AURANGABAD: Residents of 25 villages in the Nanded district, which are close to the Telangana border, have renewed their demand seeking the merger of their villages with the neighbouring state. Explaining their position, the residents pointed to the alleged neglect by the MLAs, MPs and the administration in Maharashtra, and, at the same time, cited better facilities and schemes for the farmers and common public in Telangana. They have also made a written submission to the state and the district administration. The demand has caught the attention of the state and the district administration. Collector Abhijit Raut told TOI, "We do agree that there are some genuine demands from the local residents, and we are working to fulfil them." Claiming that Maharashtra is the most preferred destination in the country in terms of investments, job opportunities and able administration, Raut said the administration is holding talks with the village residents to address their problems on priority. However, the residents are not willing to give up their demands. Baburao Kadam, a former sarpanch of the Babdi Bandhara village (barely 7km from Telangana), had led a drive of 40 villages during his term in 2018. They had passed a resolution to merge with Telangana. He even led a delegation that met Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Talking to TOI, Kadam said: "Despite 75 years of Independence, 20 villages in the Dharmabad tehsil are yet to get state transport connectivity. The roads are all in terrible condition." "The Telangana CM has been paying attention to our demands," Kadam said and pointed out that Telangana provides its farmers with free seeds, round-the-clock power supply and compulsory MSP implementation. Moreover, if a farmer in Telangana ends his life or dies in an accident, the family gets Rs 5 lakh within 8 days, he said. The Bannadi village in Dharmabad tehsil is the last village of Nanded and is a kilometre from the Telangana border. Village sarpanch Surekha Nidhankar said, "Our village has deep nullahs on three sides. Every monsoon, these nullahs overflow and the water enters the village." In response, the administration relocated the families during monsoon. "This year too they shifted the 200 families. After the rain stopped, everyone returned. Of these 200 families, 153 families have been paid Rs 5,000 each as compensation. But the others have been denied the compensation," she said. Her husband Laxmanrao, a key member of the front formed to demand a merger with Telangana, said, "Our village has been demanding rehabilitation since 1980. In 1996, 100% rehabilitation was announced, but it is yet to be implemented." Mashti village sarpanch Bhati Patil also talked of the challenges the village faces due to the state's neglect. Patil said that last week, they made a written submission to the state and the district administration and they are firm on their demand for a merger.
HYDERABAD: Residents of 25 villages in Nanded district, close to the Telangana border, have renewed their demand seeking merger of their villages with Telangana. Residents pointed to the alleged neglect by MLAs, MPs and the administration in Maharashtra. At the same time, they cited better facilities and schemes for farmers and public in Telangana. Baburao Kadam, a former sarpanch of the Babdi Bandhara village (7km from Telangana), had led a drive of 40 villages during his term in 2018. They had passed a resolution to merge with Telangana. He even led a delegation that met Telangana CM KCR. "The Telangana CM has been paying attention to our demands," Kadam said. Defending Maharashtra, collector Abhijit Raut said, "We do agree there are some genuine demands from locals. We are working to fulfil them."
Shraddha Walkar had shared a picture of her bruised face with friends in 2020.Mumbai: The shocking murder of Shraddha Walkar allegedly by her boyfriend Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi has triggered politics of blame in their home state Maharashtra, with the ruling BJP pressing on the charge that the previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray "could have saved her, if it acted on her letter of 2020"."The government was busy appeasing a community for politics and in vasooli (bribe or extortion)," BJP MLA Ram Kadam said today, alluding to an alleged communal angle.#उद्धवठाकरे तथा महा विकास आघाडी #श्रद्धा के परिवार की माफ़ी मांगे.श्रद्धा के चिठ्ठी की यदी उस समय के मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव ठाकरे ठीक से जाँच करते तो उसकी जान बच सकती थी.. धर्म तुष्टिकरण और उद्धव सरकार के लापरवाही की शिकार हुई श्रद्धा— Ram Kadam (@ramkadam) November 24, 2022Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already said, "I have seen the letter... We will thoroughly investigate the matter. We have to ascertain why no action was taken after the police received the letter.”Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar has demanded a probe specifically into whether the complaint was "deliberately suppressed". He, too, targeted the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government of the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress — a government that was unseated after Eknath Shinde divided the Shiv Sena in June this year."Did the police not take any action because Shraddha's last name was ''Walkar' or because he is 'Aaftab'?" Ashish Shelar said, also alleging a communal angle.In the letter of November 23, 2020, which came to light yesterday, Shraddha Walkar had told police in their hometown Vasai in Maharashtra that Aaftab had been threatening to "kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away" — exactly what he allegedly did this May and was arrested for earlier this month.Police in Vasai, however, have said they did not act as she gave another written statement three weeks later that "we no longer have any quarrel", and asked for no action to be taken. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction has been demanding that Aaftab be hanged in public. "Our girls should be alert while trusting any person. People might call it 'love jihad'. The fact is: our girls are dying," Sanjay Raut, a top leader of the party, said last week. Shraddha's father, who had not been in touch with her since last year over her inter-faith live-in relationship, has also spoken of "love jihad", a term used by right-wing groups to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.Police so far have not spoken of any such angle.In her November 2020 complaint, Shraddha had told the cops that Aaftab beat her up over petty quarrels at a flat they shared, and said that his family knew about his violent behaviour, sources in the Delhi police said.On December 12, she gave a follow-up written statement that she wanted no action, police in Vasai said. For investigation, the complaint of November 23, 2020, ties to what she had told her co-worker Karan over WhatsApp around the same time, when she had also shared a photo of her bruised face with him. She had also been admitted to a hospital a week later with "internal injuries".PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comBut the relationship apparently continued. Both call centre employees, they moved to Delhi's Mehrauli in May this year, and Aaftab is alleged to have killed her after another fight, over household expenses.On the evidence list, police so far have an alleged confession, which is not admissible on its own, hence are looking for material clues, such as a forensic test to confirm that some body parts found in the Mehrauli jungle are hers.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was joined by his sister and the party’s general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Thursday for the Madhya Pradesh leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra and their son Raihan were also part of the walk.Priyanka, who is the general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Congress, arrived in Indore on Wednesday and joined Rahul early on Thursday. Clad in a white salwar kameez and a brown puffer coat, this is the first time that she was seen being part of the yatra.Posting a picture of the two, the Congress said on Twitter: “The steps will be strong, when we walk together.”मजबूत होंगे कदम, जब मिलकर चलेंगे हम।#BharatJodoYatra में @RahulGandhi जी के कंधे से कंधा मिलाने पहुंची @priyankagandhi जी। pic.twitter.com/KrexLPRdfM— Congress (@INCIndia) November 24, 2022“With their joining, the Connect India campaign and our resolution will get a new energy,” added MP Congress Seva Dal.The Bharat Jodo Yatra kicked off from Kanyakumari on Sept. 7. It entered Madhya Pradesh from neighbouring Maharashtra on Wednesday, where Rahul was welcomed by several Congress persons holding the tricolour flag. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole handed over the tricolour to his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Kamal Nath to formally launch the 12-day-long yatra in the central state, where it will cover a distance of 380 km before entering Rajasthan, as per a PTI report.LIVE: Bharat Jodo Yatra | Borgaon to Chegaon Makhan | Khandwa | Madhya Pradesh https://t.co/I4fJLalJGH— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 24, 2022Besides Kamal Nath, senior Congress leaders like former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, Leader of Opposition in the MP Assembly Govind Singh, former union ministers Suresh Pachouri and Arun Yadav were present on the occasion.Madhya Pradesh is set to go to polls next year and the Congress party is hoping that this yatra would provide a fillip to their preparations.The yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, will pass through western Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa-Nimar region, where the party had gained a convincing lead over the BJP in the 2018 Assembly polls and subsequently formed a government under Nath. Gandhi’s Yatra is scheduled to enter Rajasthan on December 4 after covering 380-kms in Malwa-Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh during next 12-days.(With inputs from PTI)
The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi entered Bodarli village in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district from neighbouring Maharashtra on Wednesday morning. On the occasion, Gandhi said their campaign was against hatred, violence and fear being spread in society. A large number of Congressmen carrying the tricolour in their hands reached Bodarli to join the foot march. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole handed over the tricolour to Madhya Pradesh party chief Kamal Nath to formally launch the 12-day-long yatra in the central state, where it will cover a distance of 380 km before entering Rajasthan. Bodarli, a village with a population of nearly 6,000, was decorated with banana leaves as the region is known for the cultivation of the fruit. Folk artists welcomed the yatra on its arrival in Madhya Pradesh. On the occasion, Gandhi said, "This yatra is against hatred, violence and fear being spread in the country. We have started the Bharat Jodo Yatra by taking the tricolour in our hands from Kanyakumari. Nobody can stop this tricolour from reaching Srinanagar." Targeting the central government on the issues of unemployment and inflation, Gandhi alleged, "The BJP first spreads fear in the minds of youth, farmers and labourers and when it sets in, they convert it into violence." He called five-year-old boy Rudra, who was among the crowd present in the village, on the stage and asked him about his ambition, to which the child said he wanted to become a doctor. "In the present India, it will be difficult for Rudra to fulfil his dreams as his parents have to spend crores of rupees to get education in private medical colleges. He will have to work as a labourer as he won't be able to pay the fees," Gandhi said targeting the growing trend of privatisation of education in the country. He also claimed that industries, airports and seaports were in the hands of only three-four industrialists in the country. Even the Railways is also going into their hands, he added. "This is an India of injustice and we don't want such an India," Gandhi said. "The money going out of the pockets of the common man for purchasing costly petrol and cooking gas is going into the pockets of these three-four industrialists," he claimed. Welcoming the yatra in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath claimed it will be most successful in the state. Senior Congress leaders including former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, Leader of Opposition in the MP Assembly Govind Singh, former union ministers Suresh Pachouri and Arun Yadav among others were present on the occasion. On Tuesday, Nath said Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with her family would take part in the foot march for the first time. Vadra, the sister of Rahul Gandhi, will join the yatra between Burhanpur and Indore on November 24-25, Nath had said. The Congress has made an elaborate arrangements for the yatra in MP, where the Assembly polls are due next year. It had lost power in the state in 2020 after a section of its MLAs quit the party. The yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, will pass through western Madhya Pradesh's Malwa-Nimar region, where the party had gained a convincing lead over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2018 Assembly polls and subsequently formed government under Nath. But, 22 MLAs later quit the party following which the Nath government fell and later the BJP came back to power in the state under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan in March 2020. The Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra started on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
EVEN as Union minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve on Tuesday said anything can happen in Maharashtra politics in the next two months, creating a stir in political circles, the NCP, one of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), said the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress will very soon form the government again. The Shiv Sena (UBT) also said collapse of the state government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was a certainty after November 29.While the BJP and Shinde-led Sena leaders have been maintaining that their government will last the next two and half years term, Danve’s comment is the first made by a leader from the ruling party.Stating that “no one knows what will happen in the next two months,” Danve, speaking at a gathering in Kannad town of Aurangabad district late Monday evening, said, “No one had predicted the fall of the MVA government after being in the saddle for two and half years. But such a ‘magic’ happened that the government fell overnight. If this is the kind of politics that is going on in Maharashtra, then no one can predict what will happen in next two months.”Reacting to Danve’s remarks, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “Danve sometimes speaks the truth… He has not said anything new. It is clear that he also knows the truth that we have been repeatedly saying. The case of the disqualification of 16 MLAs who defected along with Shinde is in the Supreme Court. By month-end, the Supreme Court will decide the fate of the MLAs and we are sure after that the Shinde-Fadnavis government will fall. We have been saying that this government is illegal and unconstitutional.”The NCP went a step further and claimed that not only the government will fall, but the MVA will be back in power. “On November 29, the Supreme Court will decide the fate of the government. In all likelihood, the government will fall after the 16 MLAs including the chief minister are disqualified… After the incumbent government falls, the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) will form the government with rest of the 32 MLAs coming back to the Shiv Sena,” NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapasi said.Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “Danve’s statement shows how the BJP-Shinde Sena has made fun of the people of Maharashtra. This government only took oath and never worked for the people. It’s fall is certain and Danve is speaking nothing new.”The BJP, however, downplayed Danve’s statement. “We currently have a strength of 164 MLAs. We are in touch with 20-25 more MLAs from the Opposition. Soon our number will go up to at least 184…,” said state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena can not compromise on key ideological issues like respect for V D Savarkar and Hindutva even as it is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).He, however, also said that his party was in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for long despite their differences, and it worked smoothly.“There are some issues where the Shiv Sena can not compromise. This includes (the issue of) Veer Savarkar and Hindutva. Our party is built on an ideology and we are not surrendering that,” Raut said in an interview with the news channel NDTV.Last week, the Shiv Sena was on the defensive after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s critical comments on Savarkar caused a controversy Raut had warned that such comments about Savarkar could cause cracks in the MVA alliance of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.Asked whether the alliance will survive in the long term, Raut said it will if the country needed it.“If democracy, freedom and the Constitution are to be safeguarded, then we have to forget our differences and come together,” he said.Raut, who was in New Delhi on Tuesday, said talks do take place with Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra and other Congress leaders.On Monday, Raut had tweeted that Rahul had called him to enquire about his health and said he was touched by the gesture.On the controversy over Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Sena leader said there was a demand from across the state that Koshyari be removed from his post.“When the BJP asks us how we tolerate such things about Savarkar and we ask how does your governor speak like this against Chhatrapati Shivaji, they do not have any answer,” he said.Most governors appointed during the BJP rule have been pracharaks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, but when they occupy the post of governor, they should act neutral instead of turning Raj Bhavan into a party office, Raut said.
Nearly two-and-a-half decades ago, at its Pachmarhi Chintan Shivir, which was known more for the stand the party took on alliances, the Congress had emphatically reaffirmed its commitment to secularism and declared that it will “unflinchingly” meet the challenge posed by “communal forces” — among them the Shiv Sena.In 2019, over two decades later, the party diluted its position when it allied with the Sena to keep the BJP out of power in Maharashtra. It was an a la E M S Namboodiripad moment for the Congress. The legendary Communist leader had in the 1980s declared that he would even ally with the devil to defeat the Congress, then the main pole in Indian politics.The Congress’s decision to shed its opposition to the Sena had stunned many in the party.Some of them had remembered the 1998 Pachmarhi resolve which had said the party will “unflinchingly meet the challenge of the communal forces as represented by the BJP and its associates in the Sangh Parivar, such as the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, and those outside, such as the Shiv Sena, with no compromise or dilution of the well-established principles and practice of secularism, defined and evolved by the party as crucial to our nationhood”.Sonia Gandhi, who had just taken over as the Congress president, had said in Pachmarhi: “The question we must ask ourselves is whether we have in any way diluted our commitment to the fight against communal forces. It would perhaps be tempting to say we have not. However, there is a general perception that we have at times compromised with our basic commitment to the secular ideal that forms the bedrock of our society”.Rahul Gandhi’s unabashed criticism of right-wing hero V D Savarkar in Maharashtra is hence interesting and significant. The timing of his comments may have been unfortunate since they came in the middle of campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly elections. Moreover, they came in Maharashtra, where Savarkar is revered more for his cultural contributions, and despite Congress leaders of the state cautioning him against them.The Shiv Sena, of course, was upset.But Rahul has always been trenchant in his criticism of the Sangh. Attacking Savarkar was not new for him either. The merit of Rahul’s remarks on Savarkar can be debated and hotly contested from historic and political points of view, but despite the timing and the setting, Rahul has perhaps shown that he is consistent and his party should not fret. In fact, it was a welcome reassertion of what has been his party’s principled position.But will the Congress show the courage to come out of the embrace of the Sena if it really does believe strongly in adhering to the secular ideology? Can it afford to do that given that the 2024 Lok Sabha battle is a kind of do-or-die moment for it? The Sena still wears its hardline Hindutva ideology on its sleeves. It has never been sheepish about the role of its workers in the demolition of the Babri Masjid or its admiration for Savarkar.So is Rahul’s oft-repeated assertions on secularism half-hearted?After all, the Congress has always tried to position itself as a centrist party and its sway to the Left and Right for electoral and political considerations has dented its credibility over the years. If the party allied with the Sena in Maharashtra in 2019, it entered into a disastrous tactical understanding with the Indian Secular Front (ISF), a party formed in January by Abbas Siddiqui of the Furfura Sharif shrine in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, for the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021.If the Sena was upset, the DMK, another ally of the Congress, too may not have been pleased this month when the Congress severely criticised the Supreme Court for ordering the premature release of all six remaining convicts who were serving life sentences in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, calling the judgment “highly problematic”, “completely erroneous” and “totally unacceptable”. But the Congress did not baulk.But if this is the Congress’s position, be it the Sena or the DMK, it should ensure that there are no inconsistencies in its approach — both political and economic – with dilutions in the past having dented its political credibility. Especially since the party often attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi on dilution of his positions on GST, Aadhar and MNREGS.The Congress’s reversal of its position on the New Pension System is one such dilution of its economic principles. For a party which proudly proclaims itself as the architect of India’s economic reforms, the move seemed nothing but pandering to the hustings. It was more or less a sway to the Left.It was the UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that took the New Pension System to its logical conclusion in 2013 by passing the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill despite stiff opposition from the Left parties and the Trinamool Congress. On the contrary, the party’s opposition to the GST was in the way it was rushed through and implemented. It never went back on its commitment to the GST.
NEW DELHI: India reported a single-day rise of 279 new Covid-19 cases, which pushed its tally of the infection to 4,46,72,347, while the count of active cases has declined to 4,855, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,30,620 with five fatalities being recorded, including two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The three fresh fatalities reported were from Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra. Active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry. A decrease of 127 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,41,36,872, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, it stated. According to the ministry's website, 219.92 crore doses of vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 infection tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020. The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4, 2021, three crore on June 23, 2021, and four crore on January 25 this year.
MUMBAI: More than 32 months after the Covid pandemic began, the state on Monday registered the lowest single-day tally with detection of only 23 cases. Mumbai, too, registered its lowest tally in as many months, with six detections. The last time the single-day tally in Maharashtra was lower than Monday's tally was on March 13, 2020, when 17 cases were detected. In Mumbai, eight cases were detected on November 19. A state official admitted that the tally is low only because less than 4,000 tests were conducted on Sunday — a far cry from up to two lakh conducted in a day during the height of the pandemic two years back. In Mumbai, 1,226 tests were conducted. There were no fresh hospitalisations in the city in the Sunday-Monday period, with a total of 22 patients in hospitals at the moment.
NEW DELHI: India on Sunday reported 343 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 4.46 crore, the Union health ministry data stated. With 4 new deaths, the country's death toll has climbed to 5.3 lakh (5,30,612). Out of the 4 fresh fatalities, three have been reconciled by Kerala, while one was reported from Maharashtra in the last 24 hours. Furthermore, the number of active cases have come down to 5,263, the health ministry data updated at 8 am said. The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections. A decrease of 132 cases was recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Meanwhile, the national Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.8 per cent, according to the ministry's website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 44.1 lakh (4,41,35,687) and the case fatality rate stood at 1.19 per cent. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 last year, three crore on June 23 and four crore on January 25 this year. (With inputs from agencies)
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Saturday reported 98 Covid-19 cases and one death, which took the state's tally to 81,35,620 and the toll to 1,48,406, a health official said. The state had seen 72 cases and one death on Friday, so the addition to the tally was a sizable rise, he pointed out. Mumbai and Pune circles led with 32 new cases each, followed by 19 in Akola, five in Nagpur, three each in Kolhapur and Aurangabad, and two each in Nashik and Latur circles, he said. The recovery count increased by 124 to touch 79,86,70, leaving the state with an active caseload of 504, he said. Pune accounted for 187 active cases, followed by 94 in Mumbai and 65 in Thane, he added. As per health department data, the recovery rate is 98.17 per cent and the fatality rate stands at 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,56,08,988 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the state, including 12,871 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 8135620; fresh cases 98; death toll 148406; recoveries 79,86,710; active cases 504; total tests 8,56,08,988.
PUNE: Maharashtra currently has the lowest active Covid cases since April 2020, the time the World Health Organisation (WHO) had announced the pandemic. WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Around April 4, 2020, the active Covid cases in Maharashtra had risen to 635. State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate told TOI, "This number has now fallen to 531, after as long as two-and-a-half years. This is now officially the lowest active cases figure - almost akin to the caseload seen before the start of the first wave. It effectively means that the latest active caseload is the lowest compared to all the lowest points during the previous three major waves in the state." Awate said there has been no impact of the new sub-variants from the Omicron family on the number of cases in Maharashtra or hospitalisations. "While XBB has taken over BA.2.75, these sub-variants are from this same Omicron lineage. Thus, there has been no effect on virus transmission or severity."
