Mumbai NCP chief Sachin Ahir joins Shiv Sena
Mumbai: In a setback to the NCP, its Mumbai unit chief and former Maharashtra minister Sachin Ahir joined the Shiv Sena here on Thursday.
Hewas welcomed into the Sena by party president Uddhav Thackeray and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray.
Ahir, who wasa minister in the previous Congress-NCP coalition government in the state, was associated with the Sharad Pawar-led party since its formation in 1999.
He represented Shivdi Assembly seat in Mumbai from 1999 to 2009 and was later elected from Worli, after delimitation of constituencies.
In 2014, he lost the Assembly election to Shiv Sena's Sunil Shinde. Ahir told PTI he had no grudge against the NCP.
"But some unavoidable political decisions had to be taken considering the prevailing situation," he said.
Ahir said a couple of days back, he met Aaditya Thackeray at a social event where the latter told him that the Shiv Sena needed leaders like him, who were "well-versed in urban politics".
"The Shiv Sena is in power in most of the municipal corporations in the state. I can use my expertise gained as a minister for the development of cities. Hence, I took the decision to work for the development of cities by being in power," he said.
Ahir said a decision on whether he will contest the forthcoming state Assembly poll from Worli will be taken soon. The state polls are due in September-October.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
