Missing in action
The BJP’s Vinod Tawde, who did not get a ticket to contest the 2019 Assembly election, has been silent through the Antilia-Waze-Deshmukh controversies. A close aide said the former education minister is focused on the job assigned to him by party president J P Nadda. He has parked himself in West Bengal for election work. Moreover, as a national secretary of the BJP in the central team, he has decided to stay above the fray on Maharashtra issues. Or, as is being pointed out, on issues raised by leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis.
Pawar play
NCP parliamentarian Supriya Sule’s recent meeting with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, to thank her for her guidance, as she tweeted, was intriguing, as it came at a time when her father Sharad Pawar was busy defending Home Minister Anil Deshmukh from former police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations of corruption against him. The call on Gandhi conveyed the message that the coalition partners in the MVA coalition are standing together in this crisis.
Queue jumping
Private doctors are getting bombarded with personal requests from CEOs, corporate heads, and politicians for out-of turn-vaccine jabs as Covid-19 cases shoot up in Mumbai. Some have even asked if they can be given the vaccine from leftovers in vials at the end of the day. Each vaccine dose is accounted for, making it impossible for doctors to extend favours even if they want to. A top doctor from Bombay Hospital said they are politely declining such requests, asking VIPs to patiently wait until April 1, from when the vaccine will be made available for all persons over 45 years of age.
Intra murals
At least six investigative agencies and regulators are probing various aspects of the fraud committed by fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi. But it seems all is not well between them. One officer was recently heard lamenting that CBI is sitting on a “treasure trove” of documents — which have not been examined so far — but is unwilling to share them.
More rivalry
The Maharashtra police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad has been desperate to prove the point that they “solved” the Hiran Mansukh murder case before the National Investigation Agency took it over. ATS officials are saying that even now, all the information with NIA is what was given to it by them.
(Contributed by Vishwas Waghmode, Shubhangi Khapre, Tabassum Barnagarwala, Khushboo Narayan and Sagar Rajput)