Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Friend or foe?
As is well known, there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics and everyone wants to capture power as long as possible.
Six months ago, elections to the Trimbakeshwar Municipal Council were held.
The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party fought the elections, independently, despite their state-level alliance. Out of the 17 seats, the BJP secured six seats while the Sena won only three. Six seats were won by a local civic front led by former president of the council, Yadavrao Tungar and two seats were secured by independents.
However, even after the polls, the Sena-BJP could not come to an understanding on the presidentship. Tungar reached an understanding with the Sena while the BJP sat in the opposition.
The understanding reached between Tungar and the Sena was that a Sena councillor, Dili Shelar, would become the president on the support of six members of the Tungar group and three of the Sena.
After six months, Shelar would step down to hand over the chair to amember of the Tungar group.
Six months have passed and Shelar has refused to vacate his chair. The Tungar group is annoyed over this and planning to topple Shelar. The BJP otherwise an ally of the Sena is waiting in the wings eagerly to see the downfall of the Sena president.
It would not be surprising if the BJP forms an alliance with the Tungar group in the near future. The politics of power seems to be the same from Delhi to gulli, varying only in size.
Trimbakeshwar, incidentally, is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage for Hindus, housing one of the 12 joytirlings of Lord Shiva. However, it could not unite Sena and BJP, the so called Hindu parties.
Holy cow!
A cow is considered a holy animal. But for a married woman from Handewadi, Meena Sitaram Chavan, the cow has become a symbol of torture.
Meena has lodged a complaint with the police in Wavi Sinnar, that she is being tortured by her husband and in-laws for bringing Rs 25,000 from her parents to buy a Jersey Cow.The police have arrested her husband and three others under section 498 a of the IPC.
Protector/predator?
The state government has appointed Police-Patils8217; or Kotwals in villages, to serve as eyes and ears of the police, who cannot have stations in all villages.
These Police-Patils are paid regular honorarium.
However, sometimes the kotwals stop being protectors and become predators. Police Patil of Hundyamukh village in Kalwan taluka, Bhalchandra Thakre, accompanied a villager, Gangaram Sonawane to the Kalwan cottage hospital to hospitalise the latter8217;s ailing daughter.
Later, when Thakre returned to the village, Gangaram8217;s wife approached him to ask about her daughter8217;s health. Thakre allegedly tried to molested her. She raised an alarm. Villagers came to her rescue and after beating up Thakre, handed him over to the police. For Abhona police station, it was the first time their representative turned into a criminal.
Back to the voters
The guardian minister of Nashik,Babanrao Gholap, who like all his cabinet colleagues, has whizzed past people in his official car with its siren on, for the past three years, has remembered his voters.
With less than two years to go for the next assembly polls, he is busy consolidating his following in his constituency, Devlali, and among his community.
He recently took out a morcha of the cobbler community in Mumbai to protest against the neglect of their demands by the Manohar Joshi government of which he is a part.
Now he has taken up cudgels on behalf of the farmers of his constituency. In a meeting, he assured them he would fight for them in opposing the alignment of the Mumbai-Nashik expressway through their fields. He even accused the government of changing the earlier route passing through the city at he behest of some builders.
Well, he seems to be making ballot moves.
