Mumbai this week: ‘Feel-good factor’ among Sharad Pawar, Uddhav’s cadre after 3rd INDIA meet; Maratha quota stir rocks Jalna

🔴 On the second day, INDIA formed a 14-member coordination panel and said that they would soon be coming out with the seat-sharing formula among its members for next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

🔴 On the flip side, sources confirmed to The Indian Express that the volatile political rivalry in West Bengal and Kerala has led to the inclusion of the phrase ‘as far as possible’ in its resolution on fighting the elections together.

🔴 The unveiling of the INDIA alliance’s logo was deferred, with sources claiming some of the leaders questioned the need to have a logo for the alliance.

🔴 As Uddhav hosted a dinner for the bloc’s leaders, some Sena (UBT) workers were uncomfortable with hosting political parties with whom they had deep ideological differences, while others saw it as a projection of Uddhav Thackeray as a national leader and something that he needed after the party’s vertical split. Read Vallabh Ozarkar’s report here

🔴 CM Eknath Shinde was quick to hit out at Uddhav Thackeray’s assertion that INDIA bloc has many prime ministerial faces, saying that it was Raavan who had many faces. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, said the meeting lacked any agenda and “even 100 political parties would not be able to dislodge PM Narendra Modi’s good governance and goodwill”.

Following are the other important updates from Mumbai and Maharashtra in the past week (August 28 – September 3):

Jalna on the boil amid Maratha reservation stir

➡️ An agitation for Maratha reservation in Maharashtra’s Jalna turned violent after protesters clashed with police and allegedly pelted stones at them, leading to lathicharge and the use of teargas by the police on Friday. Around 20 protestors and 37 policemen were injured. The next day, the violence raged on and vehicles were allegedly torched by protesters.

➡️ Major cities such as Solapur, Nanded, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, and Nagpur also saw protests. At least seven FIRs have so far been registered by the police against the protesters on charges such as assaulting policemen, rioting, damaging public and private property.

➡️ Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered an inquiry into the incident, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government requested the protesters to withdraw their protest. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced a high-level committee to probe allegations against the police. The issue took a political turn with opposition leaders across parties slamming the state government.

Read about Manoj Jarange Patil, the man who sparked the Maratha protests

On the political front

NCP: Once Sharad Pawar’s closest aide and now a minister, Chhagan Bhujbal accused the former of holding talks with BJP using senior party leaders and later backtracking. He also accused Pawar of forcing him to resign as state’s deputy chief minister over allegations in the multi-thousand crore Telgi scam, inviting ire from the supporters of the veteran politician. Pawar, meanwhile, advised his supporters to not waste time on criticising the leaders from the Ajit Pawar group.

Shiv Sena (UBT): Party MLA Sunil Raut claimed that he had received an offer of Rs 100 crore to switch to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile, known for his firebrand statements, Sanjay Raut last week praised the ruling BJP, when he said only Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s work can be seen in the country.

BJP: The party is looking to make a dent in the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s bastions by organising a ‘dahi handi’ celebration on Krishna Janmashtami in Worli, which is Aaditya Thackeray’s constituency.

Other important news this week:

1. 28 transactions but not a single SMS alert; Mumbai senior citizen loses Rs 6.45 lakh to KYC cyber fraud
2. Ganesh festival | BMC’s advice: avoid crowding on 13 old bridges
3. Mumbai records driest August since 2015
4. 2016 suicide case | Rahul made Pratyusha Banerjee’s life a living hell: court
5. 3 passengers on transit die in Santacruz hotel fire
6. Curriculum revamp: Indian Constitution, yoga, meditation to be mandatory for engg diploma courses
7. BMC to develop 14 Miyawaki forests before Diwali
8. BMC, Railways to begin demolition of Bellasis bridge by end of the year
9. 11 Mantralaya protesters face suicide bid charges
10. Cops in disguise enter criminal’s den in Thane, nab history-sheeter amid stone pelting; watch video here

Photo of the week

A rare and spectacular super blue moon celestial event graced the skies on the night of August 30. On such occasions, the moon reaches the perigee and is closest to the earth. It appears larger than other average full moons. The next blue moon would appear after 14 years. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

News to watch out for next week:

1. The Maratha reservation row is a setback to BJP as Opposition targets Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. It remains to be seen how the BJP counters the criticism.
2. The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee will be conduct the Jansamvad Yatra in Maharashtra from September 3 to September 12. During the Yatra, the Congress said the party will highlight the failure of PM Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre.
3. IMD Mumbai to announce Long Range Forecast by middle of next week. This will determine whether there is a possibility of good rainfall in the days to come.
4. BMC to refloat Rs 600 crore tender this week for creating an elevated flyover that will connect Orange Gate on the Eastern Freeway with Grant Road.
5. Hearing for the bail plea in the Chrisann Pereira case to take place next week. Anthony Paul, who allegedly framed her in a drugs case, is still behind bars.
6. The Bombay High Court to hear plea by former NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede against CBI’s cruise drug bust bribery case. Wankhede has been given interim protection from arrest till September 7 subject to certain conditions. While Wankhede’s counsel will argue his plea on September 5, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for CBI will argue on September 7.

News from Mumbai: August 21-27

News from Mumbai: August 14-20

News from Mumbai: August 7-13