Mumbai, Oct 3 : The alliance between Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and All India Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen (AIMIM), announced in Maharashtra on October 2, would prove to be the 'B-Team of the BJP', said Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday.
Terming the political partnership between BBM-AIMIM as undesirable, he said as of now, it is quite difficult to predict how it could impact the political scenario during the 2019 elections.
"However, if BRP President Prakash Ambedkar was really interested in defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party, then it was not expected of him to join hands with a party (AIMIM) which follows the ideals of the Muslim League," Raut said.
He said there is speculation that the BBM-AIMIM alliance has been engineered by the BJP to deprive the Congress of the Dalit-Muslim votes in the next elections.
Raut said that though Ambedkar is the grandson of the architect of Indian Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, in the past several elections, the Ambedkarites don't seem to have supported him much. "And now this partnership is with a party having divergent views compared to B.R. Ambedkar's."
The Sena's Rajya Sabha MP also pointed out that now the Ambedkarites are "a highly aware and awakened community" which would not easily accept the alliance.
"I doubt if this alliance will be of much benefit," Raut said.
Marking a new political dimension in Maharashtra, Owaisi and Ambedkar on Tuesday addressed a massive joint rally in Aurangabad to announce the alliance, saying they wanted 'freedom' from the BJP government led by Prime Minister Modi as his followers have committed atrocities on both Dalis and minorities.
They also said that the plight of Dalits and Muslims remains unchanged with a majority continuing to live below the poverty line, even facing oppression of the authorities.
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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
