Thackeray more popular than Fadnavis: Survey
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s popularity has soared, while leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis’s acceptance has dipped in the state, according to a survey. The survey by an independent organisation on 10,000 people has found that 59 per cent people believe that Thackeray has done well as a CM so far, while 53 per cent are unhappy with the performance of Fadnavis and 34 per cent are satisfied with his work. For the post of CM, 24 per cent people preferred the Shiv Sena chief over NCP leader Ajit Pawar (21%) and Fadnavis (19%).
Maharashtra govt’s ‘counter’ raid on Fadnavis aides
Soon after the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raid on the premises linked to Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik in Maharashtra last Tuesday in connection with a money-laundering case, there were discussions in the political circles that the party might take counter steps to target the Centre. In what could be seen as a counter-attack by Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Maharashtra Police has raided people close to former minister Girish Mahajan, who is believed to be the right-hand man of former CM Devendra Fadnavis, in connection with the alleged scam of a co-operative credit society in Jalgaon. The raids were conducted at the Jalgaon hideouts of Sunil Jhanwar, a businessman close to Mahajan.
Hyderabad civic polls a wake-up call for Sena
The Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election can be a wake-up call for the Shiv Sena ahead of the 2022 BMC elections. Among the notable leaders who have been campaigning for the party in Hyderabad are Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda, Union Minister Smriti Irani, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence in Hyderabad on Saturday as part of a “vaccine tour” added extra importance to the local polls. The same strategy can be used by the BJP to snatch Asia’s richest civic corporation from the Sena in Mumbai which has been ruling the body for the last 20 years. In 2017, the BJP had come close to coming victory by winning 84 seats in the 227-member corporation, while the Sena won 87 seats.
Aghadi’s dilemma: To probe or not to probe
The Maha Vikas Aghadi is in a catch-22 situation over probe into the `400-crore toll scam during the President rule. Governor Bhagat Singh Khoshyari had cleared the file during the President rule. As per the rules, the governor can’t take any financial decisions during the rule. Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders want to open the case to corner Khoshyari, who is sitting on a file of the list of 12 proposed nominated MLCs from the Governor’s quota. But sources said the MVA government is reconsidering against taking such a step as a few IAS officers, who are close to alliance’s leaders, are also allegedly involved in the scam.
Sudhir Suryawanshi
Our correspondent in Maharashtra
suryawanshi.sudhir@gmail.com