Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal, who was having a smooth sailing, has started facing opposition within the party. Aggrieved leaders within Congress have started airing their dissent in public. Some senior Congress leaders, who were instrumental in Sapkal’s appointment as state party chief, are now taking a different stand. In Solapur, Congress workers staged a protest demanding Sapkal’s removal from the post. Some leaders rushed to Delhi to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. However, Kharge is in no mood to replace Sapkal for now. The dissident leaders have started mobilisation on a larger scale.
A marriage plan puts poaching ops on hold
Marriages are considered a happy moment for the couples and families. The same has turned out to be true for NCP SP chief Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule, an MP. Supriya’s daughter Revti has got engaged with Nagpur-based Sarang Lakhani whose father was recently elected unopposed as a BJP MLC. Lakhani’s family has strong ties with the RSS and BJP. The marriage plan has given a short relief to the Pawar family. The reason: BJP and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde have decided to put poaching of NCP SP MPs on hold till Revati and Sarang are married. The poaching operation may be carried out after the marriage.
Civil contractors face kickback trouble
The engineers who turned civil contractors held a meeting in Kolhapur to discuss growing demands for kickbacks. They said 56% of the total cost of a government project goes in paying kickbacks. This results in inferior quality work. They complained to the authorities about the problem. However, they found that junior engineers to secretaries and local body members to ministers all want to be paid. The contractors are at their wit’s end on whom approach for justice. These engineering graduates decided to start their own business. They started their business with great hope but soon realised the systemic hurdles to fair business.
Sudhir Suryawanshi
Our correspondent in Maharashtra
suryawanshi.sudhir@gmail.com