On the occasion of Vaikuntha Ekadashi, there was divine celebration at Shree Balaji Temple, Charkop. The temple trustee Mr Gurunath personally received all guests and devotees, many volunteers gave their participation on various fronts. The entire ambience was in festive mode.
A day after a masked mob, armed with iron rods, sledgehammers and stones went around Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) attacking students and teachers, leaving at least 34 injured after three terrifying hours, the Delhi Police has identified some of the masked assailants and a complaint has been filed on them. The university is tense after last night’s violence even as students in various cities showed solidarity with the JNU students and teachers through night-long protests and vigils. Union Minister Amit Shah spoke to the Delhi police chief and sought a report but the police are yet to make a single arrest. Mr Shah also spoke to Anil Baijal, the Lieutenant Governor and asked him to get in touch with the university representatives. Students and faculty members of JNU allege that police personnel and private security guards on the campus remained “mute spectators” as the masked attackers went on a rampage. They have also been accused of letting the attackers slip out.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray tweeted, “I want to assure the youth of Maharashtra that I won’t let anything happen to them & they are completely safe. There will be serious repercussions if anyone tries to repeat and what happened last night in the JNU campus.”
On Sunday evening, members of the JNU Teachers Association had gathered for a peaceful protest and minutes later the violence broke out as some masked men went on a rampage. JNU students’ union Chief Aishe Ghosh who was badly injured in mob attack at the campus told AV that she had informed the police about “unknown people gathering at the campus” hours before the violence broke out but police did not act on her complaint. Ms Ghosh also accused Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar for the attack on her and several other students and teachers.
As thousands of students in various cities showed solidarity with the JNU students and teachers through nightlong protests and vigils. Aishe Ghosh said, “We were attending a peaceful protest at the university on student fee hike trying to resolve the issue. Minutes later, masked goons targeted us near the Sabarmati Hostel. I was attacked with iron rods, some girls were fondled, it was a brutal attack, the campus was bleeding but we received no timely help.”
Union Minister Smriti Irani, who was always criticised by students after Rohit Vemula’s suicide case, told the media that the campuses should not be made ”rajneeti ka akhada” or “battlefield for politics.”
The police said they are identifying the masked attackers using “viral screen shots on social media and the CCTV footage”. However, no arrests have been made yet. Some of the assailants have been identified, the police said.
Opposition parties have hit out at the BJP-led government at the centre and blamed it for the unprecedented attack. The Congress termed it “state-sponsored terrorism”, with Rahul Gandhi saying that it was a “reflection of fear” that “fascists in control of our nation” have of the students.
Senior Union Ministers S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman, both alumni of JNU, too had condemned the violence. Ms Sitharaman said the pictures of violence were horrifying and asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi told Afternoon Voice, “Modi Sarkar must answer why cops are siding with goons? This cruel attack is meant to ‘punish’ JNU students because they dared to stand up.” The AIMIM has also tweeted expressing solidarity with the “students of JNU”. “AIMIM stands in solidarity with the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Who feels threatened by the voice of students?,” the party said in a tweet. The violence at the university, whose students have been actively supporting the agitations against the amended Citizenship Act, triggered a political furore with opposition parties hitting out at the government.
“The fascists in control of our nation, are afraid of the voices of our brave students. Today’s violence in JNU is a reflection of that fear,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Party leader Randeep Surjewala termed it “state-sponsored terrorism”.
“We condemn the violence at JNU. This needs to be investigated. The Congress, communists, the Aam Aadmi Party and some elements want to create an environment of violence in universities across the country,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Condemning the violence, the university administration said Sunday’s incident was linked to the agitation over a fee hike. Students opposing the hike wanted to disrupt the admissions process and there have been clashes and vandalism on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, students against registration process beat up those in favour of it before the police could reach, the registrar said in a statement.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar appealed to the students to maintain peace in the campus and stated that the top priority is to protect the academic interest of the students. “They need not fear about their process (of winter semester registration). The top priority of the University is to protect the academic interests of our students”, he said in a statement. The senior warden of JNU’s Sabarmati hostel complex resigned on Monday, submited a letter, saying, “…we tried but can’t provide for security to hostel (sic).”
For more than two months, a standoff between the students and the administration is on over the hike in hostel fees. Students say the hike has increased their monthly expenses three-fold and the Left-affiliated students have been demanding a rollback. The JNU administration has justified the hike saying room rent has not been revised in 30 years and they are spending Rs 10 crore per year for payment towards electricity, water and service charges.
Since 2014, students have been under attack in India, especially the students of the JNU. This university is infused with an intense political life on the campus. Students who leave the campus are told to acquire a “permanently changed outlook on life” as a result of student politics. The politicisation of the campus life has led to a refusal to brush under the carpet social issues such as feminism, minority rights, social and economic justice. All such issues are debated fiercely in formal as well as informal gatherings. The JNU student politics is left-of-centre even though in recent years, right-wing student groups have also entered the field. Political involvement is “celebratory in spirit.” The student union elections are preceded by days of debates and meetings, keeping all students involved. The JNU has the reputation of an “unruly bastion of Marxist revolution.” However, the student activists deny the charge stating that the politics at JNU is issue-based and intellectual. The university is known for its alumni who now occupy important political and bureaucratic positions. In part, this is because of the prevalence of Left-Centric student politics and the existence of a written constitution of the university to which noted Communist Party of India leader Prakash Karat contributed exhaustively during his education at the JNU.
On October 24, 2008, the Supreme Court of India stayed the JNU elections and banned the JNUSU for not complying with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee. After a prolonged struggle and multi-party negotiations, the ban was lifted on December 8, 2011. After a gap of more than four years, interim elections were scheduled again on March 1, 2012. Following the election results declared on March 3, 2012, candidates of the All India Students Association (AISA) won all four central panel seats while Sucheta De, president of AISA became the president of JNUSU too. In April 2000, two army officers who disturbed an Indo-Pak mushaira at the JNU campus were beaten up by agitated students. The officers were angered by anti-war poems recited by two Pakistani poets and disrupted the mushaira. They were enraged at the recited lines of a poem by progressive Urdu poetess, Fahmida Riaz “Tum bhi bilkul hum jaise nikle” (“It turned out you were just like us”) and interpreted the lines as a criticism of India. One of them started to shout anti-Pakistan slogans. When the audience asked for silence, one of them pulled out a gun. They were overpowered by the security and then beaten up by students though they were not seriously injured. The Indian Army denied the charges and it was reported that the two army officers were admitted in hospitals. A retired judge was appointed to probe the accusation.
In 2015, the JNU Student’s Union and the All India Students Association objected to efforts to create instruction on Indian culture. Opposition to such courses was on the basis that such instruction was an attempt to saffronise education. Saffronisation refers to right-wing efforts to glorify ancient Hindu culture. The proposed courses were successfully opposed and were thus, “rolled back.” A former student of JNU and a former student union member Albeena Shakil, claimed that BJP officials in the government were responsible for proposing the controversial courses. Since 2014, BJP came to power with a huge mandate and ABVP became stronger than ever, that is how there are continuous attacks on the university. Students in the JNU are adults and very opinionated, they are doing research on social issues so they know what leads to what and also they practice democracy in their campus. They know what right ideology politics will lead to.
To understand the JNU row, we need to see the larger picture. Such controversies are not only in the JNU but also in other Universities like Jadavpur University, University of Hyderabad, AMU, Jamia Millia Islamia, Visva-Bharati and even in the DU. Taking such a round clock picture, it can be understood that an attack on JNU is a “systematic assault” under a well-choreographed intention. BJP is a party based on right wing ideology which has always been challenged by Marxian theory and JNU is indeed an institute dominated by Marxian/Leftist ideology. BJP is suffering from “One Nation-One culture” syndrome, whereas the JNU represents diverse Indian society in microscopic form. The violence on Sunday night at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a blot for any democratic society.
For hours, goons from outside ran riot in the campus violently beating up students and teachers both men and women. Even as the violence was underway, a mob gathered at the main gate of the university inciting violence against JNU students and heckling and even beating up journalists and civil society activists. All this happened even as the police were present on the spot. The attack has taken the intimidation being meted out to JNU to a completely different level. This cycle started three years ago when the police arrested Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU president and two others under charges of sedition. A charge sheet is yet to be filed in the case. Since then, JNU has faced constant vilification, intimidation and intermittent violence.
The latest in this series is the fee hike announced last year which has triggered massive protests both inside and outside the campus, so much so that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) had to constitute a committee to talk to the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU). The Vice-Chancellor has not been talking to the students for a very long time now. The JNU administration’s statement on Sunday’s incidents is a cynical attempt to portray the anti-fee hike protesters as the villains behind the violence which is completely against the version of most students and teachers. While there can hardly be any engagement with the vilification and the violence and intimidation being meted out to the university, the argument for differential fee structure – charging those who can pay a higher fees – in higher educational institutions deserves to be countered. Anti-Hindu stand – If one looks at the rise of the Left in general, one can understand that the roots are strong anti-caste, anti-religious stand. Hindus in India were highly casteist and are still highly casteist. The system refuses to go and members of so called lower castes are harassed even now in some areas. So naturally for a party built on anti-caste stand, the dirt of caste system which is like a cancer to Hindus is a big reason for hatred. Modiji declares himself as a Hindu nationalist and many Leftists would naturally feel against someone who talks like that.
India is a land of several social issues. There are unhappy people in every state who have myriad of social, economic issues that governments have failed to be addressed or have been ignored. Naturally, people protest against all this. JNU or for that matter anyone in India has the freedom to sympathise with the struggle and lend vocal support to the thing. But then, sometimes in any protest, there are people who can’t control their emotions and indulge in over the top comments and slogans. It depends on the individual whether one believes the tapes that came out of JNU as original or doctored. But either ways, BJP tried to suppress it by force. And at the same time, high profile leaders like the Home Minister openly announced that the protests were seditious in nature. A lot of hatred was generated due to this in social media. Things turned so bad that when you googled “anti-national”, Google maps showed JNU’s address. JNU students might feel that they are badly branded. And a large share of blame goes to the way the government handled the whole scenario. Moreover, a government tries to suppress a protest; more is the feeling that someone is targeting them unfairly. One should remember that the more one tries to suppress protests or certain actions, it only gets dirty. Using excessive force sometimes works against and only fuels more hatred.
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Acting on a credible information, the Anti Narcotics Cell’s (ANC) Bandra unit arrested two drug suppliers namely Rajesh Joshi (50), and Krushnamurti Kawander (42) who are believed to be involved in about 80 per cent of heroin supply in the city.
Police Inspector Anil Wadhwane attached to ANC’s Bandra unit laid a trap and arrested the duo from Malad railway station and seized heroin worth Rs 12 crore from both the accused. At the time of the arrest, Joshi was found in possession of four kg of heroin worth Rs 8 crore while Kawander was carrying 2 kg heroin worth Rs 4 crore.
“Their arrest is going to have a major impact on the flow of narcotics across the city, as the cartel was behind 80 per cent of drug supply, especially heroin,” said Shivdeep Lande, Deputy Commissioner of Police, ANC.
Talking about the modus operandi, the duo would follow is that they would get the consignment from bordering areas of Rajasthan which would be supplied to their bosses in southern parts of India. Later from there, the consignment would be distributed to important cities across the country. Joshi and Kawander would receive the consignments in Mumbai,” Lande informed.
“Joshi and Kawander had built safe places in slum areas of Mumbai. Within 10 minutes of receiving the consignment, they would hand it over to second point person. The second point person would then distribute the contraband to small distributors in 100 or 200-gram packets. The small distributors are mostly drug-addict youngsters who would get paid for the job. Their job would be to supply the drugs in small quantities in their respective areas,” an officer said.
As per the data provided by the ANC, as many as 3,280 drug peddlers have been arrested in the last five years while drugs worth Rs 1,067 crore have been seized. However, in last three years, since Shivdeep Lande has taken over the Mumbai ANC, drugs worth Rs 1,059.82 crore have been seized by his team.
The above question can be answered in affirmative. We have the “problem” about languages, because adults discuss it and try to “solve” it! Children do not have the problem, because of their natural ability to imbibe all the languages of the situation and environment in which they grow up. The purpose of this ability is survival. It becomes necessary for a normal, healthy childhood to pick up the language of the school and the playground. At the end of the day, let us acknowledge the context of Amit Shah’s speech – the Hindi Divas, when we may naturally expect all well meaning people to say a few good and kind words about the language. Only Hindi can unite India because it is most spoken language in the country.
It is nobody’s case that Hindi is the magic bullet that will unite India. In a country that has over a hundred languages and dialects, we certainly need one language in which we can all converse and understand each other easily. English is not and cannot be such a language. Delirious people allergic to the word ‘Hindi’ (in fact anything that starts with ‘Hind’) are spreading fearful doomsday scenarios as they probably did in the year 1965. As a participant in that agitation as a school boy, I realise today looking back, that passions were merely whipped up for political gains then, leading to tragic loss of lives. I do feel that all communication from the Central to state governments must be in English if the latter so desire. Central government communication to people in states through ads and other means must be in local languages. People must be encouraged to learn Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states.
I agree that Hindi cannot be imposed as a national language; but there is little wisdom in not accepting fact that Hindi has potential to become ‘a common language. Despite all anti- Hindi agitations, fact is that on basis of numerical strength of Hindi speaking population, Hindi will score over other regional languages and it has a better chance to be accepted as a ‘common language. I think political leaders, especially those belonging to the regional parties, must reconsider their opposition to use of Hindi as a common language. Incidental observations: (a) our politicians have ensured that investments are made to set up private schools where English is the preferred medium of instruction. (b) In all new schools in the private sector, study of Tamil or Malayalam or Kannada or Marathi, as the case may be, has become less and less unimportant, as it is study of a ‘second’ or even a ‘third’ language. (c) Our objective should be to ensure that all Indian languages prosper.
Hindi is not a glue it’s just a language, I know English, but it does not unite me with British, I still need visa and their approval if I were to go there. I also need the same if I were to go to Russia. Maurya empire united (Mostly North) India and ruled for 130+ years, they did not enforce their language, but India was united for longer period than it is today. British tried to enforce English, but their empire collapsed after 1947 and India split into two. What keeps us united is, oneness, our culture, mutual respect and the language Hindi becomes a via media among people to converse and mix with each other. This is going on for centuries and no one can deny. Kanimozhi, A. Raja were all conversing in Hindi when they were staying in Delhi as MPs.
Even actors like Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan join the bandwagon to blindly agitate against Hindi. However, they bank on Hindi audience for the bilingual language films and eye for box office hits in Hindi. But when it comes to encouraging Hindi, they back out without any reason. Be a Roman in Rome is true and Super stars should have a rational thinking and a holistic approach towards Hindi.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
FM Sitharaman plays Santa Claus on New Year’s eve
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a whopping Rs 102 lakh crore for infrastructure projects which should speed up development and is very essential for our progress as a developed nation. Infrastructure is key to nation building. They not only generate employment but act as an ladder to boost every sector to achieve their goal as bridges, railways, warehousing, education, health assist businesses grow and for the nation to become self sufficient.
Sitharaman has a vision for future and has even promised an additional Rs 3 lakh worth of projects in future which should increase our country’s GDP to $5 trillion by 2025. Our population itself is a great consumption story for our country and India is a hot destination for investments if the government provides the right and essential infrastructure necessary for progress and development.
S.N.Kabra
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
After a month of the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, the portfolio distribution has been finalized. The same has been approved by the honorable governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday morning.
On Saturday the Shiv Sena supremo and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had sent the proposal of Maharashtra cabinet portfolios to the governor.
NCP senior leader and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar got finance and planning department on the other hand, his party colleague Anil Deshmukh is the new Home Minister of the state.
First-time Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya, the son of Uddhav Thackeray who has always been vocal about the environment subject whether it’s about the much controversial Aarey colony topic or any other topic has been made the minister for tourism, environment and protocol ministries.
Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has been allocated the revenue portfolio while former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has been given the Public Works Department (PWD).Yashomati Thakur has been allotted women and child development department, Varsha Gaikwad has been allocated school education department. Vijay Wadettiwar has been given the charge OBC welfare and salt land development. Amit Deshmukh got medical, education and culture. The CM would handle Law and Order apart from the General Administration.
The Sharad Pawar led party NCP has got maximum of the state’s cabinet berths. The party got the home, finance, irrigation and housing ministries. It’s been said that Pawar who had brought the three ideologically different party together to form Maha Vikas Agadhi has got most of the plum ministries in the Maharashtra cabinet. If one sees keenly in terms in the number of cabinet ministers there also the NCP is superior to other coalition party. While it has 16 cabinet ministers, the Shiv Sena has been allotted 15 ministries and the Congress party 12.
NCP MLA and state minister of Maharashtra Aditi Tatkare said,“I have been given the portfolios which are really important in terms of development. I belong to the constituency which has large number of tourists visiting the district and the constituency. In terms of tourism,I would want to develop the Konkan region more so that once the basic infrastructure is developed, more tourists will arrive.”
At the same time Aditi has been given an opportunity to work for the industrial growth. She said, “I would like to contribute as much as I can into this issue which we have been dealing for a long time now. Set up in the region and the state, so we can increase the rate of employment.”
Aditi has also been allotted the sports portfolio. There are many young people who are good in sports and belong to rural area of the state; through this opportunity Aditi wants to make the platform for them so that they get the opportunity to come in the forefront in terms of their respective sports they belong to.
She said, “I would want to take this opportunity to work for the betterment of the youth. I would like to conduct as many as seminars as possible in terms of their career guidance and other activities.”
NCP leader Jayant Patil has been allocated the irrigation department while Dhananjay Munde has been handed the social justice portfolio. Chhagan Bhujbal will handle the food and civil supplies ministry and Dilip Walse Patil will handle the excise portfolio. Nawab Malik was allotted minority development, Waqf Board, skill development and entrepreneurship. Malik said that he will work for the welfare of minorities. He also plans to address the problem of unemployment. Jayant Patil got water resources. Rajesh Tope has been allotted public health and family welfare, Hasan Mushrif rural development, Balasaheb Patil cooperation and marketing. Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde has been given the urban development ministry. Senior Shiv Sena leader Subash Desai has got industries and departments, while party leader Anil Parab got transport and parliamentary affairs department.Dadaji Bhuse has got agriculture and ex-servicemen welfare departments, Sanjay Rathod forest, relief and rehabilitation and Uday Samant higher and technical education.
Shiv Sena leader and state minister Aaditya Thackeray said, “I have been given the portfolios of Tourism and Environment. We can strengthen the economy of Maharashtra with tourism and I will take charge of the office after Monday’s meeting.”
The Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government had been receiving flak from the opposition BJP for delay in allocating portfolios despite being in power for over a month. According to sources the delay in finalisation and announcement of portfolios was mainly due to the difficulty of assigning districts to individual ministers for special care. Moreover, the Congress party had failed to provide the list of its ministers. Also the leaders of the MVA were attending the winter session of state assembly in Nagpur.
Minister for textile, fisheries and port development Aslam Shaikh said, “The Koli community is facing severe hardships due to decline in fishing activities. Big trawlers have been installed in several areas which are affecting the fish catching work. We are preparing a project report to augment fishing activities. I am pleased with the portfolio which was allotted to me and will also take steps to revive the textile industry.”
In the Shiv Sena there was a tussle among its senior leaders, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress over key Cabinet berths in Maharashtra. There were many issues within the Shiv Sena, but Uddhav has hardly any magic stick to change the fate of his own leaders because NCP’s Pawar is the distributor of powers. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government expanded the Cabinet more than a month after he assumed office. Governor B S Koshyari administered the oath of office to 25 Cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state at Vidhan Bhavan. Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister while Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray’s son and an MLA from Mumbai’s Worli segment also got a ministerial berth. Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan also took oath along with his party colleagues Vijay Wadettiwar and Amit Deshmukh, who is the son of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Nationalist Congress Party leaders Nawab Malik, Dilip Walse Patil and Dhananjay Munde found a place in the Cabinet too. However, the expansion left out some senior politicians such as Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Once the Congress used to describe the Shiv Sena as a party of ‘hooligans’, but now they have no choice but to take what is coming their way and keep quiet. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party kept its promise by inducting three independents who had extended support to the Shiv Sena before the government was formed. Shiv Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav, who has been upset over not getting a Cabinet berth, was not promised any such position. Jadhav had claimed that Uddhav Thackeray promised to make him a Cabinet minister. The Shiv Sena condemned the NCP MLA Prakash Solanke who resigned as legislator asserting that he was “unworthy” to do politics. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar has got the finance and planning portfolios while his party colleague Anil Deshmukh is the new Home Minister of the state. Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde has been given the urban development portfolio. Aaditya Thackeray, who has criticised the Mumbai Metro authorities for felling trees in the vicinity of Aarey Colony, has been allocated the tourism and environment portfolio.
Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has got the revenue ministry, a day after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government submitted its list of portfolios to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. With this allocation of portfolios, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has got most of the crucial portfolios. Sharad Pawar’s party has walked off with key cabinet berths including Home, Finance, Irrigation and Housing ministries, besides the plum post of the Deputy Chief Minister. The NCP’s Anil Deshmukh got the crucial home portfolio, finance has gone to Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar, housing to Jitendra Ahwad and irrigation to Jayant Patil. Chaggan Bhujbal has got Food and civil supplies and consumer protection portfolio. The Sena’s 15 portfolios include Industries, Mining and Marathi language which went to Subhash Desai, Urban Development which has gone to Eknath Shinde and Transport and Assembly affairs, has Anil Parab at its head. The one crucial ministry the Congress bagged is that of Revenue which has gone to the party’s state chief Balasaheb Thorat. Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has got the Public Works Department portfolio while Varsha Gaikwad has got the Medical Education portfolio.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition now has to deal with unhappy legislators who, failing to get a ministerial berth, have threatened to quit. One of them, Kailash Gorantyal, said that he has already sent in his resignation to the state party chief. When there was split in the Congress and NCP, he was elected. When there was Modi wave, even that time he got elected. With this injustice being done to him, Gorantyal finally got fed-up and left. Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar, who got a ministerial berth has also threatened to quit as he was not made a cabinet minister. He had quit the Congress to join the Sena ahead of the elections. The resignation threats have brought cheer to the BJP camp whose coup attempt in November failed.
The Congress got the least number of ministries as it is the smallest party in the alliance in terms of the number of MLA’s. The party won 44 of the state’s 288 seats against Shiv Sena’s 56 and NCP’s 54 seats. The portfolio allocation indicates that the balance of power in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, made up of the three parties, tilts in favour of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Maha Vikas Aghadi government had been facing criticism from the opposition BJP for delay in the allocation of portfolios despite being in power for over a month. Finally, the Aghadi has come up with its strongest cabinet.
During the cabinet battle, one can see how the newly expanded Maharashtra council of ministers has several leaders from political families. Be it smaller parties or the grand old party like the Congress, dynastic politics was in full display. Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the state. Ajit Pawar, who has taken charge as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, is the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai is the grandson of Balasaheb Desai, the former home minister from the Congress. Krantikari Shetkari Paksha minister Shankarrao Gadakh is the son of Yashwantrao Gadakh, a former Congress MP. Congress minister Ashok Chavan is the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarrao Chavan. Congress minister Amit Deshmukh is the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Congress minister Yashomati Thakur is the daughter of former Congress MLA Bhayyasaheb Thakur. Congress minister Sunil Kedar is the son of former Congress MLA and Minister Chhatrapal Kedar. Congress minister Varsha Gaikwad is the daughter of former Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad.
Congress minister Vishwajeet Kadam is the son of former Congress minister Patangrao Kadam. Congress minister Satej Patil is the son of Congress leader and former Bihar Governor DY Patil. Congress minister Balasaheb Thorat is the son of former Congress MLA Bhausaheb Thorat.NCP minister Dhananjay Munde is the nephew of BJP leader and former state and central Minister Gopinath Munde. NCP minister Rajesh Tope is the son of former MP Ankush Tope. NCP minister Balasaheb Shamrao Patil is the son of former Congress MLA Pandurang Patil. NCP minister Aditi Tatkare is the daughter of MP Sunil Tatkare.NCP minister Prajakt Tanpure is the son of former MP Prasad Tanpure and nephew of Jayant Patil.NCP minister Jayant Patil is the son of Congress minister late Rajaram Patil.
Now, the government has been formed and the cabinet is also set, the portfolios too are allotted. Let’s see how the family members in the Maha Vikas Aghadi contribute to Maharashtra. Over all, if you look at Uddhav’s cabinet, his son got priority with Pawar’s nephew Ajit along with some other members but most of the keens and kits are in queue for their turn. Seeing the family backgrounds and the dynastic majority on this privileged panel, hope this government provides better governance and brings some dynamic shift in state politics.
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After the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in both the houses of Parliament recently, many people had trolled Akshay Kumar, the Khiladi Kumar of Bollywood over his citizenship. Many people trolled the actor over his citizenship as he has a Canadian citizenship. On the trolls, the actor had recently announced, at an event, that he has decided to give up his Canadian citizenship and apply for an Indian passport.
He also said that he is an Indian and it hurts him when he is been asked to prove his citizenship time and again. He also said that his wife and son are Indians and pay tax in India.
As we all know that Akshay who has always supported the BJP and welcomed its view with open arms, the party in order to support the actor from the trolls on social media and to malign the image of the Gandhi family, had sent notice to Rahul Gandhi about his citizenship. Many a times, the leader has been questioned and they are still asking Rahul Gandhi about his citizenship while they know that Rahul Gandhi was born in India and has the citizenship of the country.
These two political parties (BJP and Congress) always have been among the headlines due to their remarks on each other. Whether it’s about latest political topic Citizenship Amendment bill or Abrogation of Article 370, GST, Demonetisation and any other. On Friday Home Minister Amit Shah said BJP will not move even an inch away on Citizenship Amendment Act, no matter how many parties join hands against it.
He also taunted Rahul Gandhi on the issue of and challenged him of a debate on the issue. “Rahul Baba kanoon padha hai toh kahin par bhi charcha karne ke liye aajao. Nahi padha hai toh main Italian mein bhi iska anuvaad karke apko bhej deta hun, usko padh lijiye” (Translation: Rahul Baba, if you have read the laws then come anywhere to debate over it. If you haven’t read it, then I will get it translated in Italian and he can read that) Shah stated.
It is reported by a news agency that the Union minister Giriraj Singh, on December 28, said that if Rahul Gandhi had a love for infiltrators, he could take them to Italy. Singh had said this as he feels that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi are dividing the country by propagating lies and confusing citizens on the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Earlier, the Union Home ministry had issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi over his citizenship after receiving a complaint from Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy. The MHA asked Rahul Gandhi to clarify his factual position within 15 days. In his submission, Swamy had claimed that a Company named Backops Limited was registered in the United Kingdom in 2003 with Gandhi as one of its directors.
In his defence, the 50-year-old politician termed as a typing error on the company site and showed various other documents from the same company and declared himself an Indian.
Uddhav Thackeray might have taken a leading seat of Maha Vikas Aghadi but he is already getting restless with that alliance. While Shiv Sena is in power but internal tiff is prevalent with regards to the cabinet expansion. There is major unrest within Shiv Sena with atleast 12 MLAs contemplating to quit the party over non inclusion of certain leaders in the cabinet. The legislators expressed displeasure over NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s imprint on the cabinet expansion. Many leaders are miffed about allocation of several important departments being allotted to NCP. Bhaskar Jadhav who had recently joined Shiv Sena from Chiplun after quitting NCP had blamed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for his failure to fufill his promise. Another former minister Tanaji Sawant too is not pleased for his non-inclusion in the cabinet.
Uddhav Thackeray expanded his month-old ministry by inducting 36 ministers that includes 13 ministers from NCP and Shiv-Sena and 10 from Congress. Shiv Sena has used its quota to make way for three independent candidates, which seems to have not gone down well with the members of the party who feel that the “Original Shiv Sainiks” have been ignored. Independents like Bachchu Kadu, Shankar Rao Gadakh and Rajendra Yadravkar had to be given ministerial berths under the Shiv Sena quota and that is why some old stalwarts of the party could not be accommodated.
This is probably the reason why Kolhapur MLA Prakash Abitkar could not be included in this Cabinet. The remarks come at that time when it has been said that Sanjay Raut, who has been termed as the architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government is not happy with the cabinet expansion and his brother Sunil Raut being denied the berth. His absence from the cabinet expansion ceremony too had invited a lot of questions. What added fuel to these speculations was his obscure Facebook status, which read as, “Hamesha aise vyakti ko sambhal ke rakhiye, jisne aapko ye teen bhent di ho – saath, samay aur samarpan… (Translation: Always take care of the person who is always there for you, has given you his time and dedication)”.
While speaking to the media later, Sanjay Raut dismissed all the conjecture, as he shared, “I am not disheartened with the cabinet expansion. My brother had never asked for a ministerial berth, these are rumours being spread about us. We look forward to contributing to the party and do not aspire for any position. No matter what, we will always be loyal to the Thackerays”.
But a very senior and veteran Shiv Sena leader spoke to Afternoon voice on the condition of anonymity that the Sena workers are not happy, many of them might switch to other parties, meanwhile he stated that the Sena supremo is also restless because this is first time he is taking orders and working. He is in no habit of taking so much of domination.
