BJP, Shiv Sena revive hopes of coalition govt in Maharashtra

October 23, 2014

Mumbai, Oct 23: After days of stand-off, Shiv Sena and BJP today struck a conciliatory note following last night's talks between their leaders in Delhi, reviving hopes of a saffron coalition government in Maharashtra.

bjpsenaIn an apparent attempt at rapprchement, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had despatched Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai and party's leader in the outgoing Assembly Subhash Desai to the national capital last night.

"We had gone to Delhi to take forward our talks on forming the next government together. We are ready for an alliance with BJP to form government and talks were positive," Subhash Desai, who briefed Uddhav on the developments earlier in the day, told reporters.

"We just had informal talks this time and formal discussions will begin from Monday. For now, we have not given any proposal to BJP but have only decided to come together and form a government," he said.

Desai said he had not met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who has been appointed observer for the election of BJP lelgislature party leader.

Though he did not name Sena's BJP interlocutors, sources said they included Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Chandrakant Patil, an MP from Gujarat.

Uddhav is known to have good personal equation with Singh, a former BJP president.

Asked if Uddhav will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Desai said "once the formal talks start, it will be decided whether Uddhavji will go to Delhi to meet the PM or some BJP leaders will come down to Mumbai for discussions with our leader."

With Shiv Sena blinking first, BJP responded to the overture positively, with senior party leader Vinod Tawde saying the people's mandate in Maharashtra was for the two parties running a government together.

"BJP has got the people's mandate but it is not complete. We have got the largest number of seats....the mandate is for us jointly. If we talk of mandate, BJP and Shiv Sena should come together. This is what people want," Tawde, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, said.

Amid unconfirmed reports about Sena insisting on the two parties following the 1995 formula under which the junior partner got deputy chief ministership, Tawde said "the ground realities have to be taken into account for the alliance to function smoothly."

There were reports that during back-channel talks, Sena had insisted on deputy chief ministership and equal share in the government.

On former state BJP chief Sudhir Mungantiwar pitching for Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for chief ministership, Tawde said "why only Mungantiwar, even I and Devendra Fadnavis (current Maharashtra unit president and frontrunner for the post) have said that.

"After the demise of the state's tallest BJP leader Gopinath Munde, Gadkariji, who has the same stature, was the natural choice but he himself does not want to return to the state because of the important responsibilities he has to shoulder in Delhi," he said.

Maintaining that "there was no race and no competition" for CM's job, Tawde said "the legislature party will sit and decide its leader. The Central Parliamentary Board will then confirm that person as the leader who will be the Chief Minister."

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Agencies
June 5,2020

Malappuram, Jun 5: A lawyer has filed a complaint with Superintendent of Police, Malappuram against BJP leader Maneka Gandhi and others for allegedly indulging in a hate campaign against Malappuram district and its residents.

Advocate Subhash Chandran, who hails from Malappuram, on Thursday filed a complaint seeking registration of FIR against former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and others for allegedly indulging in a hate campaign against Malappuram and the residents of the district.

The complainant alleged that the campaign against the district was very derogatory and with a malafide intent.

The complaint stated that the unfortunate death of an elephant in Mannarkkad, Palakkad District dominated social media conversations in the last two days but a group of people deliberately added communal colour into it only to spread hatred against Malappuram, which is a Muslim majority district in Kerala.

It also stated that the elephant in question died on May 29, 2020, in Palakkad not in Malappuram as claimed by a section in social media users. Prominent news outlets operating from the South also reported that the elephant died after consuming explosive-laden pineapple in Palakkad.

The complaint also named political commentator, Tarek Fatah, for allegedly starting a hate campaign against the district and the minority community.

It alleged that Union Minister Maneka Gandhi made false and frivolous allegations against the district of Malappuram and its residents.

Chandran, through the complaint, prayed to the district police chief to register an FIR against Maneka Gandhi and others under Section 153A, 120B etc. of Indian Penal Code.

An elephant had died after she ate the pineapple stuffed with crackers and forest officials said that it died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw.

The elephant was seen standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in the water for some relief from the pain after the explosive-filled fruit exploded in her mouth.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: Preparing for a long haul in the Eastern Ladakh sector in extreme winters, the Indian Army has an edge over the Chinese as it has deployed 35,000 troops there who have already done tenures in high altitude and cold conditions.

The Indian troops deployed there are mentally prepared for tackling the weather and terrain.
In contrast, the Chinese troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are not used to these conditions as they have been brought from mainland China and are not accustomed to high altitude extreme cold weather conditions.

"We are preparing to provide extreme cold weather portable cabins for around 35,000 troops that have been deployed in the Eastern Ladakh sector," government sources said.

"Our soldiers deployed there have already done a tenure or two in Siachen, Eastern Ladakh or Northeast and they are physically and mentally prepared for a longer deployment there," they said.

The Chinese soldiers deployed on the Indian front include mainly conscripts who join the PLA for a period of 2-3 years and then return to their normal lives, sources said.

Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a standoff situation all along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh from sub-sector north with both sides having deployed around 40,000 troops against each other over there.

The two sides have disengaged at three friction points including Patrolling Point 14, PP-15 and PP-17 and PP-17A.

At PP-17 and 17A, the Chinese have now maintained a small element of close to 50 troops and the remaining elements have gone back into their permanent locations.

The sources said the Army is also not much bothered about the Chinese build-up along the LAC as it has got more than two additional divisions from outside Ladakh sector.

India Army has more troops than what the Chinese have brought there, they said.

For the winter deployment, the Army already has a sizeable stock of clothes and habitat for troops as the Indian army deploys troops at the world's highest battlefield Siachen glacier and is prepared.

For additional requirements, the force is in the process of placing orders for additional tents and shelters from indigenous as well as foreign vendors.

The time for summer stocking is on and we are going to get the additional cabins and tents by that time, the sources.

Months of June, July, and August are considered to be the best time for stocking winter rations and ammunition. The snowfall is expected to start soon in the Eastern Ladakh area where the temperature is already low.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has given financial powers of Rs 500 crore per procurement to the defence forces to address any type of shortages of weapons, ammunition, and habitat.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

New Delhi, Jan 4: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended till June 12 its earlier order of May 15 asking the government not to take any coercive action against companies and employers for violation of Centre's March 29 circular for payment of full wages to employees for the lockdown period.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah reserved the verdict on a batch of petitions filed by various companies challenging the circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued on March 29 asking the employers to pay full wages to the employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the top court said there was a concern that workmen should not be left without pay, but there may be a situation where the industry may not have money to pay and hence, the balancing has to be done.

Meanwhile, the apex court asked the parties to file their written submissions in support of their claims.

The top court on May 15 had asked the government not to take any coercive action against the companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centre also filed an affidavit justifying its March 29 direction saying that the employers claiming incapacity in paying salaries must be directed to furnish their audited balance sheets and accounts in the court.

The government has said that the March 29 directive was a "temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship" of employees and workers, specially contractual and casual, during the lockdown period and the directions have been revoked by the authority with effect from May 18.

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