Union Minister Piyush Goyal (File)Mumbai News Highlights (27 April 2024): A woman journalist was allegedly threatened in Mumbai earlier over a newspaper article she published on April 14 about Union Minister and BJP’s Mumbai North Lok Sabha candidate Piyush Goyal reportedly having trouble due to the smell of fish while on a campaign trail. Four unidentified persons were booked on Saturday following the complaint of journalist Sukhda Sadanand Purav of a Maratha daily, PTI reported
Meanwhile, the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded Friday with Maharashtra registering a turnout of 59.6% as opposed to 63% in 2019. Also, an eye-catching poster commenting on people who did not vote saying, “Do you know 10,15,937 voters of Nagpur did not vote. Shame on you” has come up in Nagpur, where polling was held on April 19.
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Weather forecast: Heat wave conditions are likely to prevail in suburbs. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 39 degree Celsius and 27 degree Celsius.
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After voting was conducted in five of its constituencies on April 19, Maharashtra will also vote in parts in the next four phases of the Lok Sabha polls between April 26 and May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
This is the first election in Maharashtra following the split in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. Let’s take a look at the key takeaways of the manifestos of top political parties:
NCP (SP)
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s manifesto favours a caste census and promises a separate commission for farmers’ welfare, right to apprenticeship, and 50 per cent reservation for women in jobs.
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LS polls: 56.42 pc turnout recorded in eight seats of Maharashtra
A voter turnout of 56.42 per cent was recorded in eight constituencies of Maharashtra in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said.
Voting was held between 7 am and 6 pm in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha and Yavatmal-Washim seats in Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) and Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in the central Marathwada region.
Election officials said Wardha recorded 62.65 per cent turnout, Amravati 57.46, Yavatmal-Washim 56.77, Parbhani 53.79, Akola 54.12, Nanded 59.57, Buldhana 55.88 and Hingoli 52.03.
Final figures are likely to be updated by tomorrow, they added.
No untoward incident was reported during polling in these constituencies and the process went off largely in a peaceful manner, they said. (PTI)
Lok Sabha elections 2024: PM Modi campaign rally in Kolhapur, Maharashtra tomorrow
Defeat those against Maratha reservation, inclusion of ‘sage-soyare’: Jarange Patil
Activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Friday appealed to Marathas to defeat those who are “against Maratha reservation and ‘sage-soyare’” as the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was underway in his village of Antarwali-Saraati which falls under the Parbhani constituency.
Arriving in an ambulance to cast his vote, Jarange Patil spoke to the media, “We have not taken any decision to support or oppose any party or alliance. My appeal to Marathas is to defeat those who are against Maratha reservation and ‘sage-soyare’. At times it brings greater satisfaction to defeat candidates.” Read more
Lok Sabha polls: For the first time, Uddhav to vote for political foe-turned-friend Congress
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray will, perhaps for the first time, vote for the Congress, his political foe-turned-friend, a reflection of the churning Maharashtra polity has undergone since 2019, a year which saw realignment of parties.
The Congress, part of the opposition bloc, on Thursday fielded its city unit president Varsha Gaikwad from the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat, which covers the area where Thackeray is registered as a voter.
The former CM's residence, Matoshree, is in Vandre (Bandra) East assembly constituency, which falls under the Mumbai North Central seat.
"I am going to vote for Varsha Gaikwad as she is contesting from here (Mumbai North Central)," Thackeray told reporters on Friday.
Under the seat-sharing formula worked out between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress will contest on two Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including North Central, and the Shiv Sena (UBT on four. (PTI)
With Modi govt in power, nobody can change Constitution: Navneet Rana
Navneet Rana, BJP's candidate from the Amravati Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra, on Friday said that contrary to the Congress's allegations, nobody can change the Constitution under Narendra Modi-led government, which will also keep protecting women's interests.
Polling for eight seats in Maharashtra, including Amravati, was held on Friday.
Congress has been targeting the Modi government, saying that it would change the Constitution if voted to power again.
Speaking to reporters here, Rana said, "I only want to tell the women in the country that PM Narendra Modi is with them as their brother and a family member, and nobody can change the Constitution, nor can anyone harm women." On being asked about PM Modi's allegation against Congress that it wants to snatch people's properties and assets, she said, "People can only expect this from 52-year-old Rahul Gandhi, who talks about snatching the constitutional rights of the people and the hard-earned houses and properties of women." Rana expressed confidence that she would win the seat with a comfortable margin. (PTI)
Firing outside Salman Khan's home: Lookout circular issued against Anmol Bishnoi
A lookout circular (LOC) was issued on Friday against Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, in connection with the firing outside actor Salman Khan's house in Mumbai's Bandra on April 14, a police official said.
The official also said police is likely to take custody of Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in a jail in Sabarmati in Gujarat, and was also contemplating invoking the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case.
Anmol Bishnoi had claimed responsibility for the firing and a probe too showed his involvement, following which the LOC was issued by Mumbai police, the official added.
"Anmol and Lawrence Bishnoi have been named as wanted accused in the case. Anmol Bishnoi stays in Canada and travels to the USA. However, the IP address of the Facebook post, through which he claimed responsibility of the firing, was traced to Portugal," the official said.
The alleged shooters Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21), both residents of Bihar, have been arrested along with Sonu Kumar Subhash Chander Bishnoi (37) and Anuj Thapan (32), who had provided them two country-made pistols and cartridges on March 15, as per police. (PTI)
PM to address rally in Pune on Apr 29, two lakh persons to attend: BJP's Chandrakant Patil
The ruling alliance comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Friday held a meeting to review preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha poll rally in Pune on April 29.
A massive crowd of two lakh will attend the rally to hear the PM's speech, senior Maharashtra BJP leader Chandrakant Patil said.
Patil, who is state higher and technical education minister, attended the meeting along with Deputy CM Pawar, Rahul Kul and Vijay Shivtare.
"PM Narendra Modi will hold a rally in Pune on April 29 at Race Course. We are expecting 2 lakh people for the rally. Party functionaries from Pune, Maval, Baramati, Shirur will be present on April 29. We held a meeting today to review preparations." (PTI)
Maharashtra registers 53.51% voting in the second phase till 5 PM
Maharashtra registers 53.51% voting in the second phase till 5 PM. The final number is likely to increase.
Here's the breakdown for some key districts:
Wardha- 56.66%
Akola-52.49%
Amravati - 54.50%
Buldhana-52.24%
Hingoli-52.03%
Nanded -52.47%
Parbhani-53.79%
Yavatmal-Washim -54.04%
Congress leader and former MLA Naseem Khan resigns from the post of star campaigner
Congress leader and former MLA Naseem Khan resigns from the post of star campaigner after Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad is given the party ticket from Mumbai North Central constituency. Khan says that he is upset over MVA not fielding a single candidate from minority community.
The Congress on Thursday named Varsha Gaikwad as the party candidate for the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha seat. At present, the Mumbai North-Central seat is represented by Bharatiya Janata Party's Poonam Mahajan. Gaikwad, a former Maharashtra minister, has been a four-time MLA from the Dharavi assembly constituency in Mumbai that she currently represents. She had expressed interest in contesting the Mumbai South-Central seat, which was earlier held by her late father Eknath Gaikwad.
In other news, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate booked for holding 'padayatra' sans permission in Sangli
The police have registered an offence against Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha candidate Chandrahar Patil for holding a 'padayatra' (foot march) allegedly without permission in Maharashtra's Sangli district, an official said on Friday.
A case under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act has been registered against Patil and three organisers, the official said.
Patil and his party workers held a 'padayatra' and paid door-to-door visits in Khatao and Bedag villages in Miraj on April 25, without obtaining permission from the assistant returning officer (ARO), thus violating the model code of conduct, he said. (PTI)
Lok Sabha elections: Read about Maharashtra’s 8 seats, shifting caste equations, Oppn focus on local issues unsettle ruling NDA
The discourse across the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra currently voting in the second phase is witnessing a shift, with a shuffle in traditional caste equations, the rise of the vocal rural voter and the dominance of local factors.
Perhaps the most significant of these new factors is the silent wave among Marathwada’s Maratha community, in the wake of the directions of Maratha reservation agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil, appealing to Maratha voters not to think of helping a particular candidate win, but instead to defeat those who are opposing OBC status to Marathas. Out of the eight constituencies, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Buldhana and Yavatmal-Washim are in Western Vidarbha, while Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani fall in the Marathwada region of the state. Read more about these eight seats
Lok Sabha elections: 'The wedding ceremony is important but so is voting,' says groom after voting at his designated polling station in Amravati, Maharashtra
Read more about battleground Amravati: Loyalties shift; caste matters and resentment make BJP’s battle hard
“I am here to apologise to the people of Amravati. For two consecutive terms, I came here and asked you all to vote for that candidate (Navneet Rana). After seeing her performance, I always wanted to tell the people of Amravati that we made a mistake. It will never happen again,” Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar told a crowd in Amravati city to attend the joint meeting for the campaign of Congress candidate Balwant Wankhede. A headquarter of western Vidarbha, Amravati is witnessing a triangular fight where political infighting, caste equations and shifted loyalties are dominating the poll scenario. All eyes are set on the around 3.50 lakh strong Maratha-Kunbi population in the reserved seat for Scheduled Caste, as to whom it will choose to side with.
Read more about Amravati here
Reflects his upbringing: CM's son slams Aaditya for remarks against his father
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde has hit out at rival Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray for disparaging remarks about his father and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying it reflects the ex-minister's upbringing.
Aaditya is a bitter critic of CM Shinde, whose revolt in 2022 had led to the toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state and split the original Shiv Sena, then headed by his father Uddhav Thackeray.
Referring to CM Shinde, Aaditya recently called him a “shameless and despicable” person.
“He (Aaditya) has been brought up with these values – one who only curses, and badmouths (opponents). We have been taught to talk good. People will teach those who have been taught to talk ill,” Shrikant Shinde told reporters in Kalyan on Thursday. (PTI)
Lok Sabha elections: A groom turns up to cast his vote at a polling station in Buldhana district
Maharashtra registers 43.01% voting in the second phase till 3 PM
By 3 PM, Maharashtra has registered 43.01% voting in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. Voting for the second phase of the general elections in eight Lok Sabha constituencies across Maharashtra is currently underway and a total of 1.49 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes across 16,589 polling centres.
Here's the breakdown for some key districts:
Wardha- 45.95%
Akola-42.69%
Amravati - 43.76%
Buldhana-41.66%
Hingoli-40.50%
Nanded -42.42%
Parbhani-44.49%
Yavatmal-Washim -42.55%
As the second phase of Lok Sabha elections is underway, a look at the manifestos of major parties in Maharashtra
Voting for the second phase of the general elections in eight Lok Sabha constituencies across Maharashtra has commenced today. This is the first election in Maharashtra following the split in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. Let’s take a look at the key takeaways of the manifestos of top political parties:
NCP (SP)
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s manifesto favours a caste census and promises a separate commission for farmers’ welfare, right to apprenticeship, and 50 per cent reservation for women in jobs.
Read more about key takeaways from manifestos of major parties in Maharastra
Village in Maharashtra decides to boycott LS polls over issue of encroachments
Residents of a village in the Parbhani Lok Sabha constituency decided to boycott the elections on Friday to protest against the issue of encroachments, prompting the collector to visit the place and appeal to them.
Polling in Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in Marathwada began on Friday morning.
Parbhani Collector and returning officer Raghunath Gawde arrived at Balsa Khurd village, located around 7 km from Parbhani city, and interacted with villagers, urging them to vote. "We will hold a meeting on the encroachment issue once the election code of conduct is lifted, and the problem will be addressed in a month," Gawde said.
The village, which has 1,200 voters, boycotted the elections over the longstanding issue of encroachments. Villagers will exercise their franchise if the administration gives a written assurance about resolving the issue, a resident of the village said. (PTI)
Voting today: 3 of 5 seats in Maharashtra that saw closest contests in 2019 amid strong VBA show
Of the eight seats in Maharashtra that are polling today in the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, three – Amravati, Nanded and Parbhani – were among the five constituencies with the least margin of votes between the winning candidate and the trailing one in the 2019 election.
Notably, in all these seats it was the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) factor that proved crucial, with the party getting more votes than the difference between the winning and losing candidate.
Amravati
As per the data of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Amravati followed Aurangabad (polling in phase III on May 7) and Raigad (phase IV-May 13), when it came to the least difference between the top two candidates.......Mohamed Thaver reported
Maharashtra registers 31.77% voting in the second phase till 1 PM
By 1 PM, Maharashtra has seen a voter turnout of 31.77% in the second phase of elections. Here's the breakdown for some key districts:
- Wardha: 32.32%
- Akola: 32.25%
- Amravati: 31.40%
- Buldhana: 29.07%
- Hingoli: 30.46%
- Nanded: 32.93%
- Parbhani: 33.88%
- Yavatmal-Washim: 31.47%
Three shops gutted in fire in Thane district; none hurt
Three shops were gutted in a fire in Maharashtra's Thane district on Friday morning, and no one was hurt in the incident, a civic official said.
The blaze erupted in one of the shops in the Shil-Phata locality in Mumbra around 8 am and spread to two other establishments, the official said.
Local firefighters and disaster management personnel were pressed into service, and the fire was doused in an hour, said Yasin Tadvi, chief of the civic disaster management cell.
While no one was injured in the incident, three shops were gutted, he said, adding that the cause for the blaze is yet to be ascertained. (PTI)
'My appeal to the people is to go and vote in large numbers': BJP leader Ashok Chavan
Following his vote, BJP leader Ashok Chavan urges the public to turn out in force at the polls. Emphasizing the significance of each vote in shaping a robust government, he encourages active participation in the democratic process. Chavan reassures that any previous misunderstandings have been addressed, fostering certainty among the populace. Notably, he highlights the recent provision of 10% reservation for the Maratha community.
Maharashtra registers 7.45% voting in the second phase till 9AM
Voting for the second phase in eight Lok Sabha seats across Maharashtra commenced with a moderate turnout of 7.45% recorded by 9 AM.
Among the constituencies, Parbhani displayed the highest participation rate at 9.72%, followed closely by Nanded at 7.73% and Wardha at 7.18%.
Akola and Hingoli witnessed similar levels of engagement with 7.17% and 7.23% respectively.
Meanwhile, Amravati and Yavatmal-Washim saw a turnout of 6.34% and 7.23% respectively, while Buldhana recorded a participation rate of 6.61%.
Two killed, six injured as drunk driver rams tempo into pedestrians, bikers in Palghar district
Two persons were killed and six injured, some of them seriously, after a drunk man driving a tempo knocked down pedestrians and two-wheeler riders in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Friday.
The incident took place in the Wada area on Wednesday night, he said. The police have arrested the tempo driver but are yet to share his details.
The tempo first hit pedestrians Ashok Kalingada (36) and Ajinkya Berde (35), killing them on the spot. The drunk driver then rammed the vehicle into a few two-wheelers, injuring six persons, a police official said.
The injured individuals have been admitted to a local hospital where some of them are said to be in critical condition, he said.
The station house officer of Wada police station said the tempo driver has been booked under the Indian Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and the Motor Vehicles Act. (PTI)