Cancel Dussehra rally, redirect funds for flood victims: BJP to Uddhav
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra BJP's chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye on Monday demanded that Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray cancel his party's annual Dussehra rally and utilise the expenditure for flood relief in Marathwada.
When Thackeray was the state's chief minister, he "failed to act and remained at home", Upadhye alleged, adding that this is the time to "atone".
Several parts of Maharashtra, including the usually drone-prone Marathwada region, have been battered by heavy rains, causing floods and widespread damage.
Holding the Dussehra rally is a long-standing tradition for Thackeray and the Sena. This year, he is also slated to address the rally at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai on the occasion of Dussehra on October 2.
"Marathwada is reeling under severe floods, with people losing everything. Thackeray has already toured five districts for three hours and expressed anguish at the pain and suffering of the affected. Now is the time for action. He should cancel the Dussehra rally and spend that amount for flood victims. That would give meaning to his expressions of sympathy," Upadhye said in a post on X.
The BJP leader charged that when in power, Thackeray had "failed to act and remained at home".
"This is the time to atone. Cancelling the rally and diverting the funds will show genuine concern for the people," he added.
Upadhye also criticised the content of Thackeray's annual rally, saying that in the past, under Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the event was known for its ideological direction.
"Now, it has been reduced to repeating the same script of calling others traitors and alleging that his party was stolen. Why should ordinary workers be burdened with lakhs of rupees for such theatrics, when the same lament continues daily in (Sena-UBT mouthpiece) 'Saamana'," he remarked.
Thackeray recently visited flood-affected areas in five districts of Marathwada, where he met the affected people and heard their grievances.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
