    “The status report on law and order will reveal the grim situation prevailing in the state. We want the governor to submit the report to President,” he said.

    “We have been raising these issues but the state government is either ignoring them or playing them down,” he added.

    The MVA government came to power in November, 2019, after a month-long political drama, which included a brief spell of President’s rule and an 80-hour-long Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government.

  • BJP to meet Wednesday to pick Trivendra Rawat’s replacement; multiple names in consideration

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN: Names of at least half a dozen leaders, including Dhan Singh Rawat, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Satpal Maharaj, are doing the rounds to replace Trivendra Singh Rawat, who resigned as the chief minister of Uttarakhand on Tuesday.

    Though Trivendra Singh Rawat’s substitute will be decided at a state legislature party meeting at the BJP headquarters here on Wednesday under the watch of party national vice-president and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, political circles are abuzz with speculations.

    Sources said state minister Dhan Singh Rawat has emerged as a frontrunner to be the next chief minister.

    A man known for his polite ways, 48-year-old Dhan Singh, a resident of Paithani village in Pauri district, is said to be close to the outgoing chief minister.

    Singh became an MLA for the first time in 2017.

    Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj is also being looked at as a prominent contender.

    A former Congress heavyweight, Maharaj joined the BJP in 2014 after losing the race for chief ministership to Harish Rawat.

    Maharaj is an MLA from Chaubattakhal in Pauri district.

    He is also a spiritual guru having admirers across the country.

    The 69-year-old had been a Congress MP from Pauri in the past.

    Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is another contender for the post.

    A former chief minister, Nishank is an MP from Haridwar.

    He was also a hill development minister in undivided Uttar Pradesh.

    The name of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is also doing the rounds.

    Koshyari had held the Uttarkhand chief minister’s post briefly after Nityanand Swami.

    He has also represented the state both in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

    Names of BJP national spokesperson Anil Baluni and former state BJP president Ajay Bhatt are also in circulation.

    Baluni (50) is currently a Rajya Sabha member and his proximity with the central party leadership may help him get to the top office in the state.

    Bhatt represents the Nainital constituency in the Lok Sabha.

    He had defeated former chief minister Harish Rawat in Nainital in the 2019 general elections.

  • History of changing Uttarakhand CMs repeats itself, experts call BJP’s new move a gamble 

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN:  Changing chief ministers midway through a term has not helped any party in Uttarakhand. Analysts are calling the BJP’s latest move a gamble.

    Dehradun-based political analyst Yogesh Kumar said: “Apart from ND Tiwari, no CM has been able to complete five years, either due to circumstances or intervention of the central leadership. Common factor is that both BJP and Congress failed to make electoral gains they expected by changing the CM. It’s a big gamble by BJP, with less than a year to go for Assembly elections.”

    Only one of the eight CMs in the state completed five years in office. It was the late ND Tiwari from 2002-07.

    After first CM Nityanand Swami died in 2001 having completed 354 days, BJP’s Bhagat Singh Koshyari occupied office for 122 days. Congress won in 2002 and Tiwari’s reign started.

    In March 2012, BJP’s Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri took charge before being removed after two years and 111 days. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ was made CM to regain lost ground.

    He was removed after two years and 75 days and Khanduri was brought back with elections slated after six months.

    BJP lost by one seat and Congress formed the government with the help of other MLAs. In 2014, Congress removed Vijay Bahuguna and brought in Harish Rawat.

    With a ninth CM to be appointed soon, history seems to be repeating itself.

    “The situation reflects what happened in 2011. That resulted in BJP’s loss as Congress formed the government. Maybe BJP is confident of breaking the doomed pattern,” said political expert Kirankant Verma.

  • Maharashtra Governor accepts state minister Sanjay Rathod’s resignation

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday accepted the resignation of state minister Sanjay Rathod, four days after he tendered it following allegations of links to the death of a woman.

    The Raj Bhavan gave the information in a statement.

    It said the governor also accepted Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s request that he be given charge of the forest portfolio held by Rathod.

    Rathod’s resignation letter was forwarded from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to the Raj Bhavan at 4 pm on Thursday, the statement added.

    Rathod had resigned from the state cabinet on Sunday, on the eve of the state legislature’s budget session.

    He had submitted the resignation to the chief minister, who had accepted it then.

    Rathod belongs to the Shiv Sena, which heads the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.

    The four-term MLA faces allegations of complicity in the death of Puja Chavan (23), a resident of Beed district, who was found dead in Pune on February 8, apparently after falling off from the building in which she lived.

    The BJP had accused Rathod of having links with the woman after his purported photographs, audio and video clips with her went viral on social media.

    The BJP had said that it would not allow the budget session to function if the minister did not resign.

  • Maharashtra governor Koshyari denied nod to travel in state plane to Dehradun

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI:

    MUMBAI:  The face-off between the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari came to a head on Thursday with the Maharashtra government denying Koshyari permission to use the government-owned plane for his Uttarakhand trip.

    Koshyari was scheduled to attend the induction function of trained IAS officers at Mussoorie on Thursday. “We had sought permission for the trip. We received it from the President’s office. But the Maharashtra government declined permission,” the governor’s office told this paper. The Chief Minister’s office said though no permission was granted, yet the governor went ahead with his programme.

    “The governor’s office should not have gone ahead without the permission of the authorities concerned. The responsibility should be fixed and action taken against the official who failed to conduct proper coordination between the government and the governor’s office,” said the CM’s office.  Sources said the governor left Raj Bhavan for the airport on Thursday morning.

    “He and his team of officials reached the airport and even sat in the Maharashtra governor plane. But after about 15 minutes, he was told they did not have all permissions. Officials declined the government plane for his tour,” said a source.

    The governor had to step out of the plane and spend time at the airport lounge. His office booked him into a commercial flight. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said he was not aware of the development. “I will make an inquiry before commenting,” Pawar said.

    Senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar alleged the state government deliberately denied the permission. “This is an insult to the constitutional post. It is very unfortunate that in the land of Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the constitution of India, a governor has been insulted in that manner. People will not tolerate such arrogance of the Thackeray government and will soon teach it a lesson,” said Shelar.

  • Governor takes dig at Uddhav government for not giving job to Asian Games medallist Kavita Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has taken potshots at the state government over not giving a job to long-distance runner and Asian Games medallist Kavita Raut, saying there is something wrong somewhere.

    The governor, who has in the past been critical of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on certain issues, made the remarks on Wednesday at an event in Nashik district.

    Raut (hailing from Nashik) was among eight sportspersons whom the state government offered jobs in 2016.

    Koshyari said Raut has a job in the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation inDehradun, a postingwhich people vie for.

    “But, she wants to live in her village and serve there. I wrote to the sports minister (Sunil Kedar). He told me that he would give a job to Kavita,” the governor said.

    But, she is saying she has not got the job yet, he said.

    “The governor talked about it, the minister too talked about (giving the job). Still, she did not get it. So, there is something wrong somewhere,” Koshyari said.

    He assured Raut that she will be given the job.

    It will take some time because the “government works in a way that people create some or the other problems”, the governor said.

    “How will they (sportspersons) work if you are not going to encourage them?” he asked.

  • Maharashtra governor pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on death anniversary

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday observed a two-minute silence to mark the 73rd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, which is also observed as Martyrs’ Day, an official said.

    The governor offered floral tributes to the portrait of the father of the nation at Raj Bhavan here, the official said.

    January 30 is observed as Martyrs’ Day in memory of those who laid down their lives for India’s independence.

    At Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature building, officials garlanded the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, offered tributes and observed a two-minute silence.

    The Mahatma Gandhi Smarak Samiti paid homage at the life-size statue of the Mahatma near Mantralaya, the state secretariat here.

    Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rahuri in Ahmednagar district.

    Pawar said Gandhiji led the nation during the country’s freedom struggle based on the principles of truth and non-violence.

    “Gandhiji wanted self-sufficient villages. Mahatma Gandhi is not just an individual, but he is also a thought for the welfare of mankind and world.

    The thought is immortal,” he said.