Adani word raises storm
With elections round the corner, Maharashtra is yet again on a boil, while the BJP finds itself handling a hot potato.
Ajit Pawar has revealed that industrialist Gautam Adani, known to be close to Narendra Modi, was part of a meeting to discuss a possible alliance of the NCP with the BJP — five years ago. The alliance was short-lived, with Ajit Pawar yet again doing a volte-face.
Gujarat is a tricky issue in Maharashtra. There have been widespread allegations that lucrative projects in the state is being handed out to Gujarat by the regime led by Eknath Shinde, with BJP and Ajit Pawar’s breakaway NCP group as allies. The Adani word therefore is bound to create another storm even when the ruling regime finds itself on a sticky wicket electorally. They did preety badly in the Lok Sabha polls of 2024, with the Congress gaining ground in the state.
The question is that why is Ajit Pawar playing this card?
Baramati once again
Talking of Ajit Pawar, he seems to be in a tough fight with his nephew in Baramati, his stronghold. Ajit Pawar is facing Yugendra Pawar in the state polls. The situation becomes tricky because his wife, Sunetra, lost to his cousin, Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, in the Lok Sabha polls. Sule won by a huge margin of 1.5 lakh votes from Baramati.
Meanwhile, top leaders of both the alliances, the ruling Mahayuti, and the opposition Mahavikas Aghadi, are gearing up for the final round. Devendra Phadnis and Eknath Shinde are in the fray.
Shinde is contesting from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat in Thane district. He has won this seat since 2009. Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded the nephew of Anand Dighe, Kedar Dighe, against Shinde. The irony is that Anand Dighe is a big name. Shinde learned his ropes from Dighe.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP is contesting from Nagpur South-West seat against Praful Vinod Gudade (Patil) of the Congress. This is a Fadnavis bastion, and the headquarters of the RSS.
Aaditya Thackeray is contesting. Uddhav Thackeray is not contesting. Aaditya Thackeray is fighting from the Worli seat; he won here by over 70,000 votes last time. He was a cabinet minister in the Mahavikas Aghadi government, and is a leader of the party’s youth wing. This time, he is facing Milind Deora, earlier with the Congress, who is contesting on a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) ticket.
A ban on bulldozer brutality
With the apex court stopping the use of bulldozers in UP, another phase of bullying and brutality seems to be ending in UP. The court’s order has been widely appreciated by the opposition party.
The Samajwadi Party said on X, “The bulldozer action is totally unjust, unfair, unconstitutional and illegal. BJP governments should stop doing injustice in the name of law and justice. Bulldozers put not just one person, but the whole family on the streets and even innocent people become scapegoats.
Picture taken from the X handle of Eknath Shinde.