Opposition members staged a protest in the Maharashtra legislature complex and reiterated their demand for Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar’s resignation while accusing him of indulging in corruption. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ajit Pawar and other legislators including Chhagan Bhujbal, Rohit Pawar and Bhaskar Jadhav raised slogans outside the House demanding the resignation of Sattar. They have been raising the demand for the minister’s ouster since Monday.
After being granted bail in the money laundering case, former Maharashtra Home minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said allegations against him were baseless and unsupported by evidence.
“Param Bir Singh (then Mumbai Police commissioner), in an affidavit submitted in court, stated that the accusations made against me were based on hearsay, and that he had no evidence against me,” Deshmukh told reporters on Wednesday.
The former state minister walked free after all formalities for his release were completed and sureties furnished. Deshmukh’s advocate Aniket Nikam said the CBI had moved another application on Tuesday, seeking an extension or stay on the order granting him bail. However, the prayer was rejected by the high court, he added.
Among the bail conditions imposed by the HC is that Deshmukh cannot leave Mumbai without the prior approval of the trial court and must cooperate with the investigation.
Deshmukh was granted a conditional bail by the Bombay High Court on December 12, on a bond of Rs 1 lakh. The CBI had filed an application for a stay order to challenge the order in the Supreme Court.
The HC granted a stay on its order for 10 days, which was later extended till December 27. However, on Tuesday, the plea for a further extension of the bail order was rejected by the high court.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said Mumbai belongs to the state and “not to anyone’s father” while strongly condemning remarks made by some Karnataka leaders amid the raging boundary dispute between the two states.
Speaking in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Fadnavis said the state’s feelings will be conveyed to the Karnataka government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Raising the issue in the House, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar (of Nationalist Congress Party) claimed Karnataka CM and ministers have been hurting Maharashtra’s pride by their remarks and the Maharashtra government’s response is not in the same coin.
“Law minister (of Karnataka) Madhu Swamy has demanded that Mumbai should be made a Union Territory. (Bharatiya Janata Party MLA) Laxman Savadi said Mumbai belongs to Karnataka and has rubbed salt on the Marathi people’s wounds,” Pawar said.
The NCP leader demanded that the chief minister condemn this in strong words. Fadnavis said, “Mumbai belongs to Maharashtra and not to anyone’s father. We will not tolerate anyone staking claim over Mumbai and we will put forth our feelings before the Karnataka government and Union home minister.”
He said Union minister Shah will be requested to reprimand such “motormouths”.
In a meeting between the chief ministers of the two states with Shah, it was decided that no fresh claim would be laid by any of the two parties, he said.
“The comments by Karnataka MLAs or the Karnataka Congress president are contrary to what was decided. Will not tolerate any claim staked on Mumbai. We condemn this. We will send a letter (to Karnataka government) condemning these statements,” Fadnavis said.
“(These comments) are not in line what was decided in the meeting with the Union home minister. It will be brought to the notice of the Union home minister,” Fadnavis added.
Amid the raging border dispute, both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to “legally pursue” the inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into the western state.
The state government will legally pursue in the Supreme Court the case to include (in Maharashtra) “every inch” of the land of Belgaum, Karwar Bidar, Nipani, Bhalki cities and the 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka, said the resolution moved by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in both the Houses.
Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday asserted that not even a single village will be ceded to Maharashtra, as he condemned the resolution passed in the neighboring state’s legislature regarding inclusion of Marathi-speaking villages.
He said the whole state is united on this issue, strongly condemns and opposes the resolution passed by the Maharashtra legislature.
Maharashtra lacks the willpower to fulfill the aspirations of Marathi-speaking people in Belagavi and other areas in Karnataka and the politicians in the state have surrendered themselves to the rulers in Delhi, a leader of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) alleged on Wednesday.
MES leader Kiran Thakur also claimed that those in power at the Centre kept the issue unresolved under the belief that it would die its own death. The MES has been demanding the merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra claiming the district has a substantial Marathi population.
The Maharashtra legislature on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to ”legally pursue” the inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into the western state, amid the raging boundary dispute.
The resolution moved by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in both Houses said the state government will legally pursue in the Supreme Court the case to include (in Maharashtra) ”every inch” of the land of Belgaum, Karwar Bidar, Nipani, Bhalki cities and the 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka.
The long-drawn border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka is a fight for the linguistic rights of the Marathi-speaking people, Thakur said.
”For last 66 years, 865 villages of Belgaum (Belagavi), Karwar, Bidar, Nipani, Supa, Halyal, Khanapur and surrounding Marathi-speaking areas (in Karnataka) are fighting for linguistic rights in a democratic manner,” he said.
These areas were taken from the Bombay Presidency and put into Karnataka during the linguistic reorganization of states.
The stand of the leaders in Delhi has been to keep the issue lingering as they feel it will die its own death, Thakur said.
”Maharashtra lacks the willpower as it has surrendered itself to Delhi. The Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court on March 28, 2004, and still for the last 18 years there has been no solution in sight,” he said.
There has been a demand that the areas claimed by Maharashtra be declared a Union Territory till the apex court gives its verdict, he added.
”Village as a unit, relative linguistic majority, geographical contiguity and wishes of the majority people are criteria and based on them, these 865 villages have the right to be in Maharashtra,” the MES leader said.
The Marathi-speaking people from the border areas included in Karnataka are a linguistic minority as far as Karnataka state is concerned, Thakur said, adding that they are legally entitled to the protection of their linguistic and cultural rights.
”When Marathi people organize peaceful protests against the injustice of being denied their rights, the protests are ruthlessly curbed using police force,” he said.
Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to more than 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.
Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed the Maharashtra Lokayukta Bill 2022. The Bill was tabled in the Assembly on Monday.
Cabinet Minister Deepak Kesarkar introduced the Bill which has a provision to bring the Chief Minister and the cabinet under the purview of the anti-corruption ombudsman.
According to the Bill, the Lokayukta will have to seek the approval of the assembly before initiating any inquiry against the chief minister and bringing a motion before the session of the house.
According to the provisions of the Bill, such a proposal would require the approval of at least two-thirds of the total members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
The Bill also states that the Lokayukta will not investigate cases involving allegations of corruption against the Chief Minister, which are related to internal security or public order. It is also provided that any such inquiry shall be kept secret and if the Lokayukta comes to the conclusion that the complaint deserves to be dismissed, the records of the inquiry shall not be published or made available to anyone.
As per the provision, the Lokayukta shall have a Chairperson, who shall be a present or former Chief Justice of a High Court. Apart from this, there will be a judge of the Supreme Court or the Bombay High Court. The Lokayukta shall have a maximum of four members, of whom two shall be from the judiciary.
The selection committee for the appointment of the Lokayukta Chairperson and Members will consist of the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker of the Legislative Council, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and the Council, and a judge nominated by the Chief Justice or Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
The bill introduced in the assembly states that no appointment of Lokayukta chairman or member will be invalid in the absence of anyone in the selection committee.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer have made significant gains in the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after helping India win the second match of their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series against Bangladesh in Mirpur.
Ashwin has moved up one slot and is joint-fourth among bowlers along with Jasprit Bumrah after finishing with six wickets in the match. He has also inched up three places to 84th among batters following a crucial knock of 42 not out in the second innings that enabled a three-wicket victory and won India crucial WTC points.
Ashwin, who has been the No. 1 bowler and all-rounder in the past, has also earned seven rating points in the all-rounders’ rankings, which are led by his compatriot Ravindra Jadeja.
Jadeja is currently on 369 rating points while Ashwin is on 343.
Iyer, who partnered in an unbroken 71-run partnership with Ashwin that steered the team to victory, has attained a career-best 16th position.
Iyer’s scores of 87 and 29 not out have helped him progress from 26th position, his previous best in the rankings.
Rishabh Pant remains the top-ranked Indian batter in the sixth position after gaining three rating points courtesy of his score of 93 in the first innings while fast bowler Umesh Yadav has gained five places to reach the 33rd position after finishing with five wickets in the match.
Bangladesh batter Litton Das has attained a career-best 12th position after scores of 25 and 73 while Mominul Haque (up five places to 68th), Zakir Hasan (up seven places to joint-70th) and Nurul Hasan (up five places to 93rd) have also moved up the rankings.
Spinners Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz have gained two spots each to reach 28th and 29th positions, respectively, while captain Shakib Al Hasan has gained one spot and is 32nd. Taijul had a four-wicket haul in the first innings while Mehidy and Shakib finished with six wickets each in the match.
Legislator Jayant Patil on Wednesday said in the Maharashtra Legislative Council that the Centre should immediately intervene into the border row between Maharashtra and Karnataka and declare the disputed area as a Union Territory.
Patil (from the Peasants and Workers Party of India) was speaking in the House during a discussion.
His demand came a day after the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a resolution to ”legally pursue” the inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into the western state.
The state government will legally pursue in the Supreme Court the case to include (in Maharashtra) ”every inch” of the land of Belgaum, Karwar Bidar, Nipani, Bhalki cities and the 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka, said the resolution moved by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in both the Houses.
The Maharashtra resolution said when the chief ministers of the two states had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, it was decided that till the Supreme Court gives its judgement on the matter, it should be ensured the issue does not flare up any further.
However, the Karnataka government took a contrary stand by passing a resolution in its state Assembly. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) on Tuesday demanded in the Maharashtra Assembly that the 865 villages be declared as a Union Territory till the top court gives its verdict on the issue.
However, it did not figure in the resolution. On Wednesday, MLC Patil said, ”The Centre took an immediate decision on Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into Union Territories. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a stand and declare the disputed area (pertaining to the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row) as a Union Territory.” The Lok Sabha has the power to take a decision.
Therefore, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders should immediately approach the Union government, he said.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly last Thursday unanimously passed a resolution on the border row with Maharashtra, resolving to protect the southern state’s interests and not to cede even an inch of land to its neighbour.
The resolution also condemned the border dispute ”created” by Maharashtra.
Maharashtra has laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population.
It also laid claim to more than 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka. Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a report in the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here giving clean chit to former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy in the sexual exploitation allegation levelled by a prime accused woman in the sensational solar scam.
The CBI submitted the referral report in the court here on Tuesday, sources said. Last year, the CBI had taken over the investigation into cases against Chandy, former Union minister K C Venugopal and other politicians related to allegations of sexual exploitation by the accused woman.
The cases against the six persons, including Chandy, were registered over the last few years and investigated by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police based on a complaint by the woman, an accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam during the UDF government, that she was sexually exploited by them in 2012.
The CPI(M)-led Kerala government had recommended a CBI inquiry into the cases in early 2021. The opposition Congress had dubbed the move as ”politically motivated”, saying the LDF government could not find anything against the party leaders and took the decision as elections were around the corner.
Sources said that the CBI probe has found that there was no basis for the woman’s allegation against Chandy as there was no evidence to prove that she had gone to the official residence of then Chief Minister on that particular day.
The CBI has also found that it was a fabricated case, the sources further said.
In a letter to the police commissioner on July 19, 2013, the woman had levelled charges of sexual misconduct and corruption against several Congress and UDF leaders, including Chandy, some of his ministers and two former Union ministers.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said the Congress’ fight against the BJP and the RSS will continue for allegedly weakening democracy and the Constitution of the country.
Talking to reporters on the Congress’ foundation day, Gehlot said the party has come a long way since its foundation and whether it is in power or not, it is firm on its policies and programmes.
”Rahul Gandhi said our fight is against policies and programmes of RSS and BJP. It will continue. We are capable of protecting the Constitution. They are destroying the Constitution and weakening the roots of democracy and the country will not tolerate it,” he said. Referring to Mallikarjun Kharge becoming the new president of the party, Gehlot said, ”For the first time in 50 years, a person from the Dalit class has become the president of our party. An atmosphere has been created in the country.” He asked the party leaders and workers to work together.
Earlier, sharing an old photo of the Congress party, Gehlot tweeted, ”Heartiest greetings to all Congress people on the occasion of Congress Foundation Day. Today is a day of great pride and glory for us.” Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasra also congratulated the party workers on the occasion.
“On the foundation day of Congress, I bow to all those great founders who laid the foundation of the party by keeping the welfare of the people paramount. Due to their selfless service and dedication, the party has reached this pinnacle today,” he tweeted.
#CongressFoundationDay के अवसर पर सभी कांग्रेसजन को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। हमारे लिए आज का दिन बहुत ही गर्व और गौरव का दिवस है। कांग्रेस पार्टी की स्थापना को लंबा सफर तय करते-करते 137 वर्ष हो गए… 137 साल का त्याग, बलिदान, कुर्बानी का शानदार इतिहास स्वर्णिम अक्षरों में लिखा गया है। pic.twitter.com/a1ypKQkgzl
— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) December 28, 2022
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot also tweeted, “Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all the office bearers, workers and Congressmen on the occasion of the foundation day of the Indian National Congress, always dedicated to public service considering the unity, integrity, protection of constitutional and democratic rights of the nation as paramount.”
राष्ट्र की एकता, अखंडता, संवैधानिक एवं लोकतांत्रिक अधिकारों की रक्षा को सर्वोपरि मानकर जनसेवा के प्रति सदैव समर्पित भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस के स्थापना दिवस के सुअवसर पर समस्त पदाधिकारियों, कार्यकर्ताओं व कांग्रेसजनों को हार्दिक बधाई एवं शुभकामनाएं।@INCIndia pic.twitter.com/Xl5SGhk99M
— Sachin Pilot (@SachinPilot) December 28, 2022
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the country’s richest civic body, was governed by administrators for the better part of 2022, as the city emerged from the shadows of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the civic body’s five-year term ended in March, the elections were stalled due to the pandemic at the start of the year and the subsequent political turmoil in Maharashtra, which saw the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in June.
Mumbai entered 2022 with a sudden rise in coronavirus cases, putting the BMC on alert.
The city reported more than 20,000 daily cases for a few days at the start of the year, although the toll did not see a sharp rise. By April, the infections gradually ebbed, prompting the civic body to do away with the mask rule, which had been in force since 2020.
The BMC also managed to vaccinate the entire adult population in the city against the deadly infection. It had administered 92,42,888 second doses of the vaccine, as against its target of 92,36,500 to people above the age of 18 by April 5.
The pandemic was not the only challenge the civic body faced this year.
Mumbai also endured an outbreak of measles in the last quarter of the year. In 2022, the city reported over 514 cases and the disease claimed 14 lives, including five unconfirmed deaths.
After the BMC’s term ended on March 7, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal was appointed as the administrator and has been governing the corporation since. With an eye on the civic elections, the previous MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray had decided to increase the number of civic wards to 236 from the existing 227.
The BMC also conducted a lottery for the reservation of 236 seats in May, but after the Supreme Court approved the Banthia Commission’s report on the Other Backward Classes quota, the State Election Commission asked for a fresh lottery, which was conducted on July 29.
The present Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government recently informed the Bombay High Court that it would not proceed with the process of delimitation of wards in the BMC till further hearing of a plea against the reduction of wards in the civic body. The next hearing in the matter is on January 3, 2023.
Though it was an election year for the civic body, Mumbai did not get any big-ticket projects and there were no major infrastructural developments.
The civic body completed one of the twin tunnels, measuring 2.07 km, for the Coastal Road project on January 11, 2022, while the digging work for the second tunnel is underway and is expected to be completed early next year.
As part of the Rs 12,000 crore project, twin tunnels are being dug between Girgaum Chowpatty and Priyadarshini Park using a ”Mavala” tunnel boring machine (TBM).
Among other major decisions, the MVA government, before it collapsed in June, announced to waive off property tax for houses measuring 500 sq ft, which was an assurance given by the Shiv Sena during the 2017 polls.
Despite multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, the BMC managed to collect the highest ever Rs 5,792 crore in property tax in the financial year 2021-22, which was Rs 700 crore more than the previous year. After coming to power in August, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government directed the civic body to concretize 400 km of roads at the cost of Rs 6,000 crore and the civic body has already started the tendering process.
The government also recently launched more than 500 beautification works in the city and suburbs.
As the Maharashtra government did away most of the COVID-19 restrictions in April and people moved around without masks, the city celebrated Janmashtami, Ganpati festival and Diwali with much fanfare after a gap of two years. Under the Union government’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ initiative to commemorate 75 years of the country’s Independence, the civic body illuminated iconic buildings and distributed 41 lakh tricolours to households in the city.
Despite the timely arrival of monsoon, the civic body was forced to impose a 10 per cent water cut in June after the rains played a disappearing act in the first few weeks. The city received satisfactory rainfall in the next few months and delayed retreat of monsoon ended the water worries.
Unlike previous years, monsoon was not a menace for Mumbaikars in 2022, as fewer instances of flooding were reported, even in the low-lying areas.
The civic body succeeded in keeping Hindmata and Gandhi Market areas in central Mumbai and Milan Subway in the western suburbs free of waterlogging during the monsoon this year.
The BMC, which was controlled by the Shiv Sena for the last 25 years, was also a centre of political battles this year.
When the MVA government was in power, the civic body had slapped notices on BJP leader and Union minister Narayan Rane’s bungalow ‘Adhish’, in the upscale Juhu area, for alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
The city also witnessed high drama when the BMC issued notices to Khushi Belmondo Building in Santacruz (west), in which BJP functionary Mohit Kamboj resides and to Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana’s house in Khar area.
The Shiv Sena’s power tussle seeped into the BMC after rival factions of the party sought permission to hold their annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in October.
While the civic body had initially denied permission to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, it was forced to grant permission after a rap from the Bombay High Court.
Things also came to a head when late Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke’s wife Rutuja, a civic employee, tendered her resignation to contest the bypoll from Andheri East Assembly constituency after the seat fell vacant due to Latke’s death.
The civic body, however, refused to accept her resignation citing technical reasons. But it was forced to give in after the high court’s intervention. Apart from the political drama, the city witnessed several deaths due to disasters such as fires, building collapses and landslides this year.
The blaze at Kamla building at Nana Chowk area of south Mumbai, which killed seven people in January and the death of 19 people in the collapse of a three-storey dilapidated building at Kurla Nehru Nagar area in June were some of the worst disasters.
The civic-run Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo, popularly known as Byculla Zoo, celebrated its 160th anniversary on November 19 and welcomed a host of new animals at the facility this year. With the pandemic raging in other parts of the world, the city will be on tenterhooks if infections make a comeback next year.
The civic elections are another thing to look forward to in 2023.
