Twenty-five people died after a bus travelling from Maharashtra’s Yavatmal to Pune caught fire in Buldhana on the Samruddhi Mahamarg Expressway.
The incident happened around 2 am on Saturday.
“25 bodies are extracted from the bus. A total of 32 people were travelling in the bus. 6-8 people are injured. Injured are being shifted to Buldhana Civil Hospital,” said Buldhana Police Deputy SP Baburao Mahamuni.
Further information is awaited. (ANI)
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With the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s plea, challenging last year’s change of guard in Maharashtra, pending arbitration in the Supreme Court, the former Maharashtra chief minister on Sunday said elections can happen any time and they were “prepared”.
Addressing a public meeting in Jalgaon on Sunday, Uddhav, who now heads the Shiv Sena (UBT), said, “Elections [in Maharashtra] can happen at any time and we are prepared. The matter is in Supreme Court and we are hopeful that the eventual verdict will be in our favour. After that, anything can happen any time.”
The rift in undivided Shiv Sena led to present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde forming a breakaway front with over 40 loyalists.
After camping in a hotel in BJP-ruled Assam over days, the breakaway camp eventually joined hands with the BJP to bring about the demise of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — an alliance of Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena — government in Maharashtra.
The BJP and the rival Sena camp later formed the government and Eknath Shinde took oath as the chief minister, with former CM Devendra Fadnavis taking over as his deputy.
While the Election Commission (EC), earlier this year, decided to allot the official ‘bow and arrow’ symbol of the Shiv Sena to the Shinde camp along with the original party name, the plea by the Uddhav camp challenging the change of guard and re-allotment of the party symbol is still sub judice at the apex court.
Uddhav claimed he did not allow injustice to any religion during his term in office.
“Today, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has completed three years of its existence. They (BJP and the Shinde camp) accuse me of abandoning Hindutva but the truth is that I did not allow injustice to any religion, bearing true allegiance to the oath of office that I took. All places of worship were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, without any discrimination,” he said.
Uddhav also dared the BJP’s state unit to declare that it would contest the next Maharashtra elections under the leadership of Eknath Shinde.
Hitting out at the Shinde camp, Uddhav said, “You do not have any ideal of your own and neither do you have any leader. So, you steal others’ ideals and the names of someone’s father and mother to contest elections. I challenged the BJP earlier and will do so again. I dare them to declare that they will contest the coming elections under the leadership of Eknath Shinde,” he said. (ANI)
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Days after stoking controversy in the State with his remarks that Balasaheb Thackeray and Shiv Sainiks had no role in Babri Masjid demolition on December 6 1992, Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday said that he will ring up Uddhav Thackeray to clarify his stand.
The remarks of Patil, minister of higher and technical education in the Eknath Shinde government, came hours after former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded the resignation of CM Shinde and sought the ouster of Patil, for making derogatory remarks against his father Balasaheb Thackeray.
“I will be calling Uddhav Thackeray to clarify my stand over this issue. I have full respect for Balasaheb Thackeray in my heart and I can not disrespect him. No one can forget his contribution to saving Hindus during the Mumbai riots (in 1993),” Patil said during a press briefing here on Tuesday.
“Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde also called me up today morning and asked me to take a press conference to clarify my stand,” Patil said.
He said that those who were involved in the struggle were Hindus and they cannot be segregated as Shiv Sena workers or BJP men.
“The struggle for the Babri Masjid demolition was led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and everyone was working under their banner, so there was nothing like Shiv Sena, BJP or any other organisation. Everyone (present there while the mosque was being brought down) was a Hindu,” he said.
“My question was where was Sanjay Raut during demolition and that question still remains the same today,” he added.
The former Maharashtra BJP chief, while speaking to a regional news channel recently, said that Balasaheb Thackeray and Shiv Sena had no role in the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6 1992.
His remarks drew ire from the Shiv Sena (UBT) who demanded the minister’s resignation.
However, on Monday, after Patil was asked about his remarks, he reiterated that the world knows that VHP and its sub wings Durga Vahini, and Bajrang Dal were leading the fight against the disputed structure. (ANI)
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs, on Saturday flew down to Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, from where they will visit the State’s temple town on Sunday.
The Shiv Sainiks were welcomed by Yogi government ministers at the Lucknow Airport amid fanfare.
“This is not a political visit, I keep visiting Ayodhya but this is the first time I’ve come here as a CM. All party leaders wanted to take blessings from Lord Ram. I want to thank Yogi ji and his ministers who were present here to welcome us,” Shinde told ANI.
The Chief Minister will now take a rest at the Government Guest House in Lucknow, from where he will visit Ayodhya tomorrow and perform ‘aarti’ on the banks of the Saryu river, according to an itinerary circulated among media persons.
“Sadhus have organised programs in Ayodhya and we will participate in them. In the past, Sadhus were killed in Palghar, but now we will protect our Sadhus. A program is organised in Palghar too, I will attend that as well. In BJP and Shivsena govt, law and order will be maintained,” Shinde had earlier in the day told reporters in Mumbai.
The itinerary further stated that CM Shinde on Sunday will depart to Shri Ram Katha Helipad Park, Ayodhya and then will go to the hotel by car.
“CM will depart from the hotel to Ram Mandir by car. He will also visit the ongoing construction site of Ram Mandir,” it added.
The Shiv Sena leaders, onboard the flight, chanted Jai Shree Ram, Jai Shivaji, and Shiv Sena Zindabad slogans before setting off from Mumbai.
This is Shinde’s first visit to Ayodhya after being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in June last year.
While addressing the press conference in Mumbai earlier, Shinde said, “We will be going to Ayodhya for Lord Ram’s blessings on April 9 and it’s a matter of belief and sentiments, we will perform Aarti… I still remember that Dharmveer Anand Dhigana had sent silver brick with Karsevark so we have old bonding with Ram Lalla… we will be visiting the temple also.”
“We (Shiv Sena BJP) wanted to go to Ayodhya after getting the Bow and Arrow symbol. We will also meet UP CM Yogi Aditynath. We will perform Aarti at the Sarayu River,” he had added. (ANI)
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Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday backed the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the electoral process in the country and said that he has “full trust” in it and it is not possible to manipulate it.
Pawar said that the people who lose the elections start blaming the EVMs and fail to accept the mandate of the people.
Backing the EVM, the Maharashtra Leader of Opposition said that had the machines been faulty, there would not be governments of various opposition parties in numerous states of the country including West Bengal and Telangana.
“I have full trust in EVM personally. If EVMs were faulty, then we would not have governments of opposition parties in states like Chattisgarh, WB, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It is not possible to manipulate EVMs in our country. It is a big system altogether, lots of checks and balances are involved,” Pawar said while speaking to the media.
“If somehow it is proven that EVMs were manipulated, then there will be big chaos in the country. I don’t think anyone would dare to do such things. Sometimes some people lose elections but they think that they can’t lose it, then they start putting allegations about EVMs but in reality, it is the actual mandate of the people,” he added.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership, Pawar said that under him, the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in 2019 and he continued to become popular despite various remarks against him.
“Under PM Modi’s name, the party came to power in 2014 and reached sever remote places. After winning, a lot of statements were made against him but he got popular and under his leadership, BJP won in various states and repeated the same in 2019. If this is not the magic of PM Modi then what is? As far as education in politics is concerned, it is considered to be not much of importance,” the Maharashtra LoP said.
Earlier today, NCP chief Sharad Pawar reiterated his remark on the Adani issue and said there are more important issues such as price rise and farmers’ issues that the Opposition should raise instead of giving undue importance to the report by the US short-seller.
“Nowadays, the names of Ambani-Adani are being taken (to criticise the government) but we need to think about their contribution to the country. I think other issues such as unemployment, price rise, and farmers issues are more important and should be raised by the Opposition,” the senior Opposition leader said.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, after his explosive interview with a television news channel, Pawar said there is “no need” for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue as the Supreme Court-appointed committee will be more reliable and unbiased in its probe into the claims made in the report against the Indian conglomerate.
“There is a certain structure to a JPC. If a JPC comprises 21 members, 15 of them will be from the government side, as the other parties can only have a maximum of 6 members. So, in all likelihood, the JPC report will only reaffirm the government’s position in the matter. So, I think instead of a JPC, a Supreme Court-appointed committee will be more reliable and unbiased,” Pawar said. (ANI)
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The counting of votes for the Maharashtra bye-elections in Kasba Peth and Chinchwad Assembly segments began at 8 am with the early trends putting Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate in the lead in the Kasba Peth, the Election Commission informed on Thursday.
According to the EC, the Kasba Peth Assembly constituency was locked in a fierce two-way fight, with the Congress’s Dhangekar Ravindra Hemraj leading BJP’S Hemant Narayan Rasane by 1,637 votes.
The counting votes will decide the electoral fates of three leading candidates from the Chinchwad Assembly constituency — NCP’s Vitthal Kate, BJP’s Ashwini Jagtap and Independent Rahul Kalate.
The polling was held on February 27.
A two-way fight between the BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will decide the poll outcome for Kasba Peth, with the latter pitting Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar against the BJP’s Hemant Rasane.
The heavyweights of the contesting parties, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena UBT’s Aditya Thackeray and Congress state chief Nana Patole, have been campaigning extensively and vigorously for their respective party candidates through roadshows, street corner meetings and public rallies in the poll-bound constituencies.
As per data released by the district information office, the total number of voters in the Kasba Peth constituency is 2,75,428 with 1,38, 550 women voters and 1,36,87 male voters and five transgender voters.
In the Chinchwad Assembly constituency, a total of 56,8954 eligible voters cast their votes across 510 pooling booths.
Around 1300 police personnel along with all senior officials of the police department were deployed for voting day by the Pune police.
The bye-elections were necessitated after the demise of BJP’s MLA Laxman Jagtap, from the Chinchwad Assembly constituency, and Mukta Tilak from the Kasba Peth Assembly constituency. (ANI)
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The Supreme Court’s Constitution bench on Friday said it will decide later on referring the cases related to the Maharashtra political crisis to a larger seven-judge bench for reconsideration of a 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment on powers of Assembly Speakers to deal with disqualification pleas.
A five-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha said the issue of reconsideration of Nabam Rebia case to the larger bench will be decided during the hearing of the case on merit.
The apex court said whether Nabam Rebia’s judgment be referred to a larger seven-judge bench or not can only be decided along with a hearing on the merits of the Maharashtra politics case.
It posted the next hearing of Maharashtra political crisis cases to February 21.
The top court said, “Issue of reference cannot be decided in isolation without facts of the case. Issue of reference will be decided only with merits of the case.”
On Thursday, the top court reserved the order after hearing arguments from rival Shiv Sena groups.
Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena sought that the five-judge Nabam Rebia case is referred to a seven-judge bench for reconsideration.
In the 2016 Nabam Rebia case, the five-judge Constitution bench had held that Speaker cannot initiate disqualification proceedings when a resolution seeking his removal is pending.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray camp of the Sena, submitted that there is an imperative need to reconsider the law laid down in the Nabam Rebia case.
“It’s time for us to relook at Nabam Rebia and the 10th Schedule because it has created havoc,” Sibal said.
The 10th Schedule of the Constitution provides for the prevention of defection of the elected and nominated members from their political party and contains stringent provisions against defections.
In 2016, a five-judge Constitution bench, while deciding the Nabam Rebia case of Arunachal Pradesh, had held that the Assembly Speaker cannot proceed with a plea for disqualification of MLAs if a prior notice seeking removal of the Speaker is pending decision in the House.
The Nabam Rebia judgment had come to the rescue of the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, now the chief minister of Maharashtra. The Thackeray faction had sought their disqualification even while a notice of the Shinde group for the removal of Maharashtra assembly deputy speaker Narhari Sitaram Zirwal, a Thackeray loyalist, was pending before the House.
During the course of the hearing, the apex court asked the arguing advocates to address whether the ‘tightening’ of the 2016 judgment can be undertaken by the five-judge bench currently hearing a batch of petitions arising from the 2022 Shiv Sena-rooted Maharashtra political crisis or be referred to a larger seven-judge bench.
2016 Nabam Rebia’s judgment was passed by a five-judge bench and a bench of the same strength cannot interfere with the judgment by a bench of the same strength.
Shinde group cited Nabam Rebia’s judgment stating that the deputy Speaker does not have the authority to decide disqualification when a notice for his removal is pending.
While Uddhav Thackeray camp of Shiv Sena argued in favour of revisiting the 2016 verdict saying that a Speaker faced with a notice seeking his removal cannot exercise powers under the 10th Schedule, the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment was not relevant to the issues arising from Maharashtra political crisis.
The Shinde camp has defended the 2016 judgment as correct, which required no relook.
During the hearing of the case, the apex court on Wednesday said that issues arising from the Maharashtra political crisis rooted in the Shiv Sena feud are “tough Constitutional issues” to decide and observed that it may have “tightened” a 2016 judgement.
The apex court was hearing arguments on whether the matter should be heard by a seven-judge bench or a five-judge bench.
A five-judge Constitution bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed by rival factions Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis. (ANI)
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The Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday announced the names for appointment on the post of 12 Governors for states and one Lieutenant Governor in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan stated that President Droupadi Murmu has accepted the resignations of Bhagat Singh Koshyari as Governor of Maharashtra and Radha Krishnan Mathur as Lt. Governor of Ladakh.
Ramesh Bais, the Governor of Jharkhand has now been appointed as Governor of Maharashtra, while, Brig. (Dr.) B.D. Mishra (Retd.), who is the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh has been appointed as Lt. Governor of Ladakh.
The statement also informed that Justice (Retd.) S Abdul Nazeer has been appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
Let Gen Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik, PVSM, UYSM, YSM (Retired) has been appointed as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Lakshman Prasad Acharya as Governor of Sikkim, CP Radhakrishnan as Governor of Jharkhand, Shiv Pratap Shukla as Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Gulab Chand Kataria as Governor of Assam, the statement read.
In addition to these, several Governors have been given charge of different states.
“Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh has now been appointed as the Governor of Chhattisgarh. Sushri Anusuiya Uikye, the Governor of Chhattisgarh has been appointed as Governor of Manipur. La Ganesan, the Governor of Manipur has been appointed as the Governor of Nagaland. Phagu Chauhan, the Governor of Bihar has now been appointed as Governor of Meghalaya, and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh has now been appointed as Governor of Bihar, the release added.
“The above appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices,” the statement added. (ANI)
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined relief to the Rapido bike, taxi and auto aggregator, which challenged the Bombay High Court order directing the company to stop operation in Maharashtra immediately as it does not have a license to operate bike, taxi or rickshaw services.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said that amendments made to the Motor Vehicles Act in 2019 made it clear that aggregators cannot operate without a valid licence.
The apex court granted the company liberty to move to the Bombay High Court to challenge January 19 notification issued by the State of Maharashtra.
It also asked the High Court to consider such challenge un-influenced.
In December 2022, the Pune RTO had rejected Rapido’s plea for licence.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had directed Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, which operates bike taxi aggregator Rapido, to shut operations till January 20 as the startup is yet to receive a licence from the Maharashtra government to operate.
The Bombay High Court had pulled up Pune-based bike taxi aggregator for operating without procuring a licence from the Maharashtra government and directed it to suspend the services immediately.
Roppen Transportation had moved the High Court against a communication issued to it by the Maharashtra government refusing to grant them a bike taxi aggregator licence.
The government cited the reason that there was no state policy on licensing of bike taxis and there was no fare structure policy.
The State government had told the High Court that a committee has been set up to explore the formulation of guidelines for bike taxis in the state. (ANI)
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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asks questions that he should have raised 10 years ago.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference he attended in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, the Maharashtra deputy CM said, “It seems Rahul Gandhi is recalling old issues all of a sudden. He is asking questions that he ought to have raised 10 years ago. Perhaps, he is not aware that the construction of the Ram temple (in Ayodhya) is going on with full vigour. He, too, will be invited for a darshan (visit) once the temple is complete.”
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had responded to Rahul’s “tareekh nahi bataenge” jibe at the BJP, saying the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be ready on January 1, 2024.
Addressing a rally in South Tripura on Thursday, Shah said, “The Congress hindered the construction of the Ram temple by placing legal obstacles. It was only after the Supreme Court cleared the decks for construction of the Ram temple that work on the project began in right earnest under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi-ji presided over the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ (ground-breaking ceremony) for the temple.”
Invoking Rahul’s jibe at the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah retorted, “During the 2019 election campaign, Rahul Gandhi used to say ‘mandir wahi banaenge…taarikh nahi bataenge’ (they will make the temple in Ayodhya, but won’t give the date)’. Today, I would like inform Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders that a sky-high Ram temple will be ready for the people in Ayodhya on January 1, 2024.” (ANI)
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