BJP “mortgaged Mumbai” won civic polls through “betrayal” alleges Uddhav Thackeray
Mumbai: Accusing the BJP of having “mortgaged Mumbai” to win the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls through “betrayal”, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday sought to turn the party’s loss of India’s richest civic body into a rallying cry for his cadre, even as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde moved swiftly to secure his numbers by shifting newly elected Shiv Sena corporators to a Bandra hotel amid fears of poaching, with the ruling alliance clinging to a slim majority ahead of the mayoral election, reported Hindustan Times.
Addressing Sena (UBT) workers in Mumbai, Thackeray sought to recast the BMC outcome not as a defeat but as a morale-boosting performance achieved under adverse conditions.
Praising party workers for standing by the organisation despite limited resources, he said, “You all are the true architects of this success; we are merely a medium. The result that has come in such circumstances is truly a matter of pride,” repeatedly crediting cadres for keeping the party rooted on the ground.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP and the ruling alliance, Thackeray accused them of misusing power and securing victory through “betrayal”.
“They believe they have finished Shiv Sena on paper, but they can never destroy the Shiv Sena that exists on the ground. They can never remain connected to the ground,” he said, alleging that every tactic, “saam, daam, dand, bhed” had been deployed against his party.
“The traitors left, but they could not buy loyalty,” he added.
Thackeray also alleged that the BJP had “mortgaged Mumbai” to win the civic polls.
“Those who have won through betrayal have done so by mortgaging Mumbai. The Marathi people will never forgive this sin,” he told workers, reiterating that the Sena (UBT) remained the true representative of the Marathi manoos.
He also stressed on his resolve to reclaim the city’s top civic post, saying it was his dream to install a Shiv Sena (UBT) mayor in Mumbai and that, if God is willing, the dream would be realised.
Meanwhile, the tight numbers in the BMC have pushed the ruling alliance to act quickly. In the 227-member civic body, 114 seats are needed for a majority. The BJP has won 89 seats, while the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena has secured 29, taking the alliance’s total to 118, only four more than the majority mark.
With the mayoral election coming up and the margin being very slim, Shinde shifted his newly elected corporators to a hotel in Bandra to avoid any risk of poaching or last-minute defections.
Party leaders said the move was purely a precaution, given how tight the numbers are and the importance of retaining control of the country’s richest civic body.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
