Mumbai NCP chief Sachin Ahir joins Shiv Sena
Mumbai: In a setback to the NCP, its Mumbai unit chief and former Maharashtra minister Sachin Ahir joined the Shiv Sena here on Thursday.
Hewas welcomed into the Sena by party president Uddhav Thackeray and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray.
Ahir, who wasa minister in the previous Congress-NCP coalition government in the state, was associated with the Sharad Pawar-led party since its formation in 1999.
He represented Shivdi Assembly seat in Mumbai from 1999 to 2009 and was later elected from Worli, after delimitation of constituencies.
In 2014, he lost the Assembly election to Shiv Sena's Sunil Shinde. Ahir told PTI he had no grudge against the NCP.
"But some unavoidable political decisions had to be taken considering the prevailing situation," he said.
Ahir said a couple of days back, he met Aaditya Thackeray at a social event where the latter told him that the Shiv Sena needed leaders like him, who were "well-versed in urban politics".
"The Shiv Sena is in power in most of the municipal corporations in the state. I can use my expertise gained as a minister for the development of cities. Hence, I took the decision to work for the development of cities by being in power," he said.
Ahir said a decision on whether he will contest the forthcoming state Assembly poll from Worli will be taken soon. The state polls are due in September-October.
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Patna-bound IndiGo flight makes emergency landing at Lucknow due to bad weather
Lucknow (PTI): Adverse weather forced an IndiGo Kolkata-Patna flight to make an emergency landing at Lucknow airport on Friday, airport sources said.
According to airport officials, weather conditions in Patna deteriorated suddenly on Friday afternoon, affecting flight operations.
IndiGo flight 6E 6917 from Kolkata, which was scheduled to land in Patna at 3.50 pm, could not land due to bad weather and kept circling in the air after failing to get clearance from air traffic control, they said.
The flight was later diverted to Lucknow and landed safely at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at around 5.15 pm. There were 180 passengers and six crew members on board, officials said.
The aircraft was later allowed to depart for Patna after weather conditions improved.
