Maharashtra civic polls: BJP takes lead in Pune bastion of Ajit and Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): The BJP has surged ahead of the NCP-NCP (SP) combine, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar, in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad corporations, according to trends and results of the civic elections so far on Friday.
The BJP has won 29 electoral wards and is leading in 43 others in Pune, as per the data shared by the election department of the civic body.
The Nationalist Congress Party and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are a distant second, winning three and two seats, respectively, so far, in the 165-member Pune civic body. The trends show the NCP is leading in seven wards, and the NCP (SP) in one ward.
In the 128-member Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body, the BJP is leading in 81 seats, while the NCP is ahead in 36.
Despite being an ally of the BJP in the ruling Mahayuti, the NCP contested civic elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with the NCP (SP), two years after the bitter break-up.
The Congress has won three seats and is leading in nine in PMC, as per the data.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), which contested the polls in alliance with the Congress, yet to open its account, similar to Shiv Sena, headed by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, which contested the elections without allying with BJP.
The BJP had single-handedly held power in the previous five-year terms from 2017 to 2022 in Pune and PCMC civic bodies, after which the Administrator had control of the civic body.
The BJP is also leading in the Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, and Sangli civic bodies in the western Maharashtra region.
The poll campaign in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad was marked by sharp exchanges between Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and the BJP.
Ajit Pawar had targeted the local BJP leadership over the alleged irregularities in the functioning of the two civic bodies.
In the 102-member Solapur municipal corporation, the BJP is leading in 60 electoral wards, according to trends available till noon.
In the 81-member Kolhapur civic body, Mahayuti partners- the BJP, Shiv Sena, and the NCP- are leading in 25 seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is ahead in 21 civic wards.
Elections to the 29 municipal corporations were held on January 15 after a gap of several years, with terms of most of them having ended between 2020 and 2023.
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.
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".
