Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (File)Mumbai Live News: The Shiv Sena’s Shiv Sampark Abhiyan was held at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray addressed the gathering and hit back at various Opposition parties, including the BJP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) that have been trying to attack the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray and Urban Development Minister Ekanath Shinde were also present.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Saturday advocated for “one country, one language”, adding Hindi is spoken across India and has acceptability. He also said Union minister Amit Shah should accept the challenge that there should be one language in all the states.
An FIR was registered in Thane on Saturday against Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale for a derogatory post against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on her Facebook profile. Chitale has been detained for questioning by crime branch officials. In her post on Friday, Chitale made derogatory remarks on Pawar’s illness, appearance and his voice. The actor also alleged that the senior politician was corrupt. She has been booked under IPC sections 500 (defamation), 501 (printing or engraving defamatory matter) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR has been registered by the Kalwa police based on a complaint by Swapnil Netke, an NCP leader in Thane.
Kalina Road dug up for extension of Santa Cruz Link Road (SCLR) to connect it with the Western Express Highway. (Express Photo: Amit Chakravarty)
Alleging that the BJP was not liking the progress and development in Maharashtra, the Chief Minister said: “That’s why they are trying to portray as if there is a law-and-order issue in the state. They are trying defame Maharashtra. We are keeping patience doesn't mean we are weak.”
“Now the central government is behind Dawood. Tomorrow, if Dawood promises to join the BJP, then he might become a minister,” Thackeray said.
Referring to inflation and the internal conflicts and attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, Thackeray asked: "Why don't you speak on these issues? This is not our Hindutva. You are just trying to distract the public and the country."
Taking an indirect jibe at Kirit Somaiya and Rana couple, who received security from the central government, Thackeray said: "Instead of giving security to Kashmiri Pandits, the centre is giving Z+ and Y+ securities to those who create nuisance."
Referring to Fadnavis' claim that he visited Ayodhya for Babri Masjid Demolition, the CM said: “He said he went to Babri? You went to Babri? What was your age then? Was it a picnic spot for you to go?”
“They (BJP) are holding a rally tomorrow to ‘give answer’. Let them. I will hold another rally. But I want to say one thing, if you want to give an answer, then give answers on the inflation issue.”
Questioning the BJP as to where its Hindutva was, Uddhav countered the saffron party’s claims that the “current Shiv Sena was not that of Bal Thackeray” by asking if the current BJP followed Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ideologies.
Stating that the BJP was trying to distract the country, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray started his speech at the Shiv Sampark Abhiyan by tearing into the centre-ruling party.
“On his May 1 rally, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis made a mistake and confessed that he would 'free' Mumbai. We will break those who try to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. There is a conspiracy to break Mumbai away. We will not allow it," Thackeray said.
He also took a dig at the RSS saying it never participated in the freedom fight against the British rulers.
Reiterating that the Shiv Sena was committed to taking forward the ideas associated with Bal Thackeray's Hindutva, he said that this was based on nationalism and not communalism.
The ruling Shiv Sena’s 'Shiv Sampark Abhiyan' rally has begun at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has arrived at the rally site and is expected to address the gathering soon. The party chief is likely to hit back at various Opposition parties, including the BJP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) that have been trying to attack the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray and Urban Development Minister Ekanath Shinde are also present.
Mumbai on Saturday reported 131 COVID-19 cases and one death, taking the tally to 10,61,463 and the toll to 19,565, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.
The recovery count increased by 171 during the day to touch 10,41,041, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 857, he said. So far, 1,70,03,650 samples have been examined in Mumbai, including 8,934 in the last 24 hours, the official added.
As per BMC data, Mumbai's recovery rate is 98 per cent and the caseload doubling rate stands at 5,556 days. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 248 new coronavirus infections and one pandemic-related death, the state health department said. The lone death was reported in Mumbai.
The caseload in the state rose to 78,80,585 and death toll reached 1,47,854. On Friday, Maharashtra had reported 263 cases and one fatality.
As many as 263 patients recovered during the day. So far 77,31,292 patients have recovered from the infection in Maharashtra. The state has 1,439 active cases now. (PTI)
Five women, all itinerant sugarcane cutters, drowned in an irrigation pond in Ahmedpur tehsil of Maharashtra's Latur district on Saturday morning, police said.
The incident took place at Tulshiram Tanda village around 8.30 am when the victims were washing clothes in the pond, an official from the Kingao police station said. One of the women slipped into the water and began to drown. Others tried to rescue her but they too drowned, he said.
The deceased were identified as Radhabai Dhondiba Aade (45), her daughters Diksha (20) and Kajal (19), all residents of Ramapurtanda in Palam tehsil of Parbhani district, and Sushma Sanjay Rathod (21) and Aruna Gangadhar Rathod (25) from Mojmabad Tanda in the same tehsil. (PTI)
A court in Maharashtra's Raigad district has sentenced local Shiv Sena MLA Mahendra Dalvi to two years' imprisonment in a 2013 case of assault. District Judge Veebha Ingale convicted Dalvi, the Alibag MLA, and his followers Anil H Patil, Ankush Patil and Avinash Mhatre on Friday.
They were accused of beating up Babu alias Salim Lalasaheb Digi at Thal in the district in 2013, and booked under IPC section 324 (assault) and other relevant provisions.
Police had also pressed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against them. But the charges under the Act were not proven. Each of the accused shall also pay a fine of Rs 27,500, the court said. (PTI)
MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday condemned an objectionable Facebook post allegedly shared by Marathi actress Ketaki Chitale targeting NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar and said “such writing” does not have a place in the culture of Maharashtra. The Facebook post targeting Pawar, shared on Friday, was purportedly written by someone by the name of advocate Nitin Bhave.
Such writing is “not a tendency, but wickedness” and it needs to be controlled promptly, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president said in a statement issued on Twitter and Facebook.
Thackeray, however, said it needs to be examined whether the post is written by the persons being named or someone is allegedly trying to trigger a fresh controversy. (PTI)
A 65-year-old woman was mauled to death by a tiger in the buffer zone of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Saturday, a forest official said.
The incident took place near Sitarampeth village in Moharli buffer range, where the victim Jaibai Mahadev Gengthe had ventured out to collect tendu leaves in the morning, said Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, chief conservator of forest of TATR.
Forest officials reached the spot for inspection and the body was taken to Bhadrawati civil hospital. An initial compensation of Rs 50,000 was given to the family of the deceased and remaining amount will be paid at the earliest, he said. (PTI)
A 23-year-old pharmacy student was arrested in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Saturday for allegedly making an objectionable comment against NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Twitter, a police official said.
Nikhil Bhamre, a resident of Satana in Nashik, was arrested by Dindori police, he said.
In his tweet, he had said that time has come to create "Baramati's Nathuram Godse for the Gandhi of Baramati". He had, however, not mentioned the name of any leader or political party in the tweet. Baramati, a town in Pune district of the state, is the home turf of Sharad Pawar, while Godse was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. (PTI)
A case was registered in Maharashtra's Thane city against Marathi actress Ketaki Chitale on Saturday for allegedly sharing a "derogatory" post on Facebook against NCP chief Sharad Pawar, with the party leaders demanding a strict action against her.
The post targeting Pawar shared by the TV and film actress on Friday was purportedly written by someone else.
The post in Marathi makes no direct mention of the NCP's chief's full name. But it mentions the surname Pawar and the age of 80. The NCP patriarch is 81-year-old. Comments like "hell is waiting" and "you hate Brahmins" are part of the post that allegedly criticises the veteran leader, whose party shares power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and the Congress. (PTI)
Independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana on Saturday took their battle against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra all the way to the national capital of New Delhi where the couple performed a maha aarti at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place.
Making a pitch for "one country, one language", Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Hindi is spoken across India and has acceptability, and added that Union minister Amit Shah should accept the challenge that there should be one language in all the states.
His statement comes over a month after Shah said that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages, a statement that was vociferously opposed by several prominent political leaders in southern states, who said foisting Hindi on people was not acceptable, and also called it a part of an agenda to weaken the regional languages. Read more
NCP leaders on Saturday strongly objected to a "derogatory" post shared by Marathi actress Ketaki Chitale on Facebook allegedly targeting party chief Sharad Pawar, and demanded strict action against her. The post shared by the TV and film actress a day earlier was purportedly written by someone else.
Reacting to it, Maharashtra Housing Development Minister Jitendra Awhad said the youths attached to the NCP will register offences in "at least 100-200" police stations in Maharashtra in connection with the post..
Some of the NCP leaders also sought to link the BJP and the RSS for such remarks being made against Pawar on social media.
The post written in Marathi makes no direct mention of the NCP's chief's full name. But it mentions the surname Pawar and the age of 80. The NCP patriarch is 81-year-old. ---PTI
A 21-year-old pharmacy student from Nashik district was arrested on Friday for allegedly tweeting a provocative statement against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. On Friday, NCP leader and state Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad noticed the tweet and flagged it on his Twitter account, tagging official police Twitter handles in Maharashtra, asking them to take action against Bhamre. Read more