Inflict deeper wound on Shiv Sena in home ground Mumbai; show Uddhav his place, says Amit Shah
Battle for BMC
Mumbai, Sep 5: Sounding the bugle for Mumbai civic body polls, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday asked party leaders and workers to inflict a "deeper wound" on Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on its home turf.
Shah slammed Thackeray saying he compromised on everything to become the chief minister with the support of Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress despite seeking votes in the 2019 polls in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.
The Shiv Sena has been ruling the Mumbai civic body for almost 30 years. Currently, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is run by an administrator as the five-year term of the civic body had ended and elections are awaited.
If you hit a person at any place, it does hurt. When you hit a person on his home ground, the pain is deeper. Now it is the time to inflict a deeper wound to Sena, Shah told a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and select functionaries here after visiting 'Lalbaug cha Raja' and other popular pandals of Lord Ganesh in the city.
Shah is on a two-day visit to the capital of Maharashtra during the ongoing Ganpati festival.
The BJP has launched an aggressive campaign to wrest the BMC, the richest civic body with an annual budget of Rs 45,000 crore, from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
Shah also stressed ousting the Shiv Sena with the help of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led camp which rebelled against Thackeray in June this year.
I am asking all of you. Unless BJP gains the control of Mumbai, you cannot win Maharashtra. The real Shiv Sena has come with us and now is the time to show Uddhav (Thackeray) his place, he said.
Coming down heavily on Thackeray and his party's decision to join hands with the NCP and Congress after the 2019 Assembly elections, Shah said, You sought votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work done by (then CM) Devendra Fadnavis. But you got greedy and sat with Sharad Pawar. You (Sena) have spent your entire life opposing the NCP, but to become a chief minister, you compromised on everything.
He said one can tolerate injustice in politics but not treachery.
They (Sena) should be punished for their deeds and give up on their principles. It is now time to show them their place, said Shah, often called the alter-ego of PM Modi.
The Shiv Sena and the BJP had fought the BMC elections in 2017 separately despite being alliance partners in the then Fadnavis-led government.
The BJP had made giant strides by winning 82 of the total 227 seats in the BMC, just two short of Sena's 84.
The Shiv Sena fell out with its traditional saffron ally after the 2019 state Assembly elections claiming that the BJP leadership had reneged on its promise to share the post of chief minister on rotation between the two parties.
The BJP had denied that it had made any such promise.
The relations between the saffron allies became bitter especially after Thackeray sided with NCP and Congress to become the CM of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
In June this year, Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs of Shiv Sena rebelled against Thackeray. Shinde became the chief minister with the support of the BJP. Fadnavis is the Deputy CM in the Shinde-led government.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
