Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday attributed the setback suffered by the NDA in recent Lok Sabha elections in the state to loyal voters going on holiday during voting, under the assumption that the alliance was set to win more than 400 constituencies.

He acknowledged that the National Democratic Alliance was caught off guard by the Opposition, which succeeded in voter consolidation.

Speaking at a joint rally of Mahayuti partners in Mumbai, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis supported Mr Shinde’s claims, stating that the NDA leaders did not pay enough attention to the lies spread by the Opposition during the campaign.

The rally was attended by leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP, NCP headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and other small constituents.

In Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA could win only 17 seats, while the MVA comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged 30 constituencies. The Independent candidate who won the Sangli constituency is a Congress leader.

“We were caught off guard by the opposition during the Lok Sabha election,” Mr Shinde said.

“Some of our voters went on holiday during the polling, assuming that the NDA would easily win more than 400 seats in the general elections. This loss underscores the need for a more strategic approach in the future,” he said.

Mr Shinde claimed the opposition voters diligently exercised their franchise, with almost 80 per cent turnout.

“If 60 per cent of our voters had turned up at the polling booths, we could have easily won 40 seats. We can’t afford to be naive or callous after being hit hard in the Lok Sabha polls,” he added.

In a critical remark against Congress, Mr Shinde highlighted its history of scams, such as Bofors, fodder, and coal, while questioning if there had been any corruption allegations against Prime Minister Modi.

Mr Fadnavis emphasised the significant impact of lies spread by the opposition during the campaign on the voters and the urgent need for an effective response.

“The MVA won two lakh votes more than the NDA candidates, but they won nearly 30 seats. They used to lie every day before the media, and we thought it would not affect our voters. But in reality, it did affect our voters, and we could not counter it effectively,” he added.

Mr Fadnavis also taunted some party leaders who made statements against NDA partners.

“There are some party leaders who get some extreme urge to make some statement. My suggestion to them is to first speak with their leaders, seek their permission, and then open their mouths,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Maharashtra Finance Minister Ajit Pawar and Minister of State Deepak Kesarkar display 2024-25 Budget bags on the 2nd Day of the Monsoon Assembly Session, at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai,
| Photo Credit: ANI

The budget presented by the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra last week ahead of the upcoming Assembly election reflects the outgoing dispensation’s attempts to balance or at least project a semblance of social engineering with populist schemes.

With an allocation of ₹6,12,293 crore for the current fiscal, the budget underscores the tripartite government’s intention to strengthen its support base among various sections.

A key aspect is the grant of 20,000 to each Dindi, a religious procession of Lord Vitthala to Pandharpur on every Ashadhi Ekadashi, demonstrating gratitude to the Warkari community, which holds significant influence in rural Maharashtra, making this a calculated move to secure their support.

Targeting ‘silent’ voters

The introduction of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin, based on neighbouring BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s popular Ladli Behna Yojana, aims to support women by providing a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to eligible women aged 21 to 60. It also announced Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana to provide three free LPG cylinders a year for a family of five. These are seen as a direct appeal to women voters, particularly in the rural and semi-urban areas, who are considered ‘silent’ yet crucial voters.

The budget also promises several populist measures, including a waiver of power bill dues for 44 lakh farmers, 15 per litre subsidy to dairy farmers, Gaon Tithe Godam (godown in every village) to provide storage facilities for agricultural produce, and subsidy to onion farmers.

These measures are tailored to address the grievances of the agrarian community, which has expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s pol-icies. The allocations indicate an attempt to win back support of the farming sector, a critical voting bloc in Maharashtra.

Earlier this year, Finance Minister Ajit Pawar presented an almost similar vote-on-account budget with several ‘bumper schemes’ ahead of the Lok Sabha poll. Despite those efforts, the ruling alliance won only 17 out of the 48 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), won 30 seats. Ahead of the Assembly poll, the Mahayuti has gone all out to appeal to key segments of the population farmers, women, youth, devotees, and marginalised groups – through budgetary allocations aimed at building a broad social coalition.

Opposition leaders, however, criticised the budget as ‘political hypnotism’ and a ‘torrent of assurances’ designed only to sway voters before the poll.

In addition to these schemes, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a day after the budget, announced Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana, a new pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens of all religions.

Ambiguity over funds

Though budget promises abound, concrete implementation strategies and fiscal prudence are lacking, as there is insufficient clarity on funding for the schemes. This ambiguity raises concerns about the feasibility and sustainability of the promises.

Whether this strategic social engineering will overshadow the issue of the split in Shiv Sena and NCP as well as the ongoing rift between Maratha and OBC communities, and translate into electoral dividends for the ruling alliance remains to be seen.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday took a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for his statement that the monsoon session beginning June 27 will be the farewell session of the MahaYuti government.

“Shouldn’t he (Uddhav Thackeray) be in the House to give a farewell? Or will he say goodbye from a Facebook Live? The people will decide whether to bid a farewell,” Shinde said, asserting that those sitting in the government are connected to the people and have done a slew of works for their betterment.

The obvious reference was Uddhav Thackeray’s regular use of Facebook Live during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s tenure, instead of coming to the Mantralaya.

Shinde, who chaired the state Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, also criticised the opposition for its move to boycott the customary tea meeting convened by him on the eve of the monsoon session.

“This is the last session of the present state Assembly. So we thought that the opposition would come and discuss a range of issues during the tea meeting. However, they gave a letter mentioning the same issues, which the government will reply to in the House. The opposition is confused,” claimed Shinde.

“The opposition may have got momentary happiness after the Lok Sabha elections, but despite all the attacks, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister for the third time,” the Chief Minister said, as he reiterated that the opposition spread a fake narrative that changes will be made in the Constitution and reservation policies.

‘’Despite spreading such fake narratives, Congress got only 99 seats and the party will need another 25 years to win 240 seats,” he said.

“The Shiv Sena and the Uddhav Thackeray camp were pitted against each other in 13 seats, of which we won seven seats. Of the total 19 per cent votes, bow & arrow (Sena symbol) got 14.50 per cent. So what did the Thackeray cam get,” Shinde asked.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

 Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday issued instructions to the police to initiate strict action against illegal pubs in the state and bulldoze all structures violating building rules.

“I have given directions to initiate strict action against illegal pubs and bulldoze all structures that are against the building rules,” Eknath Shinde told reporters here.

“I also directed the police to initiate renewed action against drug peddlers to make Pune a drug-free city,” he added.

The Chief Minister’s remarks came amid the outrage in Pune city over a viral video of a bar in which minors can be seen allegedly consuming drugs in the bar’s washroom during a late-night party.

On Monday, the Pune Police raided and sealed the bar in the city for allegedly serving drugs to minors. Four police officials have been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the incident.

The police have suspended one Assistant Police Inspector, one Police Inspector, and two constables attached to Shivaji Nagar Police Station. The police have also arrested 8 people in the case.

The operation was carried out at the pub located in the posh area after a video surfaced on social media showing minor boys consuming drugs in the bar’s washroom during a late-night party.

Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar ordered an immediate probe into the matter, leading to a late-night raids.

Police teams conducted a thorough search of the premises and sealed the bar early the next day. The owner of the pub and five others were arrested in connection with the case and produced before a Pune Magistrate court and later sent to police custody till June 29 by the court.

The incident has sparked outrage among residents in Pune, with many demanding stricter enforcement of laws and regulations to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

The police have assured that they will continue to crack down on illegal pubs and bars engaging in illegal activities and uphold the safety and well-being of minors in the city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday spoke to Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar and directed him to initiate strict action against illegal pubs and bulldoze all structures flouting building rules.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Shinde also directed the police to initiate renewed action against peddlers to make Pune a drug-free city.

Pubs in the state’s second-largest city came into focus over the past 48 hours after a video, allegedly from Liquid Leisure Lounge or L3 on Fergusson College Road, showed some youths with a drugs- like substance.

“Strict action should be taken against illegal pubs to make Pune city drug-free. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given instructions to Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar that bulldozers should be moved on illegal constructions related to drugs,” said the CMO statement.

The Chief Minister directed officials to initiate action against drug sellers and demolish illegal pubs and structures which flout building rules.

A police probe into the viral video has led to the arrest of eight persons, including an event organiser, while the excise department has arrested six waiters of L3 for allegedly flouting liquor stock norms.

An inspector, an assistant inspector and two beat marshals from the Shivajinagar police station, who were on night duty, have been suspended in connection with the case. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

The Sena versus Sena battle heated up on the occasion of the Shiv Sena foundation day as Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde held parallel programmes in two parts of Mumbai. And from Sion’s Shanmukhanand Hall, Uddhav Thackeray, powered by the people’s support, issued an open challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Modi-ji I invite you to start campaign for assembly election in Maharashtra… it will be you versus me,” he said, pointing to the election due by year-end.

“My message to the BJP — try winning an election without using my original symbol. I am proud that we did not use anyone else’s picture. We will never use either, especially of PM Modi. I challenge PM Modi to start preparations today – keeping this fake Shiv Sena away,” he added.

Mr Thackeray also rubbished speculation about the two Sena factions joining hands and remaining in the NDA fold. He would never go with those who tried to “finish off” his party, Mr Thackeray said.

Though the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde was awarded the name and election symbol of the undivided Shiv Sena by the Election Commission, the voters had decisively settled the legacy issue. And they did not agree with the poll body.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena won nine seats and the Shinde faction seven.

The other party in the same boat,  the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, won eight seats. The faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar — which also got the name and party symbol from the Election Commission — only one.

Ally Congress won 13 seats.

The people’s disapproval of the political upheaval in the state extended to the BJP, which, Mr Shinde once let slip, had engineered the Sena split. The party’s score was cut down to nine seats, from 23 in 2019 .

But Chief Minister Eknath Shinde remained determined to push the point he based his rebellion on — that Mr Thackeray had strayed from the ideology set down by Sena founder and his father Balasaheb Thackeray.

“Where has your Hindutva gone? You have no right to seek votes in Balasaheb Thackeray’s name,” he said at a massive rally in Worli’s NSCI dome.  “Even a small kid will tell you that the Shiv Sena UBT won because of the Congress’ vote bank. Those who left Bal Thackeray’s thoughts for position, lost in the election. Bal Thackeray always talked against the Congress,” he added.

But Mr Thackeray had already covered the point.

“We got votes of all patriots, people of all religions. They said we left Hindutva, because we went with the Congress. I did not leave Hindutva. If everyone voted for us to save the country and the constitution, then people are with us. It shows the BJP is the one that left Hindutva,” Mr Thackeray said.

Mumbai:

Amid the row over news reports claiming that the phone of a Shiv Sena candidate’s aide was connected to an EVM during counting of votes in Mumbai’s North West Lok Sabha seat, leaders of NDA and INDIA bloc in Maharashtra are trading barbs.

Ravindra Waitkar, a leader of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won the Mumbai North West seat by a margin of just 48 votes. The runner-up was Amol Kirtikar from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The Thackery-led faction bagged nine Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while Mr Shinde’s Sena got seven.

Soon after the news reports emerged, leaders of Uddhav Thackeray’s party demanded that the CCTV footage of counting day be released.

The Election Commission has trashed the news reports and issued notices to the publishers.

Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of Mumbai North West, said an EVM was a standalone system and there was no need for an OTP to unlock it. “It is not programmable and has no wireless communication capabilities. It is a lie being spread by a newspaper,” she told the media.

The poll official, however, admitted that the personal mobile phone of one Dinesh Gurav, data entry operator of Jogeshwari assembly constituency, was found with an unauthorised person — Mr Waitkar’s brother-in-law Mangesh Pandilkar — and action is being taken. “Data entry and vote counting are two different aspects. An OTP enables the ARO to open the encore login system for data entry. The counting process is independent and has nothing to do with unauthorised use of mobile phone, which is an unfortunate incident and is being probed,” she added.

The official said that neither Mr Waikar nor Mr Kirtikar had sought a recount of votes. She added that CCTV footage cannot be given without court orders.

Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, said the Election Commission lacks the courage to release the CCTV footage of the counting centre. “We have always had suspicions about this regime tampering with EVMs. Even Elon Musk has expressed his views, claiming everything can be hacked. Despite several requests, the Election Commission does not have the courage to release the CCTV footage of the counting day that would support our claims,” Mr Thackeray said.

Team Thackeray also got support from its ally Congress. Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the poll result of Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat must be stayed. The Election Commission, he said, must call a meeting of all parties and discuss this issue thoroughly. “There must be a probe into the unauthorised used of the mobile phone. The FIR report has not been made public,” he added.

The political row over the news reports on the Mumbai North West seat was fuelled by a social media remark by X boss and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Responding to a post on Puerto Rico elections, Musk wrote, “We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high.”

The remark drew a sharp response from BJP leader and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Saying that while Musk’s view may apply to other places where voting machines are connected to the Internet, the BJP leader said EVMs in India are secure and isolated from any network and “there is no way in”.

Opposition parties, however, latched on to Elon Musk’s remark to question the EVM method. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said EVMs in India “are a ‘black box’ and nobody is allowed to scrutinize them”. “Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability,” he said, while sharing Musk’s post and a news report on Ravindra Waitkar’s election.

Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief and a Congress ally, shared Musk’s post with a note: “Technology is to remove problems, if they become a cause of problems, their use must be stopped.”

Mr Gandhi’s remarks on EVMs drew a response from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who said the Congress leader must resign and contest the polls again if he does not trust EVMs.

“Rahul Gandhi has won from two places. The same EVM was kept there also, so he should say that the EVM machine was faulty everywhere and he should resign and contest the election again,” he said. “According to him, where they get good seats, the EVMs are fine, and where they get fewer seats, the EVMs are faulty. Will this happen?,” Mr Shinde added.

The Shiv Sena leader, whose mutiny against Uddhav Thackeray split the party and toppled the Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra, questioned the Opposition’s stance on EVMs.

“Wherever the Maha Vikas Aghadi has won, there the EVM machine has functioned correctly. But wherever they lose, they are (opposition) raising objections on the machine. What kind of behaviour is this?,” he said.

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a legal notice to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut over a “defamatory” article which claimed that Mr Shinde tried to ensure the defeat of ally NCP’s candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Sanjay Raut shared on X the legal notice dated May 28, adding that it was a “very interesting” and “funny political document”. Sources close to the chief minister confirmed that such a notice has been issued.

The notice said that in his column in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on May 26, Mr Raut made a false statement that Chief Minister Shinde spent “unlimited amount of money” and distributed crores of rupees in each constituency. The article further claimed that Mr Shinde did all this to ensure the defeat of the candidates of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, it said.

These statements were not only false but “defamatory and scandalous”, and made to mislead the people and create unrest, the notice said.

“The defamatory news article has been published by you to get name, fame and political mileage for yourself and your so-called leader Shri Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray,” it said, asking Mr Raut to produce evidence to back his allegations.

If he could not do so, the Rajya Sabha member should apologise within three days or face criminal and civil proceedings, the notice said.

The BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP are partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today said the second phase of the coastal road between Worli and Marine Drive will be opened by June 10.

Eknath Shinde also inspected a leakage at the southbound tunnel at Marine Drive end, which is a part of the first phase of the coastal road inaugurated in March.

Talking to reporters after the inspection, the chief minister said there were leakages in two to three expansion joints of the coastal road, and they will be plugged using polymer grouting.

Mr Shinde said he has also suggested polymer grouting on all 25 joints on each side of the tunnel to avoid water seepage even during monsoon.

The repair work will not impact the vehicular movement on the coastal road, and motorists won’t be inconvenienced, he said.

The chief minister said the second phase of the coastal road from Marine Drive to Worli will be thrown open to traffic by June 10.

The work on the ambitious coastal road project started on October 13, 2018, and its projected cost is Rs 12,721 crore.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Beed (Maharashtra):

Coming down heavily on the Congress party over its leader Vijay Wadettiwar’s remarks on the 26/11 attacks, CM Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said that anyone who speaks the language of Pakistan while living in this country should be put in jail.

Mr Wadettiwar, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly stoked controversy over his statement on the 26/11 attack. He claimed that former ATS chief Hemant Karkare was “not killed by terrorists during the 26/11 attack but by a police official close to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.”

Referring to this, Mr Shinde said, “The whole country is with us at this time but the INDIA alliance is with Pakistan. They have started speaking the language of Pakistan. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar was fine when he was with Shiv Sena, but deteriorated after joining Congress. Anyone who speaks the language of Pakistan while living in this country should be put in jail. The public will teach them a lesson.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hit out at the Congress over Wadettiwar’s remarks and asked: “What is the relation between the party and the terrorists”.

Citing Acharya Pramod Krishnam’s remarks, he also said that Congress will overturn the Ram Mandir verdict if it comes to power.

Addressing a public meeting in Maharashtra’s Beed, PM Modi said, “The leaders of Maharashtra Congress are giving clean chit to terrorists of 26/11. The 10 terrorists including Kasab, who had come from Pakistan, it seems Congress is having some relationship with them. The country wants to know the relationship between Congress and those terrorists. ‘Yeh rishta kya kehlata hai’.”

Further, during his address, Prime Minister Modi took a jibe at the Opposition over its performance in the Lok Sabha polls, he said, “The INDI-Aghadi got ‘past’ (exhausted) in the first phase, ‘dhwast’ (collapsed) in the second phase. In the third phase, if somewhere any ‘diya’ was left flickering, it too has extinguished.”

“Not just this, the INDI alliance even wants to cancel the Ram Mandir. A leader who was associated with Congress for 20-25 years and left the party recently, made a startling revelation. After the Supreme Court judgement on Ram Mandir, Shehzada (jibe on Rahul Gandhi) had told party leaders that they would overturn the court order. Similarly, for appeasement, his father (Rajiv Gandhi) had also overturned the SC order on Triple Talaq,” he added.

Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament. The polling is being held in five phases: April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20.

In the 2019 elections, the BJP emerged as the largest party with 23 seats, followed by its ally Shiv Sena (undivided) with 18 seats. The Nationalist Congress Party (undivided) and Congress could only win four and one seats each.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)