News Analysis India

Tag: Maharashtra CM

  • Shinde appoints secretaries, treasurer and spokespersons for his Shiv Sena faction

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday made new appointments for the Shiv Sena faction led by him.

    Trade union leader Kiran Pawaskar and Sanjay more were appointed as party secretaries, while Deepak Kesarkar, Uday Samant, Gulabrao Patil and Sheetal Mhatre were appointed as spokespersons, a release from his office said.

    Balaji Kinikar was appointed as treasurer, it added.

    Shinde rebelled against Shiv Sena president and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last month which led to the downfall of the Thackeray-led government.

    The Shinde-led faction has approached the Election Commission, seeking recognition as the real Shiv Sena.

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday made new appointments for the Shiv Sena faction led by him.

    Trade union leader Kiran Pawaskar and Sanjay more were appointed as party secretaries, while Deepak Kesarkar, Uday Samant, Gulabrao Patil and Sheetal Mhatre were appointed as spokespersons, a release from his office said.

    Balaji Kinikar was appointed as treasurer, it added.

    Shinde rebelled against Shiv Sena president and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last month which led to the downfall of the Thackeray-led government.

    The Shinde-led faction has approached the Election Commission, seeking recognition as the real Shiv Sena.

  • Police officers close to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray killed Mansukh Hiran, alleges Kirit Somaiya

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Saturday alleged that some police officials “close to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray” killed Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran.

    He will meet officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is probing the case, Somaiya told reporters.

    Officials from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) were not available for commenting on the BJP leader’s allegation.

    The NIA on Wednesday claimed before the Bombay High Court that former police officer Pradeep Sharma was the main conspirator in the “cold-blooded murder” of Hiran, who was considered a weak link in the “larger conspiracy of terrorising” the family of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.

    Dismissed police officer Sachin Waze — also arrested in the case — gave Rs 45 lakh to Sharma for henchmen to kill Hiran, the NIA said.

    On February 25, 2021, an explosives-laden SUV was found near Mukesh Ambani’s residence ‘Antilia’ in south Mumbai.

    Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV earlier, was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5, 2021.

  • KCR-Uddhav Thackeray meeting: Both CMs say change need of the hour

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Change is the need of the hour, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray said after the two leaders met here on Sunday as part of efforts to bring together like-minded parties against the BJP at the national level.

    After a two-hour meeting at ‘Varsha’, the official residence of Maharashtra CM, the two leaders addressed a press conference where Rao said this is a “good beginning” and that they will meet again after speaking to leaders of other regional and national parties.

    “We discussed the political situation, development issues being faced by the country after 75 years of independence, ” he said.

    Thackeray, in a veiled attack on the BJP, said the present day “politics of revenge” was neither Hindutva nor Indian culture, and that the situation needed to change.

    What is the country’s future if such an atmosphere continues, he said, adding that his discussion with Rao revolved around these issues.

    The country’s development is a priority and even states need to have friendly relations with each other, he said.

    “The politics of revenge is not good. Instead of speaking on development issues during their tenure, lies and misinformation are spread about the political opponents,” he said, without taking any name.

    Rao said Thackeray and he agreed that a change was needed in the country.

    “All should co-exist in harmony,” he said.

    “We will meet again after speaking to other regional and national parties on the road ahead. The path taken from Maharashtra always leads to success. This is a a good beginning and it is a fight for preserving the democracy,” he said.

    Rao, the founder of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), said he has invited Thackeray to Hyderabad.

    “Telangana and Maharashtra share a 1,000-km border. We need to have friendly relations with each other for the development of both states and the country,” he said.

    Rao, who arrived here following an invitation from Thackeray, said he and the Maharashtra chief minister had agreed on issues pertaining to development and the need for structural changes in the country.

    The Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Sunday said the meeting will expedite the process of political unity at the national level against the BJP.

    Those present in the meeting included Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, party’s spokesperson Arvind Sawant, state ministers Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai and Additional Chief Secretary in the CM’s office Ashish Kumar Singh.

    Uddhav Thackeray’s younger son Tejas Thackeray was also seen in pictures released by the Chief Minister’s Office.

    Actor Prakash Raj was also among the prominent faces accompanying Rao.

    After meeting Thackeray, Rao went to the residence of NCP president Sharad Pawar, whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra.

    Thackeray had earlier announced “complete support” to Rao’s fight against the BJP’s alleged anti-people policies and to uphold the federal spirit.

    The Telangana CM, who has been critical of the BJP and the Centre on a number of issues, had said he will hold meetings with his Maharashtra and West Bengal counterparts as part of efforts to unite various political parties against the BJP and the NDA government.

  • Maharashtra CM Uddhav seeks PM Modi’s intervention over alleged desecration of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Bengaluru

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday demanded immediate action on part of the Karnataka government in view of the alleged desecration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Bengaluru.

    He demanded the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in stopping “Kannada atrocities “and the “pervert mindset”.

    Stating that Shivaji Maharaj is the “deity” of not only Maharashtra but of the entire country, Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena, said any disrespect and insult to the founder of the Maratha empire will not be tolerated.

    A statue of the 17th Century king was allegedly desecrated in the Karnataka capital.

    Following this incident, a crowd hurled stones at police and government vehicles in Belagavi around midnight, official sources said.

    Maharashtra is locked in a bitter border dispute with Karnataka for the inclusion of border areas, including Belagavi, in the western state.

    “PM Modi should direct the Karnataka government to take action in the matter. This incident (alleged desecration of the statue) cannot be taken lightly. For several years, Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka are facing atrocities. Now, the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is desecrated,” Thackeray said in a statement.

    He referred to the speech delivered by PM Modi in Varanasi recently where he had mentioned Chhatrapati Shivaji.

    “PM Modi had said in Varanasi that whenever India’s culture was crushed, warrior kings like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj have risen. But just a few days after Modi’s remarks, Shivaji Maharaj’s statue is attacked in Karnataka which is ruled by BJP. Instead of taking action, the voice of the Marathi people is being suppressed. This is condemnable,” the CM said.

    Thackeray demanded that the prime minister intervene to stop “Kannada atrocities” on the Marathi people.

    “It should be kept in mind that hurting the Marathi pride will prove costly. The Centre should give up double standards and take stern steps,” he said.

    Maharashtra Urban Development Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said the Karnataka government will be responsible for any reaction to the incident wherein ink was thrown at the statue (of Shivaji Maharaj).

    Shinde is the coordination minister for Marathi-dominated border areas of Karnataka.

    “The statement of Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai that the incident was minor was also condemnable,” he said in a statement.

    NCP leader and cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal said BJP had used Shivaji Maharaj only for its election campaign.

    “Maharashtra will not tolerate the insult of the warrior king,” said Bhujbal, who is also the coordinating minister for the Marathi-dominated border areas in Karnataka.

    “The Karnataka government started holding a legislature session in Belgaum to claim its right over the city,” he said, adding that “moves” of the Karnataka government against Marathi people will never succeed.

    “We will win the fight on the streets and in courts (over the inclusion of Marathi-speaking areas in Maharashtra), ” he said.

    Congress leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil, who belongs to NCP, also condemned the incident and said the insult of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will not be tolerated.

  • Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray appeals to MSRTC employees to cooperate with state govt in resolving their woes

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the state road transport corporation employees on Wednesday not to hold the state’s poor people hostage by continuing their strike, and cooperate with the government in its effort to resolve their issues.

    In a statement, Thackeray also hit out at the opposition for “instigating” the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees for their political gains.

    This is not the time to play politics, he said.

    Bus operations at all 250 depots of the state-run MSRTC were shut on Wednesday due to the strike by its employees over the demand for a merger of the cash-strapped corporation with the state government.

    Lakhs of passengers were facing hardships as the MSRTC buses were off roads.

    The Bombay High Court on Monday deprecated the MSRTC employees’ “adamant stand” of not withdrawing the stir despite the state government extending full cooperation and setting up a committee to address their merger demand, as per the HC’s directions.

    On Wednesday, CM Thackeray said, “Since the last few days, the government has taken steps to address the issues. Even the high court is satisfied with the steps taken by the government to address the issues of MSRTC employees.

    “In such circumstances, I appeal to you with folded hands not to hold poor people of the state hostage,” he said.

    Thackeray said the state has been battling the coronavirus pandemic for nearly two years now.

    “So please cooperate with the state government,” he added.

    The MSRTC is one of the biggest state transport corporations in the county with a fleet of more than 16,000 buses and around 93,000 employees, including drivers and conductors.

    The corporation used to ferry over 65 lakh passengers daily before the coronavirus outbreak last year.

  • BJP raking up ‘outsider’ card with eye on UP Assembly, Mumbai civic polls: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday hit out at the BJP for opposing Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s directive to state police to keep a record of migrants coming here from other states, claiming the BJP was raking up the ‘outsider’ card with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Mumbai civic elections due next year.

    Raut in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said Thackeray (during a law and order review meeting with top police officials on September 13) did not name any particular state while referring to migrants, “but the BJP declared that the CM meant North Indians”.

    “This is nothing but an attempt to create divisiveness, and cases should be filed against such people,” said the Rajya Sabha member, who is the executive editor of ‘Saamana’.

    Mumbai is home to Bengali, Odiya, Assamese, Tamil, Telugu-speaking people, and the city’s Matunga and Dharavi areas are dominated by South Indians.

    They never call themselves outsiders, he said.

    Raut said Bengalis hold Durga Puja celebrations at the Shivaji Park around the same time as the Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally, and Bengalis never fear and call themselves outsiders.

    He further said the Tamil, Telugu people and Muslims celebrate their festivals here, and Gujaratis, Marwaris, Jains have become an integral part of Mumbai’s life.

    Then whom does the BJP consider as outsiders? Raut asked.

    “The country may be one, but maintaining law and order is a state subject. It is the job of the state government to take action. Without understanding what Thackeray meant, the BJP raked up the outsiders and migrant card with an eye on the UP and Mumbai civic polls,” he said.

    He said “if the “BJP’s love is for outsiders who help in terrorist activities, atrocities against women and make life miserable for the ‘sons-of-the-soil’, it is not right”.

    Raut, whose party shares power with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra, said no one considers the rich as outsiders.

    Only those who migrate in search of livelihood are called outsiders and this is sad, he added.

    Those playing the ‘outsider’ politics in Maharashtra should learn a lesson from the West Bengal Assembly election results where (Trinamool Congress head) Mamata Banerjee used the Bengali pride to defeat Modi-Shah, the Sena’s chief spokesperson said.

    Raut said Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil asked why only outsiders were being blamed and whether Marathi people do not commit crime.

    “This shows the deep-rooted hatred the BJP has for Marathi people,” the Sena leader claimed.

    “The answer to Patil’s question is, why is the ED after the Shiv Sena and NCP leaders, are BJP leaders clean?” he sought to know.

  • Oxygen requirement will be criterion for imposing lockdown: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The daily oxygen requirement for COVID-19 patients will be the deciding factor for imposing lockdown in future, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Wednesday.

    If the oxygen requirement reaches 700 metric tons, lockdown will be imposed again, he said in a statement.

    The daily oxygen production capacity in the state is 1,300 metric tons, he said.

    “During the second wave, when the number of COVID-19 cases showed a steep spike, the demand for oxygen was also very high. Some 500 metric tons of oxygen had to be procured from other states. If the demand goes up to 700 metric tons daily, which is the quantity needed for nearly 30,000 patients, the state will be once again brought under lockdown,” Thackeray said.

    The chief minister’s statement came in the wake of the government’s decision to ease restrictions by allowing local train travel in Mumbai for fully vaccinated people, and allowing shops, malls, restaurants, gyms and salons to remain open till 10 pm from August 15.

    The Delta variant of the COVID-19 is spreading fast in other countries like UK and USA, Thackeray said, adding that easing of restrictions is being done very cautiously.

    “We have to be vigilant against the third wave and various variants of the virus,” Thackeray said.

  • Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray addresses function without face mask

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday addressed a public function for the first time without wearing a face mask, which has become an integral part of COVID-19 prevention measures after the pandemic’s outbreak in March 2020.

    Speaking at the function in Nashik, he said, “This is my first public programme which I am addressing without wearing a mask. I am speaking for the first time (since coronavirus outbreak) without covering my face.”

    He attended inauguration of several projects in Nashik district, around 200km from Mumbai.

  • ‘Better to reconcile with BJP before it’s too late’: Sena MLA under ED scanner writes to Uddhav

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who is under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner for alleged money laundering, has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealing to him to reconcile with the BJP “before it is too late”.

    In the letter dated June 10, Sarnaik said even though the alliance with the BJP has broken, personal and harmonious relations between leaders of the ‘yuti’ (Shiv Sena-BJP) remain.

    “It is better to reconcile before it is too late,” the MLA said in the letter.

    Notably, the Sena forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra in 2019 after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party fell out with the BJP.

    Shiv Sena MLA @PratapSarnaik writes CM Uddhav Thackeray asking patch up wid BJP once again. He said their families r unnecessary troubled by central probe agencies; once Sena BJP alliance govt is in Maharashtra, then they & their families will have major relief. @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/yBdnoHtxUW
    — Sudhir Suryawanshi (@ss_suryawanshi) June 20, 2021

    In November last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided premises linked to Sarnaik in Maharashtra in connection with a money laundering case being probed against a security service provider company and others.

    ALSO READ | MVA alliance for 5 years, not permanent fixture: Congress

    The Shiv Sena had called the raids a “political vendetta” and said the Maharashtra government or its leaders will not surrender to pressure from anyone.

    Noting that municipal corporation polls are due soon in several Maharashtra cities, including Mumbai, Sarnaik in his letter to the CM said, “I believe fighting a war like Arjun, instead of sacrificing oneself like Abhimanyu or Karna. This is the reason that I have been fighting my legal battle for the last seven months alone without getting any help from our leaders or our government .”

    Sarnaik, who is an MLA from neighbouring Thane district, also alleged that the Congress and NCP were creating divisions in the Shiv Sena ranks.

    “It is better to join hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi again as Shiv Sainiks feel that would save the Sena leaders like me, Anil Parab and Ravindra Waikar from problems,” he said.

    Notably, former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya had accused the three Sena leaders of indulging in corrupt practices.

    Sarnaik, in his letter, did not name Somaiya, but said a leader “who has become a ‘former MP’ because of the Sena” is maligning the party.

    Sarnaik also claimed that Shiv Sena MLAs feel only the work of Congress and NCP legislators is being done and not of those from his party.

    “Shiv Sena MLAs wonder whether the MVA has been formed, by breaking the alliance with the BJP, to help the Congress and NCP grow,” he said.

    Sarnaik also said in the letter that while CM Thackeray was focusing only on COVID-19 eradication, the Congress was talking of going alone in next elections and the NCP was busy “breaking” Shiv Sena workers and inducting them into the Sharad Pawar-led party.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Sarnaik’s letter, Somaiya said the Sena MLA seems to be worried about jail now and so, he has asked CM Thackeray to join hands with PM Modi and the BJP.

    “All corrupt leaders of the Shiv Sena – Pratap Sarnaik, Anil Parab, Ravindra Waikar – will have to be in jail,” the BJP leader said in a statement.

    Somaiya also said he had lodged a complaint at a police station in Thane about Sarnaik “missing” for last 100 days. 

  • ‘Tauktae’-hit to get compensation as per ‘Nisarga’ relief package: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: People affected by cyclone ‘Tauktae’ in Maharashtra would get the compensation on the lines of the relief package prepared for the victims of the cyclone ‘Nisarga’ that had hit the coastal districts last June, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday.

    The chief minister on May 21 visited the affected areas in the coastal Konkan to take stock of the situation.

    During his tour, he had said that no genuine victim will be left out.

    As coastal areas in Maharashtra are not frequently affected by cyclonic storms, most of the rules and regulations are formed to assess such damage in plains.

    The state Cabinet had last year amended the rules to issue compensation for every damaged tree instead of per hectare acknowledging that coastal areas are hilly with very small landholding.

    The damage caused by the cyclone ‘Nisarga’ was estimated to be Rs 6,000 crore.

    Cyclone Tauktae, which brushed past coastal Maharashtra last week before making landfall in Gujarat, caused damage to houses, trees, and electricity infrastructure.