Maharashtra: Four Uddhav Thackeray faction MLAs in touch to switch sides, claims Narayan Rane
Pune, Oct 22: Union Minister Narayan Rane on Saturday claimed four MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena were in touch with him to join the ruling group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde but refused to divulge names.
He was in the city as part of the Union government's 'Rozgar Mela', under which Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over appointment letters to government job aspirants electronically in Delhi.
"From 56 MLAs, there hardly six to seven left (in the Uddhav Thackeray faction). Those too are on the way out. Four MLAs are in touch with me but I won't divulge their names," Rane said.
Mocking Thackeray, the Union minister said the former's politics is confined to Matoshree (the private residence of the Thackerays in Bandra in Mumbai and a power centre of the party along with Sena Bhavan), adding "there is no faction of the Sena left".
Speaking about the 'Rozgar Mela', Rane hailed PM Modi for asking various government departments and ministries in June to recruit 10 lakh people on a "mission mode" in the next year and a half.
Rane said he will not speak on those spotting politics in this mega-recruitment drive as it is "the festive season of Diwali".
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BJP accuses AAP of circulating 'edited' videos to malign Swati Maliwal
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi BJP Saturday accused AAP leaders of circulating "edited" videos to tarnish the image of their own party MP Swati Maliwal, who has accused an aide of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of assaulting her.
It is regrettable that "edited" videos are being circulated on social media groups since Friday in an attempt to "defame" Maliwal who is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police arrested Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar who has been accused by Maliwal of assaulting her at the CM's residence on Monday.
A couple of videos from the chief minister's residence from the day of the incident have surfaced on social media, one showed Maliwal having an argument with security personnel, while the other showed her walking out of the CM's residence in the Civil Lines.
"Now that the entire Aam Aadmi Party is tarnishing the image of Swati Maliwal, it's time Kejriwal comes forward and speaks on the matter," Sachdeva said.
The AAP has accused Maliwal of lying and becoming a part of the BJP conspiracy to frame Kejriwal in a fake case in the midst of elections.
Sachdeva said now that Kejriwal's aide has been arrested by police, many "dirty pages" of AAP's politics will become public.
If the AAP is trying to implicate Maliwal by circulating "edited" videos, it would be better for the Delhi Police to immediately take possession of the complete CCTV footage of the chief minister's residence, Sachdeva said.
He charged that Maliwal is not the first woman leader of the AAP that the party has has defamed.
Earlier, they also raised questions about Kiran Bedi, Shazia Ilmi and Richa Pandey who have all left the AAP, Sachdeva added.
