After being snubbed by BJP chief Rajnath Singh for his unsolicited post-poll support to Narendra Modi, MNS president Raj Thackeray on Wednesday hit back, saying he had given support to the Gujarat Chief Minister and not to him.

“I have pledged support to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and not to its chief,” said Raj Thackeray.

The MNS boss made this remark in response to his criticism by the BJP chief, who had termed his declaration to support Modi after Lok Sabha polls as “unsolicited”.

Singh even said that the saffron party’s ties with old ally Shiv Sena were “unbreakable”.

Addressing party workers, Singh recently said, “Our friendship with Shiv Sena is very old and will continue in future. Nowadays, many parties are taking Modi’s name.”
“Oh brother! why are you offering your unsolicited support to us? You either become part of NDA alliance or merge with BJP,” he said.

Without naming MNS, Singh further said nobody should do the politics of misleading the people.

Asked whether there was a possibility of NDA accepting MNS’s support even after mustering a majority, Singh told reporters later that the question was hypothetical and he was sure NDA on its own would get the number.

He also stated that as the BJP president, he was not “aware” of any support declared by MNS to Modi for the post of the Prime Minister.

“I have not mentioned any party in my address,” he said.

The comments by Singh were seen against the backdrop of displeasure expressed by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray over BJP leader Nitin Gadkari’s meeting with Raj Thackeray for persuading the MNS chief to join BJP-led alliance.

The Sena had also expressed reservations about MNS announcing support to Modi and “seeking votes” in his name.

NCP on Tuesday demanded apology from Narendra Modi over alleged factual errors in information given about Maratha king Shivaji in a class VII textbook of social sciences published by Gujarat educational department NCP activists, led by state president Jitendra Awhad, set ablaze an effigy of Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, in Kalwa over the “incorrect” information on “Maharashtra’s icon” Chhatrapati Shivaji.

“The second chapter of the class VII textbook of Social Science subject, published by the Gujarat State School Text Book Board in 2013, has objectionable and incorrect information about the Maratha king,” Awhad said.

Awhad, who represents Mumbra-Kalwa constituency in state Assembly, said Modi should apologise to the nation for “repeated mistakes” he makes regarding the history of the country.

“A chapter on the Golden Period of the Mughul dynasty on page number 59 of the book carries several mistakes related to Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji’s place of birth, date of birth are wrongly published and also his relation with his mentor Dadoji Konddev,” Awhad said.

The protest march culminated at Kalwa junction where Awhad addressed the gathering.

Awhad said information on other historical personalities is correctly published except that of Shivaji, the 17th Century Maratha king.

“In one of the chapters in the book, Dadoji Konddev is referred to as the grandfather of Shivaji,” Awhad claimed.

Now, Bollywood has also taken sides in the biggest debate of 2014 General Elections – for or against Narendra Modi. For the first time ever, a section of Bollywood has come together to issue a joint appeal, urging people to vote for the ‘secular’ party, which is most likely to win in their constituency.

The appeal is the brainchild of writer Anjum Rajabali and has well-known artistes and filmmakers like Nandita Das, Shubha Mudgal, Mahesh Bhatt, Vishal Bhardwaj and Govid Nihalani among the signatories.

While the petition doesn’t name Narendra Modi, but Rajabali told a news channel that there is no ambiguity behind the appeal as it was clearly aimed against the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
“There seems to a be wave people are talking about…Narendra Modi represents a certain ideology. I am from Gujarat and I understand what kind of development there is and I understand the propaganda. There are very very serious questions which are consistently being raised but the voices are never being heard,” he said.

Rajabali said that while it is understandable that people are disgusted by corruption and misgovernance, the bigger question is whether the country should not have a government which has an inclusive ideology.

The petitioners have stressed on the need to maintain country’s cultural diversity and pluralism. They appealed: “The need of the hour is to protect our country’s secular foundation. Undoubtedly, corruption and governance are important issues, but we will have to vigilantly work out ways of holding our government accountable to that. However, one thing is clear: India’s secular character is not negotiable! Not now, not ever.”

“As Indian citizens who love our motherland, we appeal to you to vote for the secular party, which is most likely to win in your constituency,” they said.

Among the others who signed the petition are filmmakers Vinay Shukla, Kabir Khan, Kundan Shah, and Imtiaz Ali and actors Swara Bhaskar and Joy Sengupta.

Activist Teesta Setelvad and her husband Javed Anand have also signed the petition, reports said.

Writer Salim Khan, singing legend Lata Mangeshkar are among Modi’s strongest supporters in Bollywood.

NCP on Wednesday said the decision of MNS to support the candidature of BJP leader Gopinath Munde in Beed Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra has exposed the secret pact between the two parties.
NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said when former BJP President Nitin Gadkari took the initiative to include MNS in the “Mahayuti”, Munde had opposed the move. “Now in a desperate move to save his seat, he has bowed before Raj Thackeray,” he said.

Malik said the “hidden understanding” between MNS and BJP was known for a long time but the pact was never revealed officially because Shiv Sena would not like it. “But now the pact is out in the open,” he said.
MNS-BJP hidden pact out in open after support to Munde: NCP

On Tuesday, in an unexpected development MNS chief Raj Thackeray announced his party’s public support to Munde asking his party workers and voters to ensure his victory from Beed.

Beed, Munde’s stronghold in the Marathwada region, under renewed assault by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leadership, which is making all efforts to defeat the BJP’s biggest mass leader in the state, on his home turf is going to polls on Thursday.

MNS backing to Munde assumes significance in the backdrop of the reported tussle between him and Nitin Gadkari in the Maharashtra unit of BJP and also the latter’s much talked about meeting with Raj Thackeray, reportedly to persuade MNS against contesting Lok Sabha polls, in order to avoid a division of opposition votes.

However, Raj Thackeray went ahead and announced his party would contest 10 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.

The Bombay High Court suggested that the Maharashtra government should consider permitting farmers affected by un-seasonal hailstorms in several districts to open bank accounts on the basis of their Aadhar cards alone.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha made this suggestion to facilitate affected farmers to avail of government monetary relief.
The suggestion was made after the bench heard a public interest litigation filed by two farmers from Solapur district seeking a direction to the Centre and the state government to disburse relief to farmers hit by unseasonal hailstorms last month.
The Maharashtra government informed the court that it had made a total disbursement of Rs 1400 crore to over 15 lakh farmers and the money was transferred to their bank accounts.
However, the petitioners argued that several farmers who do not have bank accounts are still in the lurch. It was then, that the court suggested that farmers should be allowed to open bank accounts easily and not be made to submit a range of documents to avail of government relief, during times of calamity.
“Farmers should be allowed to open bank accounts with only Aadhar cards as identification. The whole point of issuing Aadhar cards was that no other document would be required,” the court said.
The court also directed the Maharashtra government and the central government to submit a report by May 5, about fund disbursement and steps taken for farmers’ welfare.
The court will hear the matter on May 7. “The state government will submit a report about the disbursement and other steps taken so far. The central government too should file a report about steps taken to allocate and release funds for farmers in Maharashtra,” the court said.
The central government informed the court on , that it has approved Rs 865 crore as relief, out of which Rs 685 crore has already been released.