Amit Shah meets Maharashtra BJP leaders, keeps away from ally Shiv Sena
Mumbai: BJP president Amit Shah on Monday held a brief meeting here with Maharashtra party leaders, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but kept away from the ally Shiv Sena.
During his Mumbai visit, he also visited the chief minister's official residence 'Varsha' in Malabar Hill area.
"Shah's meetings were confined only to state BJP leaders and he also visited the Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi here," a party functionary said. He is also scheduled to visit the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh pandal in central Mumbai.
On Sunday evening, Shah addressed a rally in Solapur during the conclusion of the second phase of Fadnavis' 'Mahajanadesh Yatra, a mass outreach campaign ahead of the upcoming state Assembly polls.
He held discussions with Fadnavis, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and few other leaders in Solapur and stayed there during the night, the party functionary said.
On Monday, Shah travelled with Fadnavis to Mumbai where he again briefly met some state party leaders, he said. Political observers expected Shah to meet Sena leaders since the state Assembly elections are due soon, but the BJP chief skipped it. In 2014, the BJP and Sena contested the state polls separately.
The BJP at that time won 121 out of the total 288 seats, the highest so far by the party in the state. Several MLAs and leaders from the opposition Congress and NCP have joined either the BJP or the Sena in the recent weeks. Some more opposition leaders are also likely to join the BJP during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state on September 7 when he will inaugurate some projects.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
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.
Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
