INLD vice president quits party

In a jolt to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), its vice president Ashok Arora, along with his supporters, on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the party.

With a political career of over 35 years, Arora had remained president of the Haryana unit of the INLD for more than 20 years.

He said political circumstances have forced him to take the decision.

The assembly polls in Haryana are slated for October this year.

Urmila Matondkar quits Congress

Actor and Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai North Urmila Matondkar resigned from the party on Tuesday. The resignation of the actor who had promised to stay course with the struggling fortune of the party in Maharashtra has come as jolt. Several senior leaders have already quit the party and switched to either Shiv Sena of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run up to the state Assembly polls due in October, party leaders said. 

As protests against felling of trees in Aarey Colony to make way for Metro shed gained, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has demanded the  transfer of MMRCL head Ashwini Bhide.

"Aarey is not about few trees. It is about bio diversity of the area. The extension of metro line till Aarey is to commercially exploit the area in future," the junior Thackeray said.

Shiv Sena opposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Tree Authority's clearance to to cut or transplant 2,646 trees in Aarey colony to make space for a car shed for Metro 3.

Sharad Pawar meets Sonia Gandhi on seat-sharing in Maharashtra polls

NCP leader Sharad Pawar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Tuesday and is learnt to have discussed the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have already decided to contest the polls together under coalition.

Sources said Pawar is learnt to have given a final shape to the broad seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, slated to held in October, but detailed discussions will continue for the next few days before a final tie-up plan is laid out.

Economy falling into deep abyss of recession: Priyanka

Hitting out at the Modi government, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said the economy is falling into a “deep abyss” of recession and asked when the dispensation will "open its eyes".

Her remarks comes amid opposition’s criticism of the government after growth in the last quarter slipped to 5%.

“The economy is falling into a deep abyss of recession. The sword is hanging on the livelihood of lakhs of Indians,” Ms. Vadra said in a tweet in Hindi.

The decline in the auto sector and the truck sector is a sign of negative growth in production-transportation and the declining confidence of the market, she said.

When will the government open its eyes, the Congress general secretary asked.

Maharashtra clears 37 proposals in one day

The State Cabinet on Monday cleared 37 proposals, including the one to issue tenders worth ₹3,122 crore for water grid in Osmanabad and Latur districts. This was possibly the second-last meeting before the announcement of the Assembly polls.

The State sanctioned the formation of a cabinet sub-committee to construct a monument to former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Mumbai. The city will get 16 new commercial courts. Shurshusha citizen cooperative hospital in Vikhroli has been allocated ₹25 crore to provide affordable healthcare.

The State will offer a new quota in MBBS admission in government medical colleges to those who are willing to work for a longer period in rural areas after the course is over.

Suspense over NCP MP’s BJP entry continues

Udayanraje Bhosale  

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP from Satara, Udayanraje Bhosale, seems to have failed to decide on whether to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or remain with Sharad Pawar’s party.

According to sources, a private meeting of Mr. Bhosale and his supporters in Pune on Monday, where he was supposed to announce his decision, was allegedly scrapped with the MP leaving for Mumbai instead.

The BJP, too, has apparently put conditions on Mr. Bhosale’s entry, demanding that he resign his Parliamentary post before formally joining it – something that has vexed the MP and divided his followers.

While one section has urged the MP not to leave the NCP and resign his MP post, others say Mr. Bhosale, a direct descendant of the Maratha warrior king Shivaji, can taste victory on a BJP ticket.