Parts of Mumbai witness over 100 mm of rainfall on Monday (Express)Amid heavy rainfall in Maharashtra, boulders fell from a hillock in Thane and a house collapsed in neighbouring Palghar, news agency PTI reported. No casualties have been reported so far in the incidents. Earlier, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed officials in six districts including Thane and Palghar to stay alert and monitor the situation.
For live updates on the rains in Mumbai, click here
Both Colaba and Santacruz observatories in Mumbai recorded rainfall in the triple digits, 117 mm and 124 mm, respectively, over the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday. Heavy rainfall is on the cards on Tuesday as well for the entire Konkan region.
Meanwhile, in a speech after winning the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday, Shinde stated, “Balasaheb Thackeray had said once that Shiv Sena will never go along with NCP and Congress to form a government… ‘Congress and NCP are our enemy and will remain the enemy of Shiv Sena. I am here till Shiv Sena is there. When I will not be there, then Sena will turn into Congress’. The moment he (Balasaheb) realises that Sena is becoming Congress, he will dissolve the party. These are the words of Balasaheb Thackeray. So, we have done nothing wrong.”
Police personnel deployed to maintain law and order after the killing of chemist Umesh Kolh on June 21, in Amravati, Monday, July 4, 2022. (PTI)
The following BEST routes have been diverted due to heavy rains in Mumbai.
At National College 4,33,241,84 via Linking Road
At Sheetal Talkies. 22,25,303,302,7,385 via SLR Bridge
At Air India Colony -311,322,330,517 via SCLR Bridge.
At Hindmata Cinema - 1, 6, 15, 11, 8, 4, 51, 66 via Flyover.
At Hindmata Cinema 368,25,40 via Bhoiwada
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be visiting the Disaster Control Room of the BMC at 4 pm today.
A drone was used to shower petals on Maharashtra's Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis during his roadshow in Nagpur.
The Andheri Subway has been closed for pedestrian and vehicular traffic due to 3.5 ft of waterlogging following heavy rains.
The subway in Andheri was severely waterlogged on Tuesday after heavy rainfall in Mumbai.
Amid heavy rain in Mumbai, a portion of a compound wall of a house collapsed on Tuesday morning.
The incident was reported at around 9:40 am. According to preliminary information from the BMC, the house was empty and the collapse happened after a tree had fallen on one of the portions of the house. No casualty has been recorded.
Amid rainfall in Navi Mumbai, the Ulwe road on Tuesday was blocked due to severe waterlogging.
Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Tuesday received a warm welcome in Nagpur.
With severe waterlogging in Mumbai's Sion and Chembur, the following BEST bus routes have been diverted:
At Chembur Shell Colony Rd 357, 360, 355(L) via Ambedkar Udyan, Chembur Naka to Suman Nagar.
At Sion Road no. 24 - All Bus route cia Main Road.
As per the latest radar observation at 10.50 am from Mumbai, intermittent intense spells are likely to continue for the next 3-4 hours over Mumbai, Thane, and parts of Raigad and Palghar.
As Mumbai recorded 95.81 mm of rain in the last 12 hours, Sion Circle faced severe waterlogging.
Parts of Mumbai including Sion, Mulund, Chembur, Andheri East, Patanwadi in Malad East, and Kandivali witnessed flooding after the rains
With the Konkan region set to witness heavy rainfall Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the administration in six districts to remain on alert and prepare to shift residents out of flood-prone areas if needed.
The district administration of Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Kolhapur have been put on alert. NDRF teams have been deputed, said the CMO.
The CM has also asked the state administration to monitor the situation in Mumbai which is witnessing heavy rainfall since Monday evening.
Both Colaba and Santacruz observatories recorded rainfall in the triple digits, 117 mm and 124 mm, respectively, over the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday
As drama swirled around the Maharashtra government’s survival, one of the characters at the heart of it was a politician from Haryana, Sonia Doohan. The 30-year-old national president of the NCP students’ wing was held along with an aide for allegedly using fake identification documents to check into a hotel in Goa, where Sena rebels were staying. Doohan, who played an "important role in the fall of the three-day BJP government in 2019" according to NCP's Dheeraj Sharma, has denied the allegations. Read more
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday held a meeting with all the shiv sena district heads at Shiv Sena Bhavan.
As the Shiv-Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra cleared the floor test with a majority of 164 votes in the 288-member House, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said development and Hindutva are on the new regime’s agenda.
Speaking in the Assembly, Shinde broke down remembering the period after the 2019 state elections, and said he was very disturbed at the way he was treated during the polls.
“They (the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena) must understand why such a big incident (the rebellion) took place. They should find out the root cause of it,” he said, adding that he was ready to be a “martyr” to save the party. Read full story here
Ajit Pawar elected as Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly.
He said that in next election, his faction of Sena and BJP together will get 200 MLAs elected.
"We were Shiv Sainiks, we are Shiv Sainiks and will continue to be Shiv Sainiks," said Eknath Shinde. "We are sainiks of late Balasaheb and Anand Dighe. Development and Hindutva are on our agenda."
Eknath Shinde pointed at the problems of being in the unusual alliance with Congress and said: "While being in Sena, we could not take action against those allied with Dawood Ibrahim, We could not laud Veer Savarkar because we were with Congress while we we were in the (previous) government."
"We have been labeled as traitors. But Bhaskar Rao, (Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav) we are not traitors,"
Shinde said he destroyed sixteen ladies' (dance) bars the were spoiling the life of youth. "I am the one who has vandalized 16 ladies bars. 100 cases are registered against me. I ensure that the ladies bars are shut."
Targetting the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, Shinde said: "At one hand you sent people to meet me and have a dialogue (after revolt), but on the other hand abused me and pelted stones at my house. They used several derogatory language against us and the women. They compared us with animals, abused us and called us living corpse."
After the five-day old Shiv Sena-BJP government sailed past the floor test on Monday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde broke down while giving his speech in the state Assembly. He said he was ready to be a martyr to save Shiv Sena. However, he was very disturbed at the way he was treated during the Assembly polls in 2019 and "they (the Thackeray) must understand why such a big incident (the rebellion) took place". "They should find out the root cause of it," he added.
Speaking in the assembly, CM Eknath Shinde said that he was very disturbed at the way he was treated during the polls. "I thank all the Sena and other independent MLAs for being with me in the past 10-15 days. I am proud of these 50 MLAs. When we started this mission, none of them asked where are we going and how much days will it take. This is a historical moment in Maharashtra politics and, as Fadnavisji told me, thirty three countries have taken note of this political developments," Shinde said in the assembly.
Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra CM and Uddhav Thackeray arrived at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai on Monday.
The Shiv Sena said it was not surprising to see the BJP winning the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's election as the Sena was broken and "someone from the party" was pitted against it.
In satirical comments, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' also said with the new government (led by CM Eknath Shinde) in the state, the issue of nomination of 12 MLCs from the governor's quota will be resolved soon. The old file (sent by the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government) will be replaced with a new one and it will be cleared by the governor within 24 hours, it claimed.
"Though this is a tough time, it too shall pass," the Marathi daily said. (PTI)
Amid protests over the Eknath Shinde-led government's plan to move back the proposed Metro 3 car shed to Mumbai's Aarey forest from Kanjurmarg, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the opposition to the move by some "pseudo-environmentalists" could be "sponsored".
"There are some genuine environmental activists, while some are pseudo ones. Their opposition to the car shed is likely to be sponsored. Hence, they continue to oppose the construction of the car shed for Metro 3 line," he told mediapersons on the premises of the Vidhan Bhavan.
“I respect environmentalists. They have full right to say what they feel. The National Green Tribunal and Supreme Court have permitted the project...”
“The trees that the state wanted to chop down, have already been felled,” he said, adding that there is no need to fell any more trees. Maintaining that nearly 25 per cent of the work is done, Fadnavis said the car shed can be ready in the next one year.
“The car shed is coming up outside the area demarcated as forest and some changes in the design will have to made,” he added.
"More importantly, the SC itself has observed in its order that the amount of carbon sequestration achieved by the Metro trains through their ferries in 80 days will be equivalent to the cumulative carbon sequestration done by the trees in their lifetime," he said, referring to the trees that have been chopped down to make space for the construction of the car shed.
“Some environmentalists may not have full information and some may be indulging in sponsored agitation. I may ready to speak with them. But Metro is Mumbai's right,” he added.
“If we take the car shed to Kanjurmarg, it will take four years to construct it and there will be cost escalation of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore. Already there is cost escalation of Rs 10,000 crore,” said Fadnavis.
Following CM Eknath Shinde winning the trust vote, Devendra Fadnavis promised that the BJP-Shiv Sena government will work hard to serve the people of Maharashtra. He ended his speech with a poem which reiterated the new alliance vow to ensure the state and it's people's betterment.
Watch:
During the floor test conducted in the 287-member Maharashtra Assembly, MLAs Abu Azmi and Rais Shaikh (both of the Samajwadi Party) and Shah Farukh Anwar (AIMIM) abstained from voting. They had also abstained from voting during the Speaker's election on Sunday.
Eleven Congress MLAs - Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Dheeraj Deshmukh, Praniti Shinde, Jitesh Antapurkar, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Raju Awale, Mohan Hambarde, Kunal Patil, Madhavrao Jawalgaonkar and Shirish Chaudhary - were absent during the floor test. Chavan and Wadettiwar came late and were unable to enter the House at the time of the vote.
The NCP legislators absent from the House were - Anil Deshmukh, Nawab Malik, Dattatray Bharane, Anna Bansode, Babandada Shinde and Sangram Jagtap. Deshmukh and Malik are currently in jail following arrest in separate money laundering cases.
The BJP MLAs - Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap - both of whom are seriously ill, also did not come to the House, while BJP's Rahul Narvekar could not vote as he is the Speaker.
AIMIM legislator Mufti Mohammad Ismail also did not attend the session.
As the political rebellion in Maharashtra ended with the BJP allying with the Eknath Shinde camp to form a government, take a look at the outcome of similar situations in other states:
Rajasthan, July 2020
In July 2020, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot along with 18 other MLAs revolted against the Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot over differences in the functioning of the government. Pilot decamped with 18 MLAs, including Cabinet ministers, loyal to him and moved to Delhi and Haryana for over a month.
However, after hectic parleys between the rebels and Congress high command, they agreed to return to the desert state. Gehlot called the confidence vote at the floor of the House, which he easily won with the return of 19 rebels.
Read more here
Fadnavis said that the decisions taken by the former CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Cabinet to rename some places will be upheld by the BJP-Shiv Sena government. 'We will uphold those decisions as we're of the same view. We'll have to re-affirm those decisions as the last Cabinet meet wasn't as per rules as Governor had already asked the govt to face floor test,' he said.
On June 29, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had approved the renaming of Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, Osmanabad to Dharashiv, and the Navi Mumbai airport after farmer leader DB Patil.
Referring to the chants of "ED, ED" by Opposition members during the two-day Assembly session, Fadnavis said, "This government has been formed because of ED, but that is Eknath and Devendra."
"In Maharashtra, political leaders respect each other. Many opponents are hungry for each other's blood in many states. That state is not Maharashtra," he added.
Pointing out that he had pre-empted the failure of the "unnatural" MVA government, Fadnavis said he had told people that he will come back. "I have come back and I have got Eknath Shinde with me. Those who insulted me, this is a revenge against them. I have forgiven them. In politics, not everything can be taken to heart," he said.
"We don't want power, it is only a way to reach out to people. Power is used to bring a difference in the lives of people. PM Modi had ordered me to become the Deputy CM in this government. I will always support Eknath Shinde as CM and his tenure will be successful. In no way will there be any enmty or power struggle," Fadnavis further said.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that a government should be sensitive towards those protesting against an issue or establishment. "In a democracy, we should always hear people and reply to them," he said. He further said that Shinde speaks less and works more and hope he will make a good Chief Minister.
Fadnavis' address comes at a time when hundreds of protestors have renewed the Save Aarey movement, after the newly-formed government reversed the decision to shift the Mumbai Metro carshed from Aarey Colony to Kanjurmarg.
Several MLAs of Shiv Sena, including Aaditya Thackeray, left the House after the trust vote.
Security preparations began at the Hutatma Chowk in Mumbai's Fort area ahead of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's visit.
Here is the list of absentees from the Congress in the floor test:
Addressing the Assembly after winning the trust vote, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that CM Eknath Shinde is a good leader because even during his tenure as health minister, he made sure facilities reached the common man. "He used to visit villages personally and take stock of facilities available. He made sure vacancies are filled. That's why Shinde is such a good leader," he said.
Fadnavis further said that Shinde is "available for people 24*7". "When there are elections, he is seen working for days without a break. It is said that you lose modesty when you get a ministry, but that is not true for Shinde," Fadnavis said.
Devendra Fadnavis said that the House has approved a BJP-Shiv Sena Chief Minister. "Shinde has worked to help common man, despite facing police action and jail time," Fadnavis said.
He went on to say that Shinde has been elected from the same constituency five times since 2004. Fadnavis further said that Shinde and his workers were also jailed at the time a row was brewing between Maharashtra and Karnataka over Belgaum
Lauding his work as the MSRDC minister, Fadnavis said that people thought giving this ministry to Shinde was like "clipping his wings". "But he can turn anything into gold. He started the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway project, a part of which is now complete," he said.
Congratulating CM Eknath Shinde on winning the floor test, Devendra Fadnavis said in an address to the Assembly that Shinde is a loyal Shiv Sainik. "He is loyal to Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology," he said.
The deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis congratulates CM Eknath Shinde for winning the trust vote with a huge mandate."I thank all members who reposed their faith in Shinde govt. I also thank all those who by staying out of House indirectly helped the BJP-Shinde alliance," Fadnavis said, targetting leaders like Congress' Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar and Zeeshan Siddique who did not reach for the floor test.
The trust vote was completed amid chants of 'Jai Maharashtra' with 164 votes in favour of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Meanwhile, 99 votes were cast against the new government.
A floor test is primarily taken to know whether the executive enjoys the confidence of the legislature. It is a constitutional mechanism under which a Chief Minister appointed by the Governor can be asked to prove majority on the floor of the Legislative Assembly of the state. As per the Constitution, the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor of the state.
When a single party secures the majority of the seats in the house, the Governor appoints the leader of the party as the Chief Minister. In case the majority is questioned, the leader of the party which claims majority has to move a vote of confidence and prove majority among those present and voting. Read more
In the trust vote held on Monday, Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar voted in favour of the coalition formed by BJP and the Shiv Sena camp led by CM Eknath Shinde.
With the trust vote in favour of the BJP-Shinde camp government garnering 164 votes, the head count against the newly-forged coalition has commenced.
Aaditya Thackeray has not reached the House yet. Former CM and Congress leader Ashok Chavan and former Congress minister Vijay Waddetiwar reached late and were not allowed to vote.
The BJP-Eknath Shinde camp has crossed the majority mark, getting over 144 votes in the Assembly floor test.
A trust vote proposed by BJP's Sudhir Mungantiwar and Shiv Sena's Bharat Gogawale was conducted in the Maharashtra Assembly. This was followed by a division of votes on demand by the Opposition. The head count is now underway and over 80 votes have come so far in support of CM Eknath Shinde.
Uddhav Thackeray-led camp of Shiv Sena moves Supreme Court challenging the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's action of recognising the whip of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group Bharat Gogawale as the whip of Shiv Sena.
The Supreme Court has posted the matter for hearing on July 11.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Thackeray group, informed the Supreme Court that the newly appointed Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognise whips and the action is changing the status quo of proceedings before the apex court.
Santosh Bangar, a Shiv Sena MLA belonging to the Uddhav Thackeray faction, was seen with Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and his loyalist legislators. Bangar had left with the Shinde faction MLAs from a hotel this morning and arrived with them at the Vidhan Sabha.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut questioned the legitimacy of the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and said the group cannot claim to be the original Sena.
Raut said these MLAs (of the Shinde group) should ask themselves some questions. They used the party symbol and all benefits that come along with it to win election, and then broke the same party. "We will definitely contest it in court. The Shinde faction left the Shiv Sena, then how can they claim that their group is the original party, and not the one led by Uddhav Thackeray. The Thackeray name is synonymous with the Shiv Sena,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
Raut said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had suspended JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav for defying the party's order not to participate in an event. "The event was not even in Parliament, but still he faced the action,” the Shiv Sena's chief spokesperson claimed.
“However, such a rule is not applicable to us when we expect similar action to be taken against 16 MLAs out of 39 (of the Shinde faction). Is it appropriate?” he asked. When a ruling is given as per the convenience of a person or a party, it is not parliamentary democracy, he said. (PTI)
Bharat Gogawale, chief whip of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), has given a petition to the Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking the suspension of 16 MLAs of the party for violation of whip.
The 16 MLAs will be issued notices for suspension, the Speaker's office confirmed.
Gogawale had issued a whip to all 16 Sena legislators in the Thackeray camp to attend a party meeting in Goa on Thursday, an order they defied.
Shiv Sena has called a meeting of all its District Chiefs this afternoon at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai.
The JD(U) and its ally BJP were in search of "their own Eknath Shinde", who could pull the rug from under the feet of his own party to benefit the rival, former Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan has alleged.
Paswan accused the two parties of remaining in an alliance "just for the sake of power", and charged the BJP with capitulating before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on ideological issues. He also claimed that Kumar was trying to cut BJP to size and had "played a role" in the defection of four AIMIM MLAs to the RJD to achieve this end.
"It is well known that AIMIM MLAs had been in touch with the JD(U) since they did not have much of a future in that party which has little presence in Bihar. But, instead of joining the CM's party, they joined the RJD. Kumar was behind this development since now the RJD has snatched the status of the single largest party from the BJP," the young Jamui MP claimed on Sunday. (PTI)
Over 600 Mumbaikars participated in a peaceful protest held on Sunday against the controversial Metro 3 car shed site near the picnic point in Aarey forest. The event to Save Aarey saw participation from individuals, students, environmentalists, NGOs as well as political parties.
Raising slogans like “Aarey hamari Shaan Hai, Mumbai ki jaan hai”, “Save Aarey”, the protesters agitated for nearly an hour amid tight police security. Protesters claimed that the metro car shed issue is being dragged following a political vendetta even though an alternative plan was ready by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aaghadi (MVA). The protest also saw participation from some members of tribal settlements inside the forest. Read more
A floor test is a legislative procedure through which an incumbent government that is suspected to have lost majority is required to prove it still retains the confidence of the House. The Chief Minister moves a motion seeking a vote of confidence, on which MLAs who are present in the House vote. If the majority of members vote in favour, the government survives; if the CM loses the vote, the government has to resign.
Voting can be conducted by either a voice vote, in which MLAs respond to the motion verbally. Voting electronically involves the casting of votes by pressing a button, after which the numbers for each side are displayed on a board. In a physical division of votes, lawmakers cast votes in a ballot box, which are then counted. Read more
The day after Shiv Sena expelled former party Member of Parliament Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil, the party withdrew the expulsion order. The expulsion of Adhalrao was announced by the Sena in party mouthpiece Saamana. However, party secretary and MP Vinayak Raut on Sunday issued a clarification.
“A news item was inadvertently published in Saamana today regarding expulsion of Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil. However, he continues to be party deputy leader. This information is being released from party’s central office,” stated Raut. Read more
Both the Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs, Abu Asim Azmi (Mankhurd) and Rais Shaikh (Bhiwandi), and one of the two AIMIM MLAs, Shah Faruque Anwar (Dhule), in Maharashtra abstained from voting in the Assembly Speaker’s election Sunday in protest against the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts as Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively.
The BJP’s candidate Rahul Narwekar, backed by the new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena breakaway group, won the Speaker’s election comfortably. Read more