Tag Archives: maharashtra

Maharashtra: MVA Leaders Criticize EC’s Decision on 5-Phased Schedule, BJP Welcomes

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The ruling coalition front led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the five-phased poll schedule of the Election Commission (EC) in the state, saying it was ready for the poll-battle starting from April 19 till May 20.

However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders of Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Shiv Sena have voiced criticism against the Election Commission (EC) for scheduling the Maharashtra polls in five phases over a month, arguing that a shorter election duration could have sufficed.

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, president of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP, assured that his party is fully prepared for the elections and emphasized the importance of fair play in the electoral process. Bawankule asserted the BJP’s commitment to adhering to EC regulations and the Model Code of Conduct while aiming for significant victories both in the state and nationally.

However, Congress President Nana Patole expressed strong reservations about the five-phased election schedule, alleging that it favors the BJP. Patole criticized the EC for granting what he sees as undue advantage to the BJP, particularly after the party’s fracturing of key alliances in the state.

Similarly, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) State President Jayant Patil questioned the necessity of such a prolonged election process, particularly with significant gaps between phases.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut raised concerns about the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and questioned the motive behind the extensive five-phase schedule.

Adding to the chorus of dissent, NCP National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto questioned the BJP’s intentions behind the lengthy poll schedule, hinting at apprehensions surrounding the use of EVMs.

In contrast, BJP leader Bawankule exuded confidence in his party’s prospects, dismissing the opposition’s concerns as reflective of a defeatist mindset. He expressed optimism about the NDA and BJP’s chances of securing another term under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to enter Maharashtra today

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY) will enter Maharashtra at Nandurbar on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 and will culminate at the Chaityabhoomi in Mumbai’s Dadar, where the cremation of B.R. Ambedkar, the Architect of Constitution, was held.

A significant aspect of the event will be the formal closure of BJNY at Chaityabhoomi, officially known as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Mahaparinirvan Memorial, which features his bust and a statue of Lord Buddha. Chaityabhoomi holds reverence as a pilgrimage site annually on December 6, observed as ‘Mahaparinirvan Day’.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park holds historical significance, having hosted major meetings and gatherings during the British era and post-independence, drawing leaders from all political spectrums.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will be among the key speakers at the INDIA bloc public meeting, marking the formal launch of the united campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Notably, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed a massive rally at the same venue on December 28, 2003, ahead of the 2004 parliament elections, which saw the UPA, led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, come to power.

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to enter Maharashtra on March 12, 2024 (INC)

Kharge and Rahul Gandhi announced BJNY on December 27, 2023, the eve of Congress’ 139th anniversary, in the presence of top party leaders. Recently, a delegation of senior Congress leaders, including AICC Secretary Ashish Dua, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, Congress Legislature Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat, Mumbai unit party chief Varsha Gaikwad, met Director-General of Police Rashmi Shukla to ensure adequate security arrangements for Rahul Gandhi’s travel and the upcoming mega-rally on March 17.

Leaders such as Maharashtra unit party president Nana Patole, Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan, former CMs Sushilkumar Shinde, Prithviraj Chavan, among others, are finalizing Rahul Gandhi‘s BJNY route in the state and preparations for the CMS Park public meeting.

The BJNY, which started from Manipur on January 15, 2024 has traversed 6,700 km, spanning 110 Lok Sabha constituencies across 15 states. It will conclude with a public rally on March 17 at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, where top leaders of the national Opposition INDIA bloc will be attending.

 

 

Schedule for Assembly Bye-election in Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh,Odisha

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The Commission has decided to hold the bye-election to fill vacancies in the following Assembly Constituencies of Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha: –

Sl. No. Name of State Assembly Constituency No. & Name
Maharashtra 166-Andheri East
Bihar 178-Mokama
Bihar 101-Gopalganj
Haryana 47-Adampur
Telangana 93-Munugode
Uttar Pradesh 139-Gola Gokrannath
Odisha 46-Dhamnagar(SC)

Schedule for the bye election is as follows:

Schedule for Bye-election for Assembly Constituencies
Poll Events  Schedule

 
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification 7th October, 2022

(Friday)
Last Date of Nominations 14th October, 2022

(Friday)
Date for Scrutiny of Nominations 15th October, 2022

(Saturday)
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures 17th October, 2022

(Monday)
Date of Poll 3rd November, 2022

(Thursday)
Date of Counting 6th November, 2022

(Sunday)
Date before which election shall be completed 8th November, 2022

(Tuesday)

 

  1. ELECTORAL ROLLS

The Electoral Rolls for the aforesaid Assembly Constituencies w.r.t 01.01.2022 will be used for these elections.

  1.  ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES(EVMs) & VVPATs

The Comission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.

  1. IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS

Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, any of the below mentioned identification documents can also be shown at the polling station:

  1. Aadhar Card,
  2. MNREGA Job Card,
  3. Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office,
  4. Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour,
  5. Driving License,
  6. PAN Card,
  7. Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR,
  8. Indian Passport,
  9. Pension document with photograph,
  10. Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, and
  11. Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.
  12. Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card, M/o Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India

 

  1. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Parliamentary / Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification as issued vide Commission’s instruction No. 437/6/1NST/2016-CCS, dated 29thJune, 2017 (available on the commission’s website).

  1. INFORMATION REGARDING CRIMINAL ANTECEDENTS

Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through Television channels on three occasions during the campaign period. A political party that sets up candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about criminal background of its candidates, both on its website and also in newspapers and Television channels on three occasions.

Commission vide its letter No. 3/4/2019/SDR/Vol. IV dated 16th September, 2020 has directed that the period specified will be decided with three blocks in the following manner, so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates:

  1. Within first 4 days of withdrawal.
  2.   Between next 5th– 8thdays.
  3.   From 9th day till the last day of campaign (the second day prior to date of poll)

 (Illustration: If the last date for withdrawal is 10th of the month and poll is on 24th of the Month, the first block for publishing of declaration shall be done between 11th and 14th of the Month, second and third blocks shall be between 15th and 18th and 19th and 22nd of that Month, respectively.)

This requirement is in pursuance of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition(C) No. 784 of 2015 (Lok Prahari Vs. Union of India & Others) and Writ Petition(Civil) No. 536 of 2011 (Public Interest Foundation & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Anr.).

This information will also be available on an App titled, ‘know your candidates’.

  1. COVID RELATED ARRANGEMENT DURING BYE-ELECTION-

In view of overall improvement in the situation of COVID country wide and in view of withdrawal of restrictive measure under D M Act by NDMA/SDMA, it has been decided to follow the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India from time to time.  During the process of bye election, there should be continued focus on the five-fold strategy, i.e. Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour.  The District machinery should effectively monitor COVID situation and enforce the norms of COVID Appropriate Behaviour by prescribing requisite legal/administrative norms.

 

Bathukamma festival: Colourful flower show illuminates India Gate in Delhi [Photos]

First ‘crorepati’ in KBC 14: Kolhapur homemaker became first crorepati

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Sep 17 (IANS) Kavita Chawla, a homemaker from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, became the first ‘crorepati’ in the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 14’ hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.

The 45-year-old talked about how she was able complete her education, despite her father not being prepared to educate her after Class X. She was able to clear Class XII before marriage only because her teacher intervened and reasoned with her father.

Talking about how she prepared for the show, Chawla said: “I used to teach my son Vivek at home and have taught him from KG to Class VIII. I used to prepare for the show along with it because I have always dreamt about going to ‘KBC‘ since the time it began.

She continued: “When I used to teach him, I used to study as well and I knew that the knowledge would help me in the future. Whenever I used to get some time off from my household chores I would study to remain updated about current affairs and brush up my general knowledge.”

KBC 14./IANS

Kavita added that preparing for the show was not easy. “For a housewife, studies do feel like multitasking and on top of it I had a child and my in-laws to take care of,” Chawla said, adding: “Shouldering those responsibilities and also studying had me understand time management. I did not want to waste time by going out, for instance.”

It took her 21 years and 10 months to finally reach the hotseat and fulfil her dream. On many occasions, in fact, her son would prank her, claiming a call had come from the makers of the reality show.

“The journey from registrations to the hotseat is not that easy and is tediously long,” Chawla said. “Sometimes, when I would register, I would not get the call. Then when I did get the call, I did not get the call for the procedures that follow. If I got the call for an audition, I did not get the call for the interview. I took time to reach the hotseat because I was moving ahead step by step and it took really long to reach here,” she exclaimed.

Talking about meeting Amitabh Bachchan, Chawla said: “It was surreal. I was mesmerised by sir. The most beautiful part of meeting him was the conversations that we had and the most glorious part of meeting him was the time he announced my name for the hotseat and when I won Rs 1 crore.”

Chawla plans to invest the money she has won “in my son’s future because I want him to study further. I want my son to study and grow and make the country proud.” As for her, she said: “I want to travel across India and experience its beauty.”

Kavita Chawla will be seen on the hotseat on September 19 and 20 on ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 14’, Sony Entertainment Television.

IT Department conducts searches on some prominent business groups in Maharashtra

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The Income Tax Department carried out a search & seizure action on 25.08.2022 on two groups engaged in the business of sand mining, sugar manufacturing, road construction, healthcare, running of medical college etc. The search action covered more than 20 premises spread over Solapur, Osmanabad, Nashik & Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra.

During the course of the search operation, a large number of incriminating evidences, in the form of hard copy documents and digital data have been found and seized. These evidences reveal various modus-operandi of tax evasion adopted by the group including booking of bogus expenses, undisclosed cash sales, unexplained loans/ credit entries, etc.

In case of the group engaged in sand mining and sugar manufacturing, documentary evidences of unaccounted cash sales of sugar exceeding Rs. 15 crore have been found & seized. The search action has revealed that the group has introduced its unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans in its books of accounts. Several lenders to the group, as well as promoters of the group have admitted that unaccounted cash generated by the group exceeding Rs. 10 crore was routed in its books of account in this manner.

Evidences of capital gains of about Rs. 43 crore on sale of assets by a non-filer corporate entity have also been seized.

In the other group engaged in the business of healthcare and running of medical college, as also road construction, evidences of undisclosed cash receipts representing capitation fee and refund of salary and stipend paid to the doctors/PG students have been found. Moreover, evidences regarding booking of bogus expenses and contractual payments etc. have been found & seized. Preliminary estimates of such undisclosed income of the group is to the tune of Rs. 35 crore.

Income-Tax

So far, the search action has led to detection of unaccounted income of more than Rs. 100 crore.  Further, undisclosed assets of more than Rs. 5 crore have also been seized.

Further investigations are in progress.

Bird Flu spreads to MP, Maharashtra

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As of Saturday, 16 January, 2021, cases of Avian Influenza have been confirmed in poultry in Latur, Parbhani, Nanded, Pune, Solapur, Yavatmal, Ahmednagar, Beed and Raigad districts of Maharashtra and the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh.

The Avian Influenza has been confirmed in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh (crow); Surat, Navsari and Narmada districts of Gujarat (crow); Dehradun district of Uttarakhand (crow); Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh (crow). Additionally, in Delhi, Pigeon and brown fish owl in Najafgarh and Heron  in Rohini have tested positive for avian influenza.

As per the report, received from Central Poultry Development Organisation Mumbai, Govt of India unusual mortality of poultry have been found in the farm. The samples have been sent to the designated laboratory for testing.

In the State of Chhattisgarh RRTs has been deployed and culling of poultry is underway in epicentre of Balod district. Further, in Madhya Pradesh also RRTs have been deployed. Culling operation of poultry is underway in the epicentre of Harda district of Madhya Pradesh.

The central teams formed for monitoring the situation in the affected areas of the country are visiting the affected sites and conducting epistemological studies.

States have been requested to rethink their decisions to impose ban on sale of poultry and poultry products and allow selling of poultry and poultry products sourced from the non-infected areas/states. It is reiterated that consumption of well cooked chicken and eggs is safe for humans.

Consumers are advised not heed to baseless rumours that are unscientific and often lead to confusion. These adversely affect poultry and egg markets and thereby poultry and maize farmers, who are already affected by the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown.

Following the advisories of the department, states are undertaking awareness generation activities through newspaper advertisements, social media platforms etc. Also, continues efforts to generate awareness about Avian Influenza and how to deal with the situation is being shared among the general public through various media platforms including social media platforms like Twitter and Face book handles.