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Ashwajit Gaikwad impresses BJP star campaigners

Ashwajit Gaikwad, BJP, Fadnavis, CM Fadnavis, Devendra Fadnavis, Ushir, BJP Elections, Maharashtra Elections

Ashwajit Anilkumar Gaikwad who was willing to contest from Udgir constituency in Latur from BJP’s ticket, but he was not given the ticket due to some party policies. Even though the party has not given him the ticket to contest, the young member of BJP is seen campaigning for the party and it’s leaders from Latur to Nagpur.

Recently he was seen campaigning for CM Devendra Fadnavis in his constituency in Nagpur.

When asked by our senior correspondent, acknowledging the campaign spirit of junior Gaikwad, CM Fadnavis said, “the party needs many more such young and dynamic youth to participate in the politics and also strengthen the party.”

Why NCP cornered Praful Patel?

Praful Patel, NCP, NCP leader, Sharad Pawar, pawar, ED, Patel, NCP Praful Patel

Praful Patel is on way to jail. That too with serious charges of conspiring with underworld dons. After the elections he will be arrested but the disclosure to media is well timed just before election.

When NCP president Sharad Pawar volunteered to meet ED whole Maharashtra was set on fire… but nobody from NCP seems even supporting Patel. Sharad Pawar was expected to strongly protest which he has not done. Patel becoming another “Bhujbal”… NCP letting him down?

Are Sonia, Priyanka worried about defeat in Maharashtra?

Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi away from Maharashtra Election Campaign, sonia gandhi, priyanka gandhi vadra, priyanka gandhi, maharashtra elections. maharashtra elections 2019, maharashtra assembly elections, assembly elections 2019, maharashtra elections, maharashtra campaign elections, elections rally, congress maharashtra, maharashtra congress elections rallyCampaigning for the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls is going on in full swing. BJPShiv Sena are making every effort to attract voters. NCP President Sharad Pawar’s rally is getting good response from public. On the other hand, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are missing from the campaign process. Are Sonia and Priyanka avoiding Maharashtra because they are worried about defeat in the state assembly polls? Speculations are rife in political circles that Gandhi family has already lost hope about winning the assembly polls. The campaigning for assembly polls will end on October 19. However, since the announcement of the election date, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have stayed away from campaigning in Maharashtra.

When our correspondent Nikhil Sagare spoke to Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant he said, “It is right that Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have skipped Maharashtra but Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Manmohan Singh, Shatrughan Sinha, Siddaramaiah have come to Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi had held rallies in the state.”

Only Rahul Gandhi attended the meetings. No decision has yet been taken by the party on Priyanka Gandhi’s roadshow in the state. While Rahul has till now campaigned for two days in Maharashtra both Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have not addressed any public meeting in the state. Sonia Gandhi has reduced her public engagements particularly election related in the recent past. She addressed only two key meetings – one while campaigning from her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and one more there to thank her voters for electing her.

NCP Mumbai president and spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “Sharad Pawar alone is enough to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. “

Sonia has not only stayed away from active campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls but also did not address any election rally in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in December last year. The Congress formed government in these states. The last time, she campaigned for an assembly election was in Telangana on November 23 last year.

Shiv-Sena, BJP and allies had organised a joint meeting on Friday. However, the Congress-NCP alliance have not organised a single joint  rally. Sharad Pawar and Rahul Gandhi did not have a joint meeting even during the Lok Sabha elections. Despite having an alliance both Congress-NCP have failed to have a joint meeting. A number of ministers and prominent leaders from the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, have campaigned in Maharashtra for the assembly elections. BJP leaders had held press meetings in major cities. They also have campaigned aggressively for assembly polls.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had come to Maharashtra for campaigning. However, Sonia Gandhi, who is the party’s interim president, did not come to Maharashtra. At a time when Congress is fighting for its existence prominent leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have stayed away from campaigning. Polling for Maharashtra will be held on October 21 and counting will take place on October 24.

By Suraj Chandran

Narendra and Devendra – One and One Eleven- Part II

The level of implementation of government schemes, central or state, was excellent – in urban as well as rural areas. Listing out those schemes will only lengthen the answer, hence avoided. But the proof of pudding was clearly felt in the Lok Sabha elections. Aadhaar linked bank accounts further helped curb leakages (they were on a massive scale) and warmed the hearts of people. Cut down on political and administrative corruption too.

One impressive thing that I have noticed in the administration of DF is the ability to prioritise. A state saddled with legacy problems needed such project management where more important problems were handled first, what was picked up was followed with great effort and nowhere a lack of focus was noticed.

Personally, I am unhappy with the Maratha reservation move. It may have political brownie points to score but is definitely immoral. I love reading history and know that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did not acquire his kingdom with the help of reservation. He and his progeny fought every inch of the way. It pities that people who call and pride themselves as Marathas seek reservation. But DF government was definitely immoral here.

Maharashtra has very poor record of road accident fatalities. There is no effort to even ascertain the causes of such accidents. Accident research is conspicuous by absence. No efforts are taken for educating the children in road rules and manners. Efforts to reach the CM for these areas have met with bureaucratic hurdles. It is a pity that a young and energetic CM of India and the very effective surface transport minister coming from the state have shown such apathy to these important points originating from their own states.

Overall, performance of Devendra Fadnavis government is appreciated by many and rates him as one of the best CMs of India today. When he became Maharashtra chief minister in 2014 at the age of 44, Fadnavis was the youngest person to occupy the state’s top job after Sharad Pawar (who was just 38 when he became CM in 1978). Now the speculation comes on who would be the deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, CM is going to be the same and there is no doubt.

For Shiv Sena, there will be no vacancy on the 6th floor of Mantralaya, the Maharashtra chief minister’s office in upscale South Mumbai, if the BJP leads its alliance back to power on October 24. Maharashtra politics have changed and so has the hie­rarchy in the saffron alliance. With a perceptible shift in its position, the BJP is now firmly in the driver’s seat, having relegated its ally Sena to play second fiddle in the ensuing assembly polls—a scenario few political pundits would have placed their wagers on five years ago. And by the looks of it, Devendra Fadnavis looks well on course for his second consecutive term in office. Back in 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP’s national president Amit Shah reposed trust in Fadnavis—only the second Brahmin leader since Shiv Sena’s Manohar Joshi to become the CM—there was no dearth of skeptics wondering whether the 44-year-old leader from Nagpur had it in him whatever it takes to govern the richest state, dominated by powerful Maratha satraps over the years. Five years on, Fadnavis has tightened his grip on the party and his deft handling of the Maratha reservation issue, among other things, appears to have further endeared him to the central leadership.

As the state goes to the polls on October 21, a weakened opposition has failed to build any anti-incumbency narrative against Fadnavis’s regime while his own party rivals have fallen by the wayside. The Sena—once the big brother in the all­iance—has been forced to play the secondary role despite harbouring ambitions to change the coalition’s power equation back to its original factory settings. Fadnavis, in the fray for his fifth term from Nagpur South West, has doubtless emerged as the undisputed leader of the BJP, which is contesting 164 out of the 288 seats along with a few smaller allies. Shiv Sena is left with only 124 seats in its kitty after weeks of intense seat-sharing negotiations with the BJP for a 50:50 formula bore no fruit. For the record, the BJP and the Shiv Sena had won 122 and 63 seats respectively after contesting the 2014 state polls separately. The BJP bosses apparently consider Fadnavis to be the best bet for the party. A leader with a clean image, he has consistently provided good governance to Maharashtra in the past five years, says Bhupender Yadav, the party’s national general secretary and in-charge of the Maharashtra elections. Hardly surprising then that the BJP sounds more than optimistic that Fadnavis will be rewarded by the electorate and sworn in again as the CM—the first in the state to have completed his full term since Congress’s Vasantrao Naik between 1963 and 1975. Political analysts believe that a second term will not only help Fadnavis grow in stature but also force Shiv Sena to keep its chief ministerial ambitions in abeyance for now, notwithstanding party chief Udd­hav Thackeray’s promise to his late father and party founder Balasaheb.


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Now Muslims to take Initiative for Ram Mandir

Ayodhya, Ram mandir, Ram mandir dispute, muslims, hin du-muslims, ayodhya dispute, supreme court, ram nadir hearing, ayodhya hearing , ranjan gogoi, cji, chied justice of india, supreme court hearing on ram mandir, muslims babri masjid, babri masjid, masjid, ram mandir-babri masjid, masjid-mandirThe judgement on the title suite case of the disputed 2.77 acre land in Ayodhya where make shift temple of Ram Lalla exists has been reserved by the five judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. There is a hope of resolution of the dispute between the two parties contesting the claim on the land.

To a great extent the credit for creating such cordial environment over the dispute goes to Lt. General (retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah former Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

Indian Muslims for Peace whose patron is Lt Gen Shah has in a Press statement said that many Muslim bodies are of the view that resolution to the Ayodhya dispute can be found in peaceful settlement of the issue between the two parties in dispute. He has prepared a draft that suggests Sunni Waqf Board to hand over the disputed land to Hindus.

On October 16 when the Supreme Court concluded the hearing the Panel of Mediators submitted this proposal before the Supreme Court to this effect. However, in Lucknow the Sunni Waqf Board functionaries have contradicted this news that says that the Waqf Board would hand over the disputed land to Hindus.

No doubt if the Ayodhya dispute is settled amicably it will give a big boost to the nation’s character of pluralism and help create communal harmony and will defeat forces that are inclined to create division between the two communities.

The Shias have already said that there should be a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and a new Mosque should be built outside Ayodhya on some other plot of land. Shia Board claims that the Babri Masjid was built by Mir Baqi. The Babri Masjid was maintained by the Shias and the Shia Waqf Board has the right on the land. But the Sunni Waqf Board has outright rejected the claim of the Shias on the disputed land in Ayodhya. But the Shia Board has submitted its stand on the land to the Supreme Court during the hearing of the set of petitions.

It is obvious that even in Muslim Society strong voice is emerging in favour of giving up claim on the disputed land in Ayodhya and handover the same to the Hindus to facilitate construction of Ram Mandir.

Although the Supreme Court judgement will be delivered only next month on or before November 17 when the present Chief Justice Gagoi will retire, efforts to resolve the dispute through peaceful negotiation should be welcomed and should be encouraged by all the right thinking people of the country. Hindu organisations should also stand firmly by those Muslims who favour peaceful settlement of the dispute.

Much water has flown down the river Saryu between 1992 when Babri Masjid was pulled down. Muslims have begun to realise that Hindus should be allowed to build Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Muslims, a majority of them also are in favour of respecting sentiments of Hindus. In India one can’t  think of India without Ram. Ram is in every soul every heart of Indians who are Hindus. Even many non-Hindus have reverence for Lord Ram. Md. Iqbal has written, “-है राम के वजूद पे हिन्दोस्ताँ को नाज़, अहल-ए-नज़र समझते हैं उस को इमाम-ए-हिंद”.

It is unfortunate that some so called secular forces are after noted archeologist Dr K K Mohammad. He has noted that remains of temple have been found under the Babri Masjid after some excavation works done by the Archeological Survey of India. The excavation was done under Prof B B Lal who was the head of the ASI then. Dr Mohammad was part of the Archeological Survey of India team that did the excavation work. Dr Mohammad has said that remains of  some pillars and domes were found during the excavation. These remains are similar to the pillars of temples built during 11th and 12th century. It should be noted that Babri Masjid was built in 16th century.

Dr Sayeed Ali Rizvi, Head of the Department of History in Aligarh Muslim University is uncomfortable with the observation of Dr Mohammad of ASI. Dr Rizvi has outright dismissed the observation of Dr Mohammad on remains of Hindu temple beneath the Babri Masjid. But Dr Rizvi’s claim is also dismissed by Rajnath Kao and others in the ASI.

 (The writer is a Member of Rajya Sabha)


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

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Will India lose its diversity and secularism?

Hindu rashtra, rajnath singh, defence minister, secularism, rafale jet, rafale, bjp, hindusim, muslims, buddhism, christian, shastra puja, rafale puja, It was a proud moment for Indians when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received the long-awaited French-made Rafale fighter jet. Every Indian was overjoyed with his country’s defense power. This special moment would be etched in the annals of India’s glorious history.

What was more in focus on that occasion is that Defence Minister of India performed a shastra puja on Rafale delivery as he emblazoned it with an ‘Om’. The step of defence minister to perform Puja, triggered a new controversy in the country as the opposition slammed the BJP-led government for giving a religious spin to the handover ceremony.

Though the BJP did not take criticism in this regard seriously and paid no attention to it but it is indeed a matter of serious concern particularly when a central minister performs puja or worship of a particular religion at the time when he receives state’s property. It’s good to do puja of new vehicles and it’s completely understandable and acceptable; no one has right to object it but Rafale is a state property and not personal. I as an Indian citizen, not only me but every Indian citizen believes that as long as the country is secular, it has no religion at all.

India always has been a country of different faiths like Muslims, Buddhists, Parsis, Christian, etc. which have a large or minor population spread across different parts of the country. So primarily, religion is just a matter of individual choice and it is a person’s faith and belief in our country not a state’s religion.

At one hand, we take pride over such diversity and multicultural integrity, but on the other hand, a particular group of people thinks of making India a “Hindu Rashtra” (Nation of Hindus) that certainly will lead the country to the distraction in every aspect of progress and development.

What a governmental official or minister believes or worships in his personal life does not matter but on official ground he cannot represent or propagate his particular religion because it is harmful for the secularism of the country.

If the defence minister would have been a Christian or a Muslim, what would have happened had they taken the Bible or Quran as per their religion like Rajnath Singh? It is observed in the present government that officials including prime minister of India give a religious turn to everything that belongs to the state whether it is an inauguration ceremony or any other occasion.

Such mind-set of the government gives rise to the question “Is Indian approaching towards Hindu Rashtra?” Will India lose its diversity and secularism as soon? Why are the people who object such mind-set being ignored in media?

Are people forgetting that India is a country where people celebrate Eid, Christmas, Diwali and other festivals together shoulder to shoulder and hand to hand? People should never forget that India is the largest democracy in the world where even the smallest number of religion following people live in peace and freedom. We celebrate our diversity every day in every span of life but do not realize it. We love the people who are excellent in their job and we celebrate their success irrespective of their religion.

By Faheem Usmani Qasmi


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Letters to the Editor: 18 October, 2019

letters to the editor, afternoon voice,

Make realistic promises

Tall promises seldom get fulfilled and voters should be smart enough to decide which leader if elected would really work in their constituency. Elections are examination time for candidates and politicians should not make false promises which they cannot fulfill. Promises should be realistic and not castles in the air to fool the voters. The tenure of Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister of Maharashtra has been fruitful and the dynamic CM in all probability would come to power for another term.

Infrastructure in Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular with work on several metro lines in full swing is the biggest achievement of the ruling govt.

However, we do need strong opposition as well to keep the government in check whenever they err and good honest leaders from every party should be sent to the Assembly for good governance.

S.N. Kabra

 

Fill every stomach

Indian has been a classified as a country with serious levels of hunger according to the 2019 Global Hunger Index. India was the lowest ranked among South Asian countries. India’s is ranked 102nd. It means that there are only, 15 others countries that are behind us. After strong improvement, India’s rank slipped from 93 in 2015. The report highlights some steps to be taken at once. Therefore we can do well to look at smaller economies to examine what they are doing differently than us so that we can follow them and remove poverty.

Tarique Anwar

 

Ban sale of khoya prepared by unorganised sector 

Consumption of khoya during festive-season of Diwali in Delhi much exceeds all probable capacity after procurement of milk, leading to sale and use of adulterated khoya for preparation of sweets. Central government should take all possible steps for heavy increase in production of khoya by organised sector and co-operative giants including like Mother Dairy, Amul, Saras, Delhi Milk scheme, Vita, Verka, Sudha etc.

Mother dairy and Amul having appreciable market-share in Delhi should also arrange door-delivery of khoya for bulk-purchasers on advance-booking in a routine manner. Mother Dairy markets khoya. But because of extra-ordinary fat-content, its product is not only costlier but is much hard to use. Mother Dairy should decrease fat-content in khoya to make it softer with its price comparable with that of khoya sold in open market by unorganised sector. Fat-content of khoya can be used for production of ghee and butter.

Madhu Agrawal


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Justice S A Bobde will be next Chief Justice of India

Ranjan Gogoi Sharad Arvind Bobde Supreme Court Judge,Ranjan Gogoi,Supreme Court Judge,Supreme Court,Sharad Arvind Bobde,S A BobdeChief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday sent a letter to the Centre recommending Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde , the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor.

According to official sources, Justice Gogoi wrote a letter to the Ministry of Law and Justice recommending Justice Bobde to be the next chief justice.

Justice Gogoi, who was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018, will demit the office on November 17.

Official sources said the chief justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge after him as his successor.

Justice S A Bobde was born on April 24, 1956 in Nagpur. His grandfather was a lawyer. His father Arvind Bobde was advocate-general of Maharashtra in 1980 and 1985. Justice Bobde’s elder brother late Vinod Arvind Bobde was a senior Supreme Court lawyer and a constitutional expert.

He completed his graduation at SFS College, Nagpur and studied Law at Nagpur University in 1978. Justice S A Bobde enrolled as an advocate on September 13, 1978 and practised at the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. Later on, he shifted to Mumbai.

Justice Bobde was appointed as an additional judge of Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. He joined as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 16, 2012. Justice S A Bobde was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on April 12, 2013.

Narendra and Devendra – One and One Eleven – Part I

Addressing a rally at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is BJP’s star campaigner appealed to voters to give Devendra Fadnavis a second chance, he predicted Fadnavis would be the next CM. He expressed full confidence that the BJP and the Shiv Sena would form the next government and predicted, the ruling parties may win more than 250 seats. Endorsing Fadnavis,  Modi said that Devendra had played a vital role in the state’s growth. Devendra fairly performed and he ruled for five years inspite of many attacks from opposition. He has implemented the Jalyukta Shivar scheme (rural micro irrigation) that has transformed the water situation in the countryside. I have spoken to quite a few people who vouch for its success. He has also stood his own amongst the Maratha giants and seems to have become popular as can be seen from the election victories he has delivered across the board.

A final aspect that is very interesting – recall the BJP CMs of the last generation i.e. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Vasundhara Raje to some extent and of course Modi. All these folks were their own people – won and ruled based on own ability and performance especially when the Centre was against them most of the time. Since Modi’s arrival at Centre and Shah’s election machinery, the new generation BJP CMs have had it easy as someone else wins elections for them and they keep relying on Modi-Shah. DF is an exception, he has carved out own space, campaigns himself without calling Centre and has shown results.

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is confident of retaining power in Maharashtra after the October 21 assembly elections. Though the Sena has repeatedly stressed in recent days that the next chief minister should be a Sainik, Devendra  Fadnavis is best placed to get the job for the second time if the alliance wins – unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah decide to make him a minister at the Centre. Devendra Fadnavis (DF) has been the most low key but very effective Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra in the last thirty years. And I am excluding those who warmed the seat for short or long duration based on someone’s grace rather than own merit.

He headed a minority government supported by a sulking and abusive party which was the dominant partner till recently in the state of Maharashtra and which took time to come to terms with the new normal. Whatever be the provocation, we did not find DF loose with words. He kept his cool, issued very measured statements and always kept the doors open for discussions and reconciliation. He kept the opposition, the two Congresses, divided right in the middle and they could never come together to pose a challenge to him and BJP.

He managed the internal discontent, normal for any party, extremely well. Bar one incidence, no other could go out of hand. In these days of quick anti-incumbency setting in, he worked effectively with the party president, central leadership and RSS to spread his party in the hitherto unknown areas for the party. In the municipal and gram panchayat elections, his party did not rely on the central leadership and yet displayed a very impressive performance. From just another party, BJP rose to be the most dominant party across the state. The other three lost to BJP in strongholds as well as other areas. The long-term spread, which the party will achieve in the years to come, will be fantastic. It also closed doors on the four corner contests of Maharashtra. The icing on the cake was the Lok Sabha elections where NDA decimated the Congress and severely truncated NCP.

After decades of declining economic power, the state has arrested the fall and turned around. Maharashtra is again the investment destination that it was for the four and a half decades after independence. The SME/MSME sectors are humming again and turnaround is round the corner. Infrastructure is the area that received the maximum push. In 2015 Maharashtra stood for unfinished roads, poorly maintained roads (Even the road to Ajanta Ellora was in a poor state), no efforts to enhance public transport, no care for neo-urbanisation and its challenges and badly clogged approaches to airports and sea ports.

The world is different now. Unfinished roads have been/are getting completed. Road maintenance has improved though not sufficiently. Public transport has received the maximum fillip. Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai Metros are already realities and the extent of work underway is mind-boggling. The public transport underway will solve the problems of the city for decades to come. One or two tough years we shall live with. In a city like Pune the metro connectivity will ensure that people will move out of the city to new urban centres. Clearance for airport, most notably the “always hanging fire Mumbai International Airport” and de-clogging of roads to seaports will again serve the state for a very long time.

The best parts about the infrastructure development are the excellent coordination between state and the central governments and the lack of corruption – which had reached institutionalised proportions under UPA.

In the year 2015, the agriculture in the state was moribund and irrigation projects mired in major corruption scandals. Water resource management was nowhere to be seen. Drinking water crisis loomed. The hegemony of APMCs has been now destroyed. These bodies were the tools in the hands of the mighty and powerful to squeeze the farmers and loot the consumers. And there was a complete monopoly so far as APMC was concerned. Changing the law and cutting these outdated and highly corrupt organisation to size ensured that the producers and the consumers could connect directly. This also broke the back of efforts to create artificial scarcity for onions, pulses etc. This helped not only the farmers but also the consumers across the country.

(This is the first part of the edit and remaining portion will continue tomorrow)


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Amit Shah trying to divert MNS vote towards Sena

Amit Shah,Uddhav Thackeray,Devendra Fadnavis,Maharashtra elections, bjp, shiv sena, chief minister maharashtra, maharashtra deputy chief minister post, aaditya thackeray, maharashtra assembly elections, elections 2019, assembly elections 2019With few days remaining for Maharashtra assembly polls, political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. Every party is trying its best to put up an impressive performance in the election. Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed confidence that Shiv Sena and BJP will get majority. Shah also added that BJP could get enough seats to form government on its own. Shah said that even Shiv Sena has an alliance with BJP but Chief Minister will be elected from BJP. He stated that Devendra Fadnavis and his team will take a decision pertaining to electing Deputy Chief Minister. Amit Shah is ensuring that all the votes which would have gone to MNS will be diverted towards Shiv Sena. MNS already is involved in anti-BJP campaigning and in such a scenario there was a possibility of some votes going towards MNS. He is trying to ensure that people vote for Shiv Sena.

When our correspondent Nikhil Sagare spoke to BJP worker Avdhut Wagh he said, “We are trying to divert all votes towards our party. Congress and NCP should not secure any votes and BJP should get all votes. Our motto is Congress free India. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be once again elected for second term. Fadnavis has said that if Shiv Sena is eyeing Deputy Chief Ministerial post then they should speak to BJP. Everything will be clear when results will come on 24th October.”

He said, “Party workers always put pressure on the alliance and party always thinks about its expansion. There is nothing wrong in this. BJP and Sena had contested the Lok Sabha polls together and had emerged victorious. We are contesting the assembly election together and will definitely win. Devendra Fadnavis will once again become the Chief Minister after assembly polls. He is the first chief minister of the state in nearly 50 years to complete a full five year tenure”

Congress spokesperson Hemlata Patil said, “No party will say that they will not win election. During election time every party says it. However people have different ideas.”

Amit Shah also predicted that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will get two-thirds majority in the forthcoming assembly polls. Shah said that BJP will improve its performance as compared to previous assembly polls where it had won 122 seats and was 22 seats short of the halfway mark. The Sena which traditionally have been the big brother in the alliance could bag only 63 seats leading to shift in the balance of power between allies. Initially Sena refused to support BJP but later on both parties joined hands to form the government with BJP getting the chief minister’s post.

Responding to a question on whether BJP will consider having Shiv Sainik as deputy chief minister. Shah said, “This is an issue that Devendra Fadnavis and his team will take a call on. They along with BJP’s parliamentary board will exchange opinions on the subject. All options are open right now.”

BJP is fighting on 164 seats in the upcoming state polls. When asked if the party would win enough seats to form the government on its own the Home Minister said, “Yes we can go that far. It is not impossible.”

On the other hand, Shiv Sena is eyeing the Deputy Chief ministerial post but BJP has remained non-committal on the issue. Polling for the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra will be held on October 21 and counting of votes will take place on October 24.