Uddhav targets BJP-led Centre, Mahayuti over NEET, Ayodhya temple; calls them ‘leakage govts’
Mumbai, Jun 27: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday took a swipe at the BJP-led Centre and ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra, calling the dispensations “leakage governments”, a reference to alleged irregularities in NEET and water seepage at Ayodhya Ram temple.
Addressing a press conference here, he also termed the monsoon session of the state legislature, which commenced on Thursday, as the “send-off” session of the government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He demanded that farm loans be waived before the assembly elections, scheduled later this year.
Earlier in the day, legislators belonging to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) raised slogans against the government over the NEET exam on the premises of the legislature complex.
Thackeray raked up the row over NEET and the recent statement of Acharya Satyendra Das, Ram Janmabhoomi temple’s chief priest, about water leakage at the Ayodhya shrine, to target the Centre and state governments.
“The Centre and the state are leakage governments because exam papers (NEET) were leaked and there is leakage in the Ram temple sanctum sanctorum. They have no shame,” he said.
The former chief minister also demanded that farm loans be waived before the assembly elections.
“There should be a complete waiver of farm loans immediately and this should be implemented before the state polls,” Thackeray said.
Thackeray said 6,250 farmers have died in the state in the last two years. Since January 1 alone, 1,046 farmers have committed suicide, he said.
He also said that an assistance of Rs 10,020 crore announced for the farmers was yet to be released.
Thackeray accused the BJP-led Centre of being insensitive over water woes in the country.
Ahead of the state budget, which will be presented on Friday, Thackeray said there will be “rain of assurances” in the budget, but the government should also present a white paper on the promises it has fulfilled in the last two years.
On reports that the state will launch a scheme for women on the lines of Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Ladli Behna’ programme, Thackeray said a similar initiative should be launched for men in view of the rising unemployment in the state.
He also backed his party's member of legislative council Anil Parab's demand to reserve 50 per cent homes in new residential projects in Mumbai for Marathi-speaking people. Parab had claimed that their number was declining in the metropolis.
About his chance meeting with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in a lift at the state legislature building which was garnering much attention on social media, he called it a “mere coincidence”. It was an “informal meeting”, he said.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Sena (UBT) and its partners Congress and NCP (SP) put up a good show bagging 30 of the 48 seats in the state. This has led to speculations over new political alignments ahead of the assembly polls.
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BJP's Pravesh Wahi elected MCD mayor
New Delhi (PTI): BJP councillor from Rohini East, Pravesh Wahi, was elected mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday.
Wahi secured 156 votes, with 14 councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party backing him. Congress candidate Hazi Zaraf received nine votes.
BJP councillor from Anand Vihar, Monika Pant, was elected deputy mayor with 156 votes.
Jai Bhagwan Yadav from Begumpur and Manish Chadha from Paharganj were elected to the standing committee from the BJP, while AAP councillor Jalaj Chaudhary from Shalimar Bagh was also elected to the MCD panel.
On being elected mayor, Wahi thanked Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the BJP leadership, saying, "We will clean Delhi in the coming months. We will work for the development of Delhi."
The electoral college for this year's mayoral election comprised 273 votes, including 249 councillors, 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly, seven Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha members from Delhi. A candidate required 137 votes to win.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) abstained from the mayoral polls. Earlier, the party's Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a statement that the move would allow the BJP to take charge of the civic body and help AAP "expose" the ruling party on governance.
"Despite having power at all levels, the BJP has failed to bring about any change in Delhi. The BJP does not know how to perform. Only AAP knows how to work," Bharadwaj said.
Earlier, AAP controlled the mayoral post, with Mahesh Kumar Khinchi winning the election in November 2024 by just three votes.
The three civic bodies -- East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) -- were reunified into a single entity on May 22, 2022, as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
