Uddhav's party won LS seats in Mumbai on votes of minorities: Fadnavis
Mumbai, Jun 13: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said candidates of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which prides itself on its sons of the soil agenda, won Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai on the votes of minorities as well as non-Marathi and non-Hindi speakers.
In the recently concluded general elections, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won three of the six seats in the metropolis, while the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Congress emerged victorious in one constituency each.
The opposition's victory was not due to the votes of Marathi speakers or common Mumbaikars or the north Indian population that has lived in the city for generations, Fadnavis said in his speech.
The opposition won on the votes of those for whom the Shiv Sena (UBT) had started using "janaab" for Bal Thackeray instead of the more popular Hindu Hridaysamrat, the senior BJP leader asserted.
Uddhav Thackeray had also stopped beginning his speeches with "my Hindu brothers and sisters" in the last six months in order to win the support of the minorities, Fadnavis further claimed.
The fake narrative of the opposition during the Lok Sabha poll campaign about the BJP wanting to change the Constitution and end reservations hit the ruling party hard, he admitted. The BJP contested 28 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra but could win on just nine, down from the 23 it wrested in the 2019 edition.
"The Mumbai Graduates' constituency elections have been announced and we should win it again as we had given it to our former political ally (Shiv Sena) some years back. Now, it is time to win it back. Our candidate Kiran Shelar will win to prove that the fake narrative against the BJP will not work henceforth," Fadnavis asserted.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first head of government who implemented the Constitution in the entire country. Earlier, due to Article 370, the Constitution was not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. After its (Article 370) scrapping, the Constitution is now applicable there as well," he claimed.
The BJP got 26 lakh votes in Mumbai as against MVA candidates gaining 24 lakh votes but the "arithmetic of votes helped them, and we (ruling BJP and Shiv Sena) could win only two seats", Fadnavis said.
"It is also a good indicator that the Worli assembly seat of Aaditya Thackeray could give a lead of only 6000 votes to their candidate (form South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat). It clearly means the Sena's charisma is over, and the BJP will make inroads in the civic polls," the deputy CM said.
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Cong functionary arrested on POCSO charges
Bengaluru (PTI): A Congress functionary has been arrested on POCSO charges for alleged inappropriate behaviour with a 16-year-old minor girl.
The 40-year-old complainant has also accused the Congress functionary Anand P of assault, criminal intimidation and coercion, police said.
According to the FIR, Anand allegedly used to visit his house and developed an illicit relationship with his wife.
When he questioned their relationship, his wife and Anand allegedly assaulted him and attempted to kill him. The complaint also alleges repeated acts of violence against the children, police said.
The accused and the complainant’s wife allegedly assaulted the children multiple times with sticks and stabbed them with a knife, causing bleeding injuries, according to the FIR.
The complainant claimed to possess photographic evidence of the incidents, and he alleged inappropriate behaviour by Anand towards his minor daughter.
“Anand has also inappropriately touched my 16-year-old daughter and indecently spoken to her,” the FIR quoted him as saying.
Police said the complaint further accused Anand P of criminal intimidation and coercion in property matters.
Police said a case has been registered based on the complaint, and further investigation is underway.
