Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh on Saturday said he has resigned as a member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly, noting the concerns raised by him about the issues related to the party organisation have not been resolved by the state leadership. Shaikh, who represents the Bhiwandi (East) constituency in Thane district, said he had sent his resignation to state Samajwadi Party president Abu Asim Azmi. Shaikh didn't respond to questions on whether he had sent his resignation letter to the state assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and his future course of action. "I have consistently raised crucial party organisational and expansion-related concerns with the state leadership of our party over the past year. Despite my persistent efforts, these matters are yet to be resolved," as per a statement issued by Shaikh. Shaikh, however, said he would always remain with the Samajwadi Party. "I am committed to discussing these concerns exclusively within the party's forums. My allegiance to the Samajwadi Party runs deep, as it has offered me the opportunity to serve as an MLA. I am, and will, always remain a loyal worker of the party. My commitment to advancing the party's organisational strength and expansion remains steadfast, even if I am not an MLA," he stated. In light of the concerns raised by me, I have tendered my resignation as an MLA to the president of the Maharashtra unit of the Samajwadi Party, Shaikh said. "I hope that the leadership will take a decision in the best interest of the party," he added. Bhiwandi East assembly segment is part of the Bhiwandi Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP has renominated sitting MP and Union minister Kapil Patil from this seat against NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Suresh Mhatre. Samajwadi Party has two MLAs in Maharashtra assembly including Shaikh and Abu Asim Azmi. The state assembly polls are due later this year.
20 April,2024 08:24 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Navi Mumbai Police arrested ten Ugandan women for illegal stay in India, an official said on Saturday, reported news agency PTI. Police raided a building on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday and found that the Ugandans were staying illegally without any valid documents in Ranjanpada area in Kharghar, he said, reported PTI. A case has been registered under the provisions of the Foreigners Act 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950. Further investigation is underway, the official added. Meanwhile, three Bangladeshis were arrested in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai for alleged illegal stay in India, a police official said on Friday, reported the PTI. They were held from a tempo proceeding from Mhape to Shilphata on Wednesday, the Turbhe police station official added. The three have been charged under Foreigners Act, Passport (Entry into India) Rules and Indian Penal Code provisions, the official said. He identified the three as Jaail Sabuddin Sardar (34), Alauddin Razzaak Sheikh (45) and Allauddin Sukhtan Mandal (53), according to the PTI. Meanwhile, the anti-human trafficking cell of the police picked up the two Bangladeshi nationals, including a woman, from Pragati Nagar locality of Nalasopara in Vasai on Monday evening based on a tip-off, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madan Ballal told PTI. The accused were identified as Aakash Arif Khan (26) and Laboni Poridin Mandal (22). They did not have any documents for travel or stay in India, he said, reported PTI. During their interrogation, the duo revealed that they were doing menial jobs in the locality for livelihood, reported PTI. An FIR under the the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, was registered at the Tulinj police station against them on Tuesday, the official said. (With inputs from PTI)
20 April,2024 08:19 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondentTwo teenage girls were injured in a tragic accident near Mumbai's Mahalaxmi temple. The incident took place on Saturday morning when a reckless vehicle collided with them as they were crossing the road near the temple. Both girls have been admitted to Nair Hospital, and their current condition remains unknown. CCTV footage of the incident has surfaced online, showing the girls manoeuvring through heavy traffic when a speeding car hits them, causing them to be thrown into the air before landing on the road. The car, identified as a yellow sedan, quickly flees the scene. Information regarding the vehicle involved in the accident remains limited at this time. The injured girls, identified as Aishani Jadhav (14) and Janhavi Kanojia (14), are currently undergoing medical treatment. Sushiben Shah, Chairperson of the Maharashtra Commission for Protection of Child Rights and spokesperson for the Shiv Sena, has taken notice of the incident and intends to visit Nair Hospital on Saturday evening to inquire about the severity of the girls' injuries.
20 April,2024 08:08 PM IST | Mumbai | Apoorva AgasheAfter Mid Day's report, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya visited the spot on the Eastern Expressway and subsequently wrote a letter to the BMC, urging for an investigation into the matter. The incident came to light when Mid-Day reported that approximately 50 trees had been killed by advertisers and builders. "Following his visit to the spot, Kirit Somaiya wrote a letter to the Additional Commissioner of the BMC, emphasising the necessity for a thorough investigation into the matter. He further demanded that the police should also conduct an inquiry into the incident. As per records, this year three separate incidents of poisoning and chopping trees have been reported in which over 55 trees have been discreetly killed, and no one has been arrested to date. The first FIR was registered in January with the Pant Nagar police, where nine trees along the EEH were chopped down by a builder as they were coming in the way of his under-construction project. Though the cops have registered a case, no action has been taken against the builder. In the second incident reported six months ago the Vikhroli police registered a case against an anonymous person for chopping another six trees, and the cops have not bothered to arrest anyone in this case to date.
20 April,2024 07:42 PM IST | Mumbai | Apoorva AgasheThe LT Marg police station has registered an FIR against the BEST Bus driver who allegedly collided with an unidentified victim, resulting in his death. According to the police, on January 17, the driver allegedly collided with the man. Subsequently, the police took him to GT Hospital, where he was declared dead after receiving initial treatment. "Upon receiving a call reporting a man lying unconscious near Vardhanman Chowk, we dispatched a team to the scene. The man was transported to the hospital, where he received initial treatment and was subsequently pronounced dead," said an officer. "After inquiries in the nearby area, passersby informed us that a bus had collided with the man. One witness reported seeing the unidentified man crossing the road near the turning near Metro Junction when the incident occurred. We identified the bus and proceeded to register an FIR against the driver," said the officer. The driver was identified as Ashish Salunke (24) by the police. However, the victim remains unidentified. "We are yet to identify the victim. We are circulating photos of the victim, hoping that he will be identified soon," said LT Marg Police Senior PI Dhaneshwar Wagh. The accused, Ashish Salunke, has been booked by the police under sections 279 (Rash Driving) and 304 (Death by Negligence) of the IPC.
20 April,2024 06:57 PM IST | Mumbai | Apoorva AgasheSix rooms of a two-storey chawl collapsed in Maharashtra's Thane city on Saturday morning, and no one was hurt in the incident, an official said, reported news agency PTI. The rooms of a chawl in the Dongripada area of Ghodbunder Road collapsed around 10 am, said Yasin Tadvi, chief of the disaster management cell, reported PTI. Four rooms on the first floor of the structure, which had developed cracks, collapsed on two rooms on the ground floor, he said, reported PTI. While two of the rooms were unoccupied, the occupants of the other room had rushed out before the structure crumbled down, the official said, reported PTI. The chawl had 10 rooms, with five rooms on the ground and five on the first floor, he said, adding that the remaining four rooms were in a dangerous condition after the collapse. In another incident, three persons were injured on Friday when a part of a building being demolished in south Mumbai's Fort area collapsed, officials said. A portion of the parapet of the terrace of the two-storey 'Agra' building near the Bombay High Court on MG Road collapsed at 12:50pm while the structure was being demolished, a civic official said. "Personnel from the Fire Brigade, police, 108 ambulance service and local BMC ward responded to the incident. Three persons were injured. One of them was admitted in Bombay Hospital, while the other two refused to avail medical treatment," he said. (With inputs from PTI)
20 April,2024 06:17 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondentA case has been registered against three members of a family for allegedly assaulting and injuring their neighbours during a quarrel over a water tap in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday, reported news agency PTI. Based on a complaint, a case under section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using weapons) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered against the alleged accused, Reena Mishra, Ankit Mishra and Akhil Kumar, an official said, reported PTI. The incident occurred in Dombivili town of the district on April 14, when the victims had decorated the entrance to their house with a rangoli, which got ruined by water flowing from a tap used by both families, reported PTI. Following an altercation, the accused allegedly assaulted one of the victims with footwear and verbally abused them, the official said, reported PTI. Two days later, the women of both families had another altercation regarding water, and it escalated to a physical confrontation, he said, reported PTI. The victims were attacked with cricket stumps and severely injured, he said. In another case, a woman and her son were booked on Friday for allegedly tying two children to a tree and hitting them in Bhiwandi in Thane district, a police official said, reported PTI. The mother-son duo has been booked under Indian Penal Code and Juvenile Justice Act, said Shanti Nagar police station senior inspector Vinayak Gaikwad, reported PTI. "On Thursday, the accused tied two children, aged 10 and 12, to a tree near a temple in Temghar area after accusing them of damaging their car. The children sustained severe wounds and have been hospitalised," he said, reported PTI. The accused have not been arrested as yet, Gaikwad added. (With inputs from PTI)
20 April,2024 01:36 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondentAs many as 361 candidates have filed their nominations in 11 constituencies, including the high-stakes Baramati and Satara seats, that are going to polls in Maharashtra in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 7, officials said, reported news agency PTI. As per the information provided by the poll authorities, 28 candidates filed their nominations in Raigad seat, 51 in Baramati, 36 each in Osmanabad and Latur, 41 in Solapur, 42 in Madha, 30 in Sangli, 24 in Satara, nine in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, 28 in Kolhapur and 36 in Hatkanangale, reported PTI. Friday was the last day of filing the nominations. The contest in Baramati is being keenly watched as sitting MP Supriya Sule (NCP - Sharadchandra Pawar) will take on her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar (NCP). Kolhapur and Satara have the respective royal scions Shahu Chhatrapati and Udayanraje Bhosale in the fray as Congress and BJP candidates respectively. Union minister Narayan Rane will be contesting the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat as a BJP candidate, while in Sangli, sitting MP Sanjaykaka Patil of BJP is pitted against wrestler Chandrahar Patil contesting on Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket. Vishal Patil of the Congress has also filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Sangli. His party is persuading him to withdraw from the race. Meanwhile, an approximate voter turnout of 61.06 per cent was recorded in Lok Sabha polls held on Friday in Nagpur, Ramtek, Bhandara-Gondiya, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli-Chimur in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, though final figures will be updated by Saturday. The lowest voting was recorded in Nagpur at 54.46 per cent, while it was 69.43 per cent in Gadchiroli-Chimur, 64.08 in Bhandara-Gondiya, 60.35 per cent in Chandrapur and 59.58 per cent in Ramtek, an official told PTI. Nagpur, where Union minister and BJP heavyweight Nitin Gadkari is pitted against Congress' Vikas Thakre, had recorded 54.74 per cent voting in 2019. Among those who voted during the day were Gadkari, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit as well as Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik and Avinash Pande. In Chandrapur, the fight is between state BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and the Congress' Pratibha Dhanorkar. She is the wife of late Suresh Dhanorkar, who was the only Congress winner in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He died last year. In Bhandara-Gondiya, sitting BJP MP Sunil Mendhe is contesting against Congress' Dr Prashant Patole. The contest in Gadchiroli-Chimur is between sitting BJP MP Ashok Nete and Congress' Namdev Kirsan, while in Ramtek, Shiv Sena candidate Raju Parwe is up against Congress' Shyam Barve. (With inputs from PTI)
20 April,2024 01:12 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying that in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024, "Congress' sahabzade" will lose from Wayanad constituency in Kerala and he will have to look for a safer seat after that. Addressing a rally at Nanded in Maharashtra to campaign for BJP candidates from Nanded and Hingoli seats, PM Modi said the information available for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls indicates that there has been a one-sided voting in favour of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Referring to Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi said, "After losing Amethi, the Congress' sahabzade will lose Wayanad as well. So he will have to look for a safe seat after April 26." In an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi, he said some INDIA bloc leaders left the Lok Sabha and moved to the Rajya Sabha as they have no courage to contest elections, reported PTI. "For the first time, the family will not vote for a Congress candidate in the constituency where they live as there is no party candidate there," he said, reported PTI. PM Modi said he has spent 10 years fixing the bad governance of the Congress regimes. "A lot of work needs to be done," he added. The Congress has been a barrier in the development of farmers and poor people, he alleged. "The agriculture crisis did not happen now. It happened because of the flawed policies of Congress," PM Modi said, reported PTI. Targeting the INDIA bloc, he said it has no face to project and people do not know whom to entrust the country's future. "They may claim anything, but the reality is that Congress leaders have accepted defeat even before the announcement of polls," he said. He termed the opposition alliance a grouping of selfish people who have come together to protect their corrupt practices. He appealed to voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their voting right in the Lok Sabha elections. "You are not doing any favour by voting. you are securing the country's future. I want to boost the morale of the party workers from the opposition. You (opposition leaders) are sure to lose the polls, but you will get a chance some day. But you must appeal to voters to vote," he said. PM Modi said the INDIA bloc constituents were contesting the elections against each other in 25 per cent seats, reported PTI. "After (the election results on) June 4, they will be fighting more with each other," he said. He said that without the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, what fate would have befallen Sikhs who came from Afghanistan. The NDA under PM Modi is seeking a stronger majority for a third consecutive term, while the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a rebound after facing reverses in the 2014 and 2019 elections. (With inputs from PTI)
20 April,2024 12:58 PM IST | Nanded | mid-day online correspondentCentral Railway General Manager Ram Karan Yadav, along with his team, on Friday took to hike the Khandala Ghat hills to conduct a comprehensive pre-monsoon inspection of the Karjat-Lonavala section on the Pune-Mumbai route. This segment, comprising 52 tunnels, towering hills up to 250 meters, and sharp curves with steep gradients, is vital to the Mumbai division's operations. These mountain stretches have the steepest gradient in the country of 1:37 which means there is a 1-metre rise for every 37 metres. “This is a historical inspection as it was probably the first time an official of the level of General Manager hiked the Hill for an inspection which started at 5 am and reached the hilltop around 7 am almost covering 3.5 km of hilly route, after reaching the hilltop all critical locations from Monkey Hill Cabin to Thakurwadi were inspected. Shri Rajnish Goyal, Divisional Railway Manager and other senior officers accompanied the General Manager during this Hill Inspection,” a CR spokesperson said. Yadav also inspected the Monkey Hill tunnel ghat this morning, a crucial link connecting Mumbai and Pune hiking almost 3.5 km above the Hill. “He inspected both Track and Hill regions and conducted hilltop and slope inspections to understand the crucial information on the causes of rockfalls/landslides and to plan remedial measures for the stability of the Hill, during the inspection, the General Manager also inspected the maintenance of catch water drains, crucial for diverting water away from hill slopes to prevent any incidents rockfall/ landslide & subsidence of rocks etc,” he said. “The Inspection of General Manager to the Hilly Ghat region emphasises Central Railway's commitment to Passenger Safety and efforts to enhance connectivity. The efforts will bear fruits by providing seamless transportation across South East Ghat,” he explained. “The construction of new catch water drains is underway, further bolstering safety measures. The ongoing process of cleaning existing catch water drains is expected to be completed before the start of the monsoon season,” he added.
20 April,2024 12:30 PM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
The voting for Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections 2024 kickstarted on April 19. A voter turnout of 54.85 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the state where people in five Lok Sabha constituencies exercised their franchise in the first phase of the polls. As Mumbai gears up for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, all eyes are on Mumbai South, one of the city's 'high profile' seats with Mumbai's top areas in its constituency. Mumbai South is known for its diverse demographics and significant political influence, the seat is set to play a crucial role in shaping the political landscape of the region. The Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat is a prominent parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra. The seat consists of six assembly segments with posh areas including Worli, Malabar Hill, Mumbadevi, Colaba, Sewri and Byculla. The seat is said to be a representation of urban variety and political vibrancy. The constituency stretches over the busy streets of South Mumbai and is a home to a diverse range of communities, cultures, and socioeconomic origins. Also Read: Lok Sabha elections 2024: Exploring the Mumbai North constituency Mumbai South captures the spirit and essence of India's financial hub, from the thriving markets of Colaba, high-rise commercial and residential buildings in Worli to the affluent areas of Malabar Hill and Pedder Road. The political climate of Mumbai South has changed over the years. For 10 terms, the seat was held by the Congress, with notable figures like Sadashiv Kanoji Patil and the Deora family making an impression. However, things have changed in the last few years. The Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, a senior leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), has ruled the constituency since 2014 when the party was undivided. The intricate socio-political structure of Mumbai South is reflected in its election history. The constituency has served as a battlefield for major political parties in Maharashtra. From the BJP's victory in 1999 to the Congress's comeback in 2004 and ensuing swings. The seat had witnessed Arvind Sawant's huge victory in 2019 with 52.60 per cent of the vote share to the candidate. Over the years, Mumbai South has established itself as a 'high-profile' seat due to its track record of electing outstanding leaders. It has been represented over the years by prominent members of several political parties, all of whom have had an impact on the growth and governance in the city and the country. Mumbai South has a long history with powerful lawmakers. Numerous well-known figures have represented the seat, from Sadashiv Kanoji Patil's groundbreaking work to Murli Deora's powerful decisions. Murli Deora's son Milind Deora who recently quit the Congress and joined the Shiv Sena-led by CM Shinde carried on the family tradition by winning two terms in a row from 2004 until 2014. However, experts suggest that the political landscape has changed after Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde's rebellion that had also led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state. The political battle at the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat is now said to be tough for candidates and interesting to watch for, they say. The Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Maharashtra are being held in five phases. Mumbai and its adjoining areas will vote on May 20. The second phase of polls will be on April 26 followed by three more phases on May 7, May 13 and May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4. The fifth and final phase of voting will take place on May 20, encompassing 13 constituencies, including Washim, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Welfare, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central, and Mumbai South.
20 April,2024 11:56 AM IST | Mumbai | Asif RizviADVERTISEMENT
