Kartik Lokhande's blog

Staff Reporter Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari, on Saturday morning, met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat. However, Gadkari later told mediapersons that there was no discussion on Maharashtra political situation between him and Bhagwat. Importance was attached to Gadkari’s meeting with Bhagwat on Saturday morning. Gadkari rode to RSS Building in Mahal on his two-wheeler. After meeting Bhagwat, Gadkari talked to media briefly. He said that he had met RSS Sarsanghchalak, as had been his practice for 25 years. “I visit Sangh Building and meet Sarsanghchalak on the occasion of Dussera and Diwali every year,” he said. Replying to a question, Gadkari said that he did discuss certain ‘important’ issues with RSS chief but quickly added that there was no discussion on political situation in Maharashtra. “There was no discussion on the issue you have been playing up, and also not on Chief Ministership of Maharashtra,” he told mediapersons. Union Mi...

NEWS ANALYSIS By Kartik Lokhande  Thursday, the first day of auspicious festivities of Navratri, proved to be unauspicious as far as two major political alliances in Maharashtra were concerned. While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena bid farewell to each other after a long association for 25 years, the present-day ruling allies Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also said ‘au revoir’ to each other after 15 years. As per the statements made by leaders of national parties BJP and Congress, the alliances had to be broken mainly because of adamance of regional parties Shiv Sena and NCP respectively over seat-sharing formula. However, there appears to be a pattern in the breaking of long-term alliances. The snapping of ties is aimed more at drubbing the regional parties Shiv Sena and NCP, by national parties BJP and Congress. There are a variety of reasons behind this. Of course, these reasons are not stated directly. As far as BJP-Sena alliance is ...

Anti-Black Magic Bill not against any religion: CM * Chavan assures to call a meeting of Group Leaders soon, appeals all parties to pass the Bill unanimously Staff Reporter Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, on Monday, said that Anti-Black Magic Bill was not against any religion but against the evil practices not suiting the civilised society. He appealed to members of both the Houses of State Legislature and representatives of various organisations against the Bill, to extend their whole-hearted support to passage of the Bill. Chavan was speaking after presentation on the draft of the Bill before legislators, representatives of various organisations opposing it, and also spiritual leader Govind Dev Giri Maharaj (Acharya Kishore Vyas). Social Justice Minister Shivajirao Moghe made brief introductory remarks before presentation by Secretary (Social Justice) R D Shinde, in the hall of Legislative Council, after adjournment of both the Houses of State Legislature. Chairma...

CM’s trick works, Opposition tries hand with counter-trick Staff Reporter After a gap of a few years, the Opposition leaders attended the customary tea-party hosted by Chief Minister on the eve of commencement of winter session of State Legislature. However, there are political undertones to the seemingly simple development. During the winter session commencing from Monday, more such political developments are likely to be witnessed. Usually, the Opposition cites reasons like failure of the Government in addressing the real issues of people, failure in ensuring all-round development of Vidarbha region, farmers suicides, corruption etc. There was a bit of a trouble within the Opposition constituents as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena boycotted the tea-party while Maharashtra Navnirman Sena attended it. MNS cited the reason that it wanted to discuss with Chief Minister the issues concerning people. This was perceived as crack within the Opposition. Chief...

Oppn should discuss issues in ‘given time’: Chavan * There will not be any  demand for statehood if issue of Vidarbha region’s development is addressed properly, says Chief Minister Staff Reporter Virtually ruling out the possibility of extending period of winter session from two weeks to four weeks, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan expected that the the Opposition would not waste time in disrupting proceedings and raise issues of public interest in ‘given time’. “I came to know from the meeting with the Opposition that it wants to raise several issues of importance during winter session. I expect them not to waste time in disrupting proceedings of the State Legislature, so that time available for the session was utilised effectively to discuss issues of public importance,” said Chavan. Addressing a press conference on Sunday evening at his official bungalow ‘Ramgiri’ here, after a meeting with the Opposition leaders and ministers, Chavan said that the Governme...

Political activities in Vid hot up, Pawar to tour region from 14th Staff Reporter Vidarbha region appears to have assumed centre-stage of political activities these days. After the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan addressing public meetings aimed at kick-starting their campaign, it is now the turn of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to visit the region. Though Pawar is visiting rain-hit parts of Vidarbha region in the capacity of Union Agriculture Minister, political observers say that he will also take stock of the party position during the tour. Interestingly, this will be second visit of Pawar to the region that has got five MLAs of his party. The region has two ministers of NCP namely Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anil Deshmukh and Food and Drugs Administration Minister Manoharrao Naik. More interesting is the fact that Sharad Pawar’s visit to the region comes ahead of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandh...

* Instability looms large with the NCP deciding to break alliance with BJP-Shiv Sena By Kartik Lokhande  Political instability and possibility of change in power-composition loom large in at least five Zilla Parishad (ZP) in Vidarbha, as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to part ways with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena wherever it had trucked with these parties. Wherever possible, NCP and Congress are exploring possibilities of coming together and oust BJP-Sena from power. A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of Coordination Committee of Congress and NCP in Mumbai. “Congress and NCP both have decided to restore confidence in each other. Next two months will see the process of parting ways with BJP-Sena across the State,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told ‘The Hitavada’. According to him, wherever possible, Congress and NCP would come together and muster enough numbers to oust BJP-Sena from power. While doing so, neither Congre...