Kartik Lokhande's blog

  * General body meeting adjourned as Opposition members create noisy scenes, raise slogans against OCW Staff Reporter The general body meeting of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) held on Saturday was stormy. As expected, the Opposition corporators led by Vikas Thakre, Leader of Opposition, raised the issue of excess payment of Rs 26 crore to Orange City Water (OCW) and alleged that the ruling side and administration were both shielding the private firm. Thakre raised the issue during question hour. Quoting from the audit para of Accountant General, Thakre said that NMC had made excess payment of Rs 26 crore to OCW. “I want to know if the AG’s observation is correct,” he said. Sanjay Gaikwad, Executive Engineer, tried to give an explanation but Thakre said that he wanted answer in ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Shravan Hardikar, Municipal Commissioner, intervened and informed the House that AG had sent a query to NMC, which was replying to the same with material facts. “...

* AICC chief Sonia Gandhi calls meeting of all state unit chiefs of party on October 28 in Delhi, to assess the situation Staff Reporter Defeated in Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Congress has now started blaming ‘problem with EVMs’ for its rout. Manikrao Thakre, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President who resigned recently, said that the party was receiving several complaints from its candidates raising doubts over functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). “There is need for conducting a probe into this,” said Thakre while addressing a press conference in Nagpur on Saturday. However, he said that the party would not lodge official complaint against EVMs with Election Commission of India. “It is for the individual candidates to take appropriate decision,” he added. He told mediapersons that Sonia Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) President, had called a meeting with chiefs of all state units of the party...

23-05-14 Congress blames LBT, State Govt inaction, non-cooperation of NCP for debacle in LS poll in Nagpur By Kartik Lokhande In the post-poll analysis of debacle of Congress in Nagpur city and Ramtek constituencies of Lok Sabha, the leaders from the city and district blamed various factors including imposition of Local Body Tax (LBT), inaction of State Government, and non-cooperation of ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre have been conducting constituency-wise meetings to arrive at the reasons for the party’s poor show in recently held Lok Sabha elections. On Friday, assessment meeting for Nagpur city and Ramtek constituencies was held in Mumbai. Selected leaders including Congress candidates Mukul Wasnik (candidate from Ramtek) and Vilas Muttemwar (candidate from Nagpur) were invited for the meeting. EGS Minister Dr Nitin Raut, Minister of State for Finance Rajendra Mulak...