Tag: MVA

Koshyari had informed me about MVA leaders’ ‘threatening’ letter: Fadnavis

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that he had been informed by former governor B S Koshyari that MVA leaders had written a letter with a threatening tone to the ex-governor over MLC nominations and refused to withdraw it.
The deputy CM’s remarks come a day after Koshyari defended his stand to sit on the nominations for 12 Members of the Legislative Council under the governor’s quota when Uddhav Thackeray led the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
Koshyari had said that MVA leaders had tried to browbeat him over the MLC nominations.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Fadnavis said, “As per my information, MahaVikas Aghadi leaders had visited Raj Bhavan and met (then) governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. The governor told me that MVA leaders had written a letter in a threatening tone. He had even asked them to re-submit a fresh letter but due to their ego, they refused to do it.”
The MLC nominations were a major flashpoint between the then MVA government and Koshyari, who recently resigned as the Maharashtra governor.
Leaders from MVA, which comprises the Thackeray group, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, had also accused Koshyari of acting at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was in the opposition then.
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#Koshyari #informed #MVA #leaders #threatening #letter #Fadnavis
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 21, 2023
Maha: MVA, others seek probe into scribe’s ‘murder’, decry lawlessness

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Mumbai: The Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), Bombay Union of Journalists and Peoples Union for Civil Liberties have demanded a probe into the ‘murder’ of Ratnagiri journalist Shashikant Warishe — who succumbed after being knocked down by a vehicle under suspicious circumstances — here on Wednesday.
Warishe, a crusading scribe working for ‘Mahanagri Times’ publication, met with an “accident” late on Monday and succumbed on Tuesday morning, sparking a furore in state media circles.
He had been writing a series of articles campaigning against the proposed Ratnagiri Refinery and petrochemicals mega-complex coming up with foreign collaboration, at Barsu, near the original location of Nanar.
It is alleged that Warishe was run down by a speeding vehicle of one Pandharinath Amberkar, who is a strong supporter of the refinery complex, ostensibly to teach him a lesson.
Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe, Sena (UBT) national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, BUJ’s Indra Kumar Jain and PUCL’s Mihir Desai and Lara Jesani have strongly condemned what they suspect is a ‘well-planned murder’ of the activist-journalist.
Londhe said that even since the government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis came to power (in June 2022), attacks on the mediapersons doing their jobs are increasing in Maharashtra, undermining the independence of the fourth pillar of Democracy.
“The killing of a journalist like this is an atrocious attack on democracy and a blot on a progressive and tolerant state like Maharashtra. Law and order has deteriorated under the Shinde-Fadnavis regime. Ruling party MLAs fire guns openly, threaten to beat up people, assault officials, beat up principals, etc.,” said Londhe.
Tiwari said that it was indeed a grim scenario with the media being threatened in this manner with attacks for exposing the government or its policies and officials, and called for urgent steps from Fadnavis who holds the home portfolio.

Urgent for a speedy and fair probe, Desai and Jesani demanded compensation and security for Warishe’s family, and stopping all land acquisition work pertaining to the proposed refinery project till the locals’ views are taken into account.
Quoting local reports, Jain said that Warishe was dragged for over 100 metres under Amberkar’s vehicle before he fled the spot, leaving the journalist profusely bleeding on the Rajapur Highway.
“The incident came soon after Warishe had published Amberkar’s photos with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde and Fadnavis. Amberkar has been accused of land-grabbing and intimidating the locals or activists who are opposed to the refinery project,” said Jain.
On Tuesday, the All India Marathi Patrakar Sanghi, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, the Mantralay Ani Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh urged the government to take immediate action in the matter and ensure the most stringent punishment for the guilty.
Media organisations have also submitted a memorandum to the state government condemning the incident and ensuring an impartial probe into the ‘heinous killing’ of Warishe.
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#Maha #MVA #seek #probe #scribes #murder #decry #lawlessness
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 8, 2023
Adani imbroglio: MVA, locals worry over fate of mega Dharavi revamp project

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Mumbai: As the Adani Group battles its current crisis on multiple fronts, the Maharashtra Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and residents of Dharavi on Thursday raised questions over the fate of the ambitious redevelopment project for Asia’s biggest slum.
In end-November 2022, the state government had finalised Adani Properties Ltd.’s bid to invest Rs 5,069 crore in the Dharavi redevelopment mega project.
At that time, the Metropolitan Commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), S.V.R. Srinivas, had said that the proposal would be sent for the state government’s approval, a special purpose vehicle would be formed, and if all goes well, “the project shall kick-start by February 2023”.
When his reactions were sought again on Thursday, Srinivas said that he would not like to comment on the matter right now, “maybe after 2-3 days”.
However, state Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant feels that all is not well considering the nosediving of Adani Group shares and its probable cascading effect on the Indian economy.
“The Maharashtra government must clarify its stand on the Dharavi redevelopment project. Will it allow the fate of lakhs of people to be connected to a company whose fate itself seems to be in jeopardy,” Sawant asked.
Shiv Sena (UBT) national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari claimed that the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was ‘deliberately toppled’ (in June 2022) so that the Adani Group could be given various big projects.
“Why just Dharavi? What about the future of the Navi Mumbai International Airport and other major projects which have been given to the Adani Group? The Centre and the Maharashtra government must immediately clarify and cancel the allotments,” Tiwari demanded.

The Dharavi Rehabilitation Committee (DRC) representing the local residents is virtually panicking over the fast-paced developments in the financial sector which are grabbing gloomy headlines daily.
“The Adani Group’s reliability and credibility is now in serious doubt… We feel that they may not be able to take up and complete this project on time. So, we are asking the Maharashtra government to re-tender it and give it to another party,” DRC President Raju Korde told IANS.
A meeting of the DRC shall be held later on Thursday night to finalise the strategy, besides writing to the state government to call for re-bids and award the project to a financially sound investor or consortium, he added.
In fact, in mid-January, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had brought the Dharavi revamp proposal to the global centre-stage in Davos, where he extolled it as “the largest public-private-partnership (PPP) real estate programme for slum redevelopment”.
Terming it as an “environment-friendly project”, Shinde had said that around 56,000 families would be rehabilitated there with free homes of 300 sq ft to each slum-dweller there”, wowing an influential audience at the World Economic Forum held in the ski-resort in Switzerland.
With an estimated timeline of around 15 years, the project – bedeviled by many problems and failed attempts for a makeover for over 15 years – will see construction of over 10 million sq ft, giving a total face-lift to the 520-acre locality.
Dharavi – literally meaning ‘quicksand’ – is notorious as the dirty underbelly of Mumbai, housing over 10 lakh people crammed into a 2.1 sq km corner. But it is supposed to transform itself from an ugly duckling to a glittering district with swank buildings, wide roads, residential and commercial areas, schools, hospitals, gardens, playgrounds etc. planned there.
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#Adani #imbroglio #MVA #locals #worry #fate #mega #Dharavi #revamp #project
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
No talks in MVA over taking Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA on board: Sharad Pawar

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Kolhapur: Days after Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) forged an alliance, NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that so far no talks were held among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents about taking the VBA on board.
Pawar said the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Thackeray-led Sena will contest the upcoming elections together.
He was talking to reporters at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
Responding to a query about the Sena (UBT) and VBA’s alliance, the former Union minister said, “No talks were held (in the MVA) regarding Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA ahead of the elections. We do not know what is going on between the two parties…we will not discuss anything over it.”
“Congress, NCP, and Thackeray-led Sena will together contest upcoming elections. We have not held any discussion with Ambedkar,” he said.
The NCP and Thackeray-led Sena are part of the MVA along with the Congress. The three-party alliance was in power from 2019 till the end of June last year. The government led by Thackeray collapsed following a rebellion by his party’s senior leader Eknath Shinde and his supporting MLAs, who joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and came to power.
The BJP has reportedly said that it will seek MVA’s support so that the upcoming by-polls to the Kasba and Chinchwad assembly seats in Pune are held unopposed. Byelections are necessitated as the sitting BJP MLAs from these seats died recently. When asked about it, Pawar said, “I don’t know to whom (state BJP chief) Chandrakant Patil is writing a letter about it. I have no information on that. I don’t know how he didn’t think about unopposed elections during the by-polls in Kolhapur and Pandharpur.”
When asked about the early morning oath-taking ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in November 2019, the NCP president replied, “It’s been two years now. Why are you raking up that topic?”

After the 2019 Assembly poll results, Fadnavis had returned as chief minister with Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23 that year. Both were sworn in a hush-hush early morning ceremony, but the government lasted only 80 hours.
On a query about Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, Pawar said he is trying to bring together leaders of various parties.
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#talks #MVA #Prakash #Ambedkarled #VBA #board #Sharad #Pawar
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
Thackeray-Ambedkar ‘unity’ rattles Maha politics; MVA lauds, BJP trashes

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Mumbai: Ending two months’ political suspense, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) entered into a brand-new ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ alliance here, coinciding with the 97th birth anniversary of the late Balasaheb Thackeray, on Monday.
Uddhav, 62, ex-Chief Minister and son of Balasaheb Thackeray, and Ambedkar, 68, the grandson of the Chief Architect of Indian Constitution Dr B. R. Ambedkar, jointly made the formal announcement of the new political tie-up intended to electrify the state political scenario, with plans to fight the upcoming BMC civic elections.
Addressing the media, Thackeray recalled how his grandfather, Keshav Sitaram, alias Prabodhankar Thackeray, and Ambedkar’s grandfather Dr B.R. Ambedkar were good friends and had followed the ideology of ‘Desh Pratham’ (Nation First).
“We are now coming together to safeguard the nation and raise the concerns of the masses. We will take decisions on the next political courses in due time,” said Thackeray.
Declaring that the BJP is trying to finish off political leadership with the help of central agencies like the ED, Ambedkar forecast that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership will end soon”, and the ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ tie-up will work to save the Constitution and Democracy.
Thackeray claimed that the new partnership has been discussed beforehand with the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies comprising Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-Sena (UBT), while Ambedkar expressed the hope that the MVA would soon accept the VBA.
The duo – Thackeray, flanked by senior leaders like MPs Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and ex-minister Subhash Desai, and Ambedkar, accompanied by state president Rekha Thakur and Mumbai chief Abul Hassan Khan – expressed confidence that the new force would prove beneficial in dethroning the Bharatiya Janata Party and would work in tandem with other political parties.
Confirming that Thackeray had discussed the partnership with Ambedkar, Congress state President Nana Patole welcomed the new ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ alliance saying it will help the Opposition parties’ ambitions of dislodging the BJP in the state and Centre.

NCP leader Anil Deshmukh also welcomed the Sena (UBT)-VBA tie-up saying all parties have a right to make their alliances.
Sena (UBT) Chief Spokesperson Raut pointed out that the ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ experiment had been carried out in the past and “it was the desire of the late Balasaheb Thackeray that these two forces should unite in the state”.
Asked what will be the impact of the tie-up in the upcoming civic polls, Ambedkar said it will work with other MVA parties, “will succeed and emerge victorious”.
In his first reaction, Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed his ‘good wishes’ to the new entity, while the ally and BJP’s leaders like Union Minister Narayan Rane and state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule trashed it saying it will make no difference to the party.
Criticising the tie-up, Rane asked ‘where is the Shiv Sena’ and ‘what has Ambedkar done for Dalits’, while Bawankule predicted that the alliance will not last long.
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#ThackerayAmbedkar #unity #rattles #Maha #politics #MVA #lauds #BJP #trashes
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 23, 2023