Tag: Shiv Sena

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BJP, Shiv Sena Deadlock Over Maharashtra Lok Sabha Seats

CM Shinde is not ready to give Thane seat considering it as a matter of prestige….reports Asian Lite News

Despite burning the midnight oil over hard negotiations, the stalemate continues between BJP and Shiv Sena over six Lok Sabha seats, including Thane, Palghar, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis held three rounds of talks so far but could not arrive at a consensus as both have taken aggressive stands claiming the winnability factor in those six seats. Insiders from both parties pointed out that CM Shinde and DyCM Fadnavis have hinted that the workable solution will now be possible only after the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Of the six seats, Thane is held by Shiv Sena UBT after the split in June 2022, Palghar by Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde), Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg by Shiv Sena UBT, Nashik by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Dharashiv (until recently known as Osmanabad) by Shiv Sena UBT and Sambhajinagar by AIMIM.

The bone of contention is that BJP has staked claim over Thane, Palghar, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Sambhajinagar and Nashik while Shinde faction has made a strong pitch not to leave these seats to BJP. Both parties claim their better winning prospects riding on Modi wave and Modi ki guarantee.

CM Shinde is not ready to give Thane seat considering it as a matter of prestige. Incidentally, Thane is CM Shinde’s home turf. On the other hand, BJP has argued that after the split in Shiv Sena, Shinde faction lacks a formidable candidate to take on sitting MP Rajan Vichare from the Shiv Sena UBT.

In Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, CM Shinde is under tremendous pressure from Industry Minister Uday Samant and his brother Kiran Samant to field the party nominee instead of leaving it to BJP. However, BJP is keen to nominate former Union Minister Narayan Rane and hopes to snatch the seat from Shiv Sena UBT. In Palghar too, BJP is confident to win the seat based on its increased presence and also because of the work of RSS and organisations affiliated to it. BJP hopes to get support from Hitendra Thakur-led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi in Palghar.

Similarly, in Sambhajinagar, which was until recently known as Aurangabad, Shinde faction has considered the nomination to the party’s Minister Sandipan Bhamre or Maratha reservation activist Vinod Patil. On the other hand, BJP has made a strong pitch for Sambhajinagar seat as the party believes that it was in a comfortable position to take the advantage of divided opposition and cracks within Shiv Sena UBT. The Union Minister Bhagwat Karad is BJP’s likely nominee in Sambhajinagar. The Shiv Sena UBT has announced its nomination to former MP Chandrakant Khaire.

On top of it, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s claim over Nashik has made the ongoing seat-sharing process more complicated. NCP Minister and Samata Parishad founder Chhagan Bhujbal has claimed that his nomination has been pitched by none other than senior BJP leaders which has clean bowled the Shiv Sena in particular. The sitting MP Hemant Godse has already launched his campaign without waiting for the official announcement of seat-sharing agreement while Bhujbal is confident to get the nomination from his party.

Bhujbal has categorically made it clear that he will contest the Nashik seat on the party’s clock symbol and not on BJP’s lotus. However, the local BJP is not in tune with Bhujbal’s proposal citing that it has three legislators and the backing of over 70 former corporators from the Nashik Municipal Corporation and also from the adjoining Trimbakeshwar civic body.

As far as Dharashiv seat is concerned, Shiv Sena UBT has already nominated sitting MP Omraje Nimbalkar who has started his campaign by stepping up outreach with voters. BJP is expected to field party legislator and former Minister Rana Patil while Shinde faction is finding it difficult for a suitable nominee who can take on Om Raje Nimbalkar. NCP led by Ajit Pawar hopes to get the Dharashiv seat and it has already shortlisted three names, including party legislators Satish Chavan and Vikram Kale and the district officer-bearer Suresh Birajdar.

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Sena Likely to Replace Sitting Ramtek MP With Former Congress MLA

The Sena is confident that the BJP and independent legislator Ashish Jaiswal will work for Parwe to ensure his victory….writes Sanjay Jog

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is likely to drop Krupal Tumane, its sitting MP from Ramtek Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha, and field Congress MLA Raju Purwe, who joined the party on Sunday, instead.

The change stems from opposition from ally BJP to Tumane’s renomination, as well as an internal survey, which also cites his bleak prospects due to a lack of connection with the voters and among the allies.

The announcement is expected soon as the last date for filing the nomination is March 27 and the polling is on April 19 in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Incidentally, the Congress has already fielded Rashmi Barve from Ramtek.

Parwe, who quit as the Congress legislator from the Umred (SC) constituency and joined the Sena in the presence of CM Shinde, is likely to get the ticket.

The party believes that Parwe will be in a position to woo the traditional voters of the Congress. Of the six Assembly segments in Ramtek, which include Umred, Karol is held by the NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction, Savner by the Congress, Hingana and Kamthi are with the BJP, and Ramtek is held by an independent.

The Sena is confident that the BJP and independent legislator Ashish Jaiswal will work for Parwe to ensure his victory.

“Party’s internal survey has been quite negative for Tumane if he is re-nominated. Recently, he had also told the senior leaders in the party that he may have to struggle to retain the seat. On top of it, the BJP has indicated its strong reservations over Tumane’s renomination. However, there is unanimity between the BJP, our party and the NCP of Ajit Pawar to make all efforts to win 45 plus seats in Maharashtra. Therefore, Tumane will have to be replaced,” a Sena leader said.

The leader added that Parwe is being considered for the Ramtek seat.

Another leader said that the BJP had staked claim over the Ramtek seat, citing Tumane’s poor track record as the MP in the last five years.

“The BJP had argued that the party with its strong organisational base is in a comfortable situation to win Ramtek. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule had sought that CM Eknath Shinde be generous over its claim for Ramtek seat. Moreover, its proximity to Nagpur where party veteran Nitin Gadkari is contesting for the third time in a row will be another advantage for the cadre and RSS workers to work in Ramtek also,” the leader said.

Shinde faction argued that by nominating Parwe, the party, along with the BJP and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, will be able to get support from Scheduled Castes which constitute 17.5 per cent of the electorate, followed by 11 per cent of Scheduled Tribes and over 65 per cent rural voters.

During the 2019 elections, Tumane won with 594,827 votes defeating his Congress rival Kishor Gajbhiye who got 468,738. In 2014, Tumane defeated Congress candidate Mukul Wasnik from the same constituency, bagging 519,892 votes against Wasnik’s 344,101.

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EC to decide which faction is real Shiv Sena

Senior advocates Maninder Singh, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, and Mahesh Jethmalani, assisted by advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh, argued for the Shinde faction…reports Asian Lite News

In a big setback to Uddhav Thackeray’s faction, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stop the Election Commission from deciding the claim of Eknath Shinde group to be the real Shiv Sena.

After a day-long hearing, a constitution bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud dismissed the interlocutory application filed on behalf of Thackeray’s faction. The apex court’s decision is very significant in view of the impending Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, where both Shinde and Thackeray factions would like to contest the poll.

The bench — also comprising Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha — said there would not be any stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission on intra party dispute and ‘bow and arrow’ symbol of the party. “We direct that there would be no stay of the proceedings before the Election Commission of India,” it said.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A.M. Singhvi and Devadatt Kamat represented the Thackeray’s faction. Sibal submitted that Shinde cannot approach the EC once he has incurred disqualification, saying “I challenged the very locus of the person who moved the EC”.

Sibal clarified that Shinde has incurred disqualification as his various acts amounted to “voluntarily giving up membership of the party” under the Tenth Schedule, and he also violated the party whip, which is also covered by the Tenth Schedule.

The Thackeray camp vociferously argued that since disqualification of Shinde and the MLAs supporting him was pending, therefore EC cannot consider their application over the party and the symbol. However, the top court declined to entertain this contention.

Senior advocates Maninder Singh, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, and Mahesh Jethmalani, assisted by advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh, argued for the Shinde faction.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar represented the Election Commission.

Shinde’s faction counsel argued that under Article 324 of the Constitution, the EC possesses plenty of powers to deal with any situation which arises in relation to political parties and several party members have sent their representations to the EC supporting the Shinde group.

Kaul submitted that the nature of enquiry under Tenth Schedule and the Symbols Order are different.

Shinde’s faction counsel claimed a hopeless minority sought to remove him from the party, and contended that the Speaker, under the Tenth Schedule, has to exercise power to determine disqualification of a member and he cannot decide on the split or merger within a political party. Shinde faction counsel vehemently argued that a party member’s right to move the EC cannot be taken away.

The EC counsel argued that it worked independently, and its functions are different when compared with the Speaker. The counsel added that it can decide who held the majority in the party.

Shinde and his faction had rebelled against Thackeray, which forced him to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

Shiv Sena’s General Secretary Subhash Desai had moved the apex court saying that Shinde and other MLAs, have purportedly initiated proceedings under para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 (Symbols Order) seeking to be recognised as the “real Shiv Sena” by the EC. Desai added that they are also claiming the right to use the election symbol of “bow and arrow” allotted to Shiv Sena.

Thackeray faction claimed that since the disqualification matter is pending in the apex court, Shinde faction are trying to illegally cobble up numbers and fabricate an artificial majority in the organisation.

The apex court, on July 11, asked the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker not to go ahead with proceedings on the disqualification petitions.

ALSO READ-BJP needles Shiv Sena in Thackeray Jr’s bastion

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BJP needles Shiv Sena in Thackeray Jr’s bastion

Hitting back, Ahir said if they (Shelar and BJP) are so obsessed with Worli, then he should change the constituency and contest from Worli, and the people here will show them their level in the elections…reports Asian Lite News

Apparently poking the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to hold its major ‘dahi-handi’ celebrations at the Jambori Maidan in Worli on Friday, which is a Sena stronghold and also the Assembly constituency of the Yuva Sena chief, Aditya Thackeray.

Driven out of Jambori Maidan this year, now the Sena plans to hold its revelries at Worli Naka — with an undeclared competition on who will make it a bigger affair — likely to be witnessed Friday.

Former Nationalist Congress Party leader Sachin Ahir, who joined the Shiv Sena in 2019, used to regularly organise the dahi-handi at Jambori Maidan, which was ranked among the biggest events during the festival in Mumbai.

Taking a swipe at the Sena, Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar today said that “despite having an MP, MLA, ex-Minister, ex-Mayor and several municipal corporators, the party (Sena) is struggling to get ‘loyalty affidavits’ on Rs 100 stamp-paper”.

“They got elected on our strength and then claimed it as their ‘bastion’. The pyramid of those who betrayed the ‘saffron’ has started crumbling, they are now rattled and their tiers will collapse in Worli,” said Shelar sarcastically, targeting its former ally.

Hitting back, Ahir said if they (Shelar and BJP) are so obsessed with Worli, then he should change the constituency and contest from Worli, and the people here will show them their level in the elections.

Aditya Thackeray said Worli has suddenly become the beloved of the BJP and they are welcome to organise their celebrations, but the people of the constituency know ‘the traitors’ and will teach them a lesson soon.

After Ahir’s NGO Sankalp Pratisthan stopped organising dahi-handi at Jamboree Maidan in 2015, Sena MLA Sunil G. Shinde took over in 2019, but this year the BJP beat it in securing permission for the ground.

MLA Shinde said that the Jambori Maidan was recently given a Rs 2.50 crore facelift from the funds sanctioned by Aditya Thackeray and former CM Uddhav Thackeray, to convert it into a sports centre.

Many locals were against the dahi-handi celebrations in Jambori Maidan as it could damage the new facilities added there, hence the Sena will organise its event at the neighbouring Worli Naka, he averred.

With the tag-line of ‘We Are Determined’, the BJP plans to organise more than 300 big and small dahi-handi bashes across Mumbai to counter the Sena’s events and make inroads into the latter’s traditional political bases, ahead of the civic polls.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakhs for each ‘Govinda’, though the Sena has expressed doubts over how the belated scheme will be implemented.

Similarly, CM Shinde and his MP son Dr. Shrikant Shinde will be organising a series of dahi-handi events in Thane, while Sena MP Rajan Vichare will organise at Jambhali Naka in Thane city.

Usually linked with the Sena in Mumbai, the festivities will undergo a metamorphosis this year with BJP planning to aggressively organise human pyramid events in all wards of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, plus other major public venues, ahead of the civic polls.

The dahi-handi celebrations will be a trailer to the upcoming biggest public festival of Maharashtra, the 10-day Ganeshotsav — another Sena speciality — which will be celebrated with full vigour in 2022 after two years of the pandemic restrictions, between August 31-September 9).

This will be followed by the BJP-dominated nine-nights Navratri festival from September 26-October 5, with the political fireworks predicted to take place along with Diwali revelries in the last week of Oct.

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Thackeray sacks Shinde as ‘Shiv Sena Leader’

Eknath Shinde

On anticipated lines, the Shiv Sena ‘removed’ the new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as a ‘Shiv Sena Leader’ for indulging in ‘anti-party’ activities, the party confirmed here on Saturday.

In a terse letter to Shinde on Thursday, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, who quit as Chief Minister on June 29, said: “You have been indulging in anti-party activities and have voluntarily given up your membership of Shiv Sena.”

Accordingly, in exercise of the powers vested in him as the ‘Shivsena Paksha Pramukha’, Thackeray said he has removed Shinde as a Shiv Sena leader in the party organisation.

The party’s mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’ Group of publications have highlighted and confirmed the development in their editions on Saturday amid speculation it could trigger a bigger struggle to control the 56-year-old party and its assets.

There are 11 Shiv Sena leaders in the top party hierarchy who plan out major policy decisions giving a direction to the party, and the move was taken as per certain precedents.

The possibility of a similar fate awaiting the other 39 MLAs who joined the Shinde-led rebellion on June 20, is not ruled out, after it created an unprecedented political crisis in the state and led to the collapse of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Thursday.

On Friday, Thackeray dismissively said that a person who ‘sidelined’ the Sena could not be called a ‘Shiv Sena Chief Minister’, as contended by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and the rebels group, though Shinde’s supporters are unfazed.

Uddhav Thackeray

While Thackeray resigned as Chief Minister on June 29 after 31 months in power, the Sena ‘rebel’ Shinde was sworn-in as the new Chief Minister with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as the surprise Deputy Chief Minister on Thursday.

The new government has been ordered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to seek a ‘vote of confidence’ in a Special Legislative Assembly session to be held on July 3-4.

ALSO READ: Shinde takes oath as Maharashtra CM