Belgavi: Questioning Shobha Karnadlaje’s silence on Katua and Unnao rape cases, KPCC women’s wing President Laxmi Hebbalkar has challenged the BJP MP to condemn the incidents publicly.

 “Ms. Karandlaje has been speaking on every issue. Why is she silent now? She should clarify her stand on these incidents,” Hebbalkar said.

The Congress leader further said that the BJP is in power in both the states which are responsible in shaming the country. In one such incident, BJP MLA is also named as accused. It’s high time for the BJP MP Shobha to question her party legislator. “This is a right time for her to raise her voice for women’s safety and condemn the atrocities against women,” she added.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has ordered that all files will now go through Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde before being presented to CM Devendra Fadnavis for approval.

The moves seeks to revive an arrangement which existed in 2023 of files being vetted by the then two deputy CMs --Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis -- before being forwarded to then CM Shinde.

State Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik issued an order to this effect on March 18. "Since July 26, 2023, files were moved from Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance department, to (then) Deputy CM Fadnavis, who held the home, law and judiciary departments before being sent to (then) CM Shinde for approval," as per the order.

This arrangement was made after Pawar, who was then leader of opposition in the state assembly, joined the Shinde-led government along with a several NCP MLAs on July 2, 2023.

Now, with Fadnavis taking charge as chief minister, following the victory of the Mahayuti (comprising BJP, Shinde's Shiv Sena and Pawar-led NCP) in the state polls last year, the arrangement has been changed.

All files will be routed from Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who continues to hold the finance department, to Eknath Shinde, who is also the deputy CM and holds housing and urban development portfolios.

The files will be sent to Fadnavis after Shinde's approval, as per the latest order.

Since the Mahayuti 2.0 took over, there has been speculation of a "cold war" between Shinde and Fadnavis. Both the leaders have strongly denied the speculation.

There have been disagreements over the guardian minister posts of some districts. Fadnavis had to revoke his decision on the appointment of guardian ministers of Nashik and Raigad districts after objections from Shinde.