BJP to lose support of Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu at Centre if MVA wins in Maharashtra: Awhad
Thane, Nov 3: NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad has claimed that Nitish Kumar of JD(U) and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu would withdraw their support from the BJP-led Centre if MVA is voted to power in Maharashtra.
The sitting MLA from the Mumbra-Kalwa assembly constituency, who has been renominated by his party, targeted the Ekanath Shinde government over the state’s “financial instability” and accused the BJP and RSS of trying to disrupt peace in the country.
If the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) forms the government after the November 20 assembly elections, BJP’s allies at the Centre Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu will stop backing it, he claimed at a rally at Mumbra near Thane on Saturday.
Once back in the saddle, MVA will “provide monthly financial assistance of Rs 3,000”, said Awhad without elaborating. The BJP-led Mahayuti government cannot even meet essential expenses like police salaries, he said.
Awhad said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who triggered the acrimonious split in the NCP last year, had alienated his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar from the activities of the outfit. He also accused Ajit Pawar of “straying towards RSS ideologies”.
The BJP-led Mahayuti government has failed in curbing communal violence in the state, he claimed and slammed CM Shinde for sharing the stage with religious leader Ramgiri Maharaj, accused of making objectionable comments against Islam.
Three-term MLA Awhad faces NCP's Najeeb Mulla in the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency.
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Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment
Kolkata (PTI): The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata.
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"We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.
"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.
Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.
According to family members, he mostly stays in Kolkata for work and visits home occasionally during weekends.
Besides his parents, his younger brother, sister-in-law and several relatives have also travelled to Kolkata following the incident.
Demanding strict action against the perpetrators, the uncle said, "We want the government to conduct a proper investigation and identify those directly involved in the crime. They should be given exemplary punishment so that such incidents do not happen again in West Bengal and no other family has to go through this grief."
A neighbour, Ranjana Ghorai, also sought stringent punishment for those behind the attack.
"In our neighbourhood, we call him Sona. We want exemplary punishment for the people responsible for this incident," she said.
Rath's family members have demanded life imprisonment for the accused, while Adhikari has called for capital punishment for those involved in the killing.
