Was Vajpayee's death announced late to avoid disrupting Narendra Modi's I-Day speech
Questions Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut
Mumbai, August 26: Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday questioned whether former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died on 16 August or if his death was announced that day to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence day speech was not disrupted.
Raut, a Rajya Sabha member who is also the editor of the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna', gave no explanation or reason for questioning the day of Vajpayee's death that was announced by AIIMS, which also gave his time of death on 16 August.
"Rather than our people, our rulers should first understand what is 'swarajya' (self-rule). Vajpayee died on 16 August, but from 12-13 August, his condition was deteriorating. To avoid national mourning and lowering of flag to half-mast on Independence Day, and also (because) Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to make his elaborate speech from the Red Fort, Vajpayee left this world on 16 August (or his death was announced)," Raut said.
The article in Marathi is titled "What is swarajya?".
Though Shiv Sena is an alliance partner of the BJP at the Centre as well as in Maharashtra, it has been taking swipes at the saffron party and Modi.
Raut, in the article, said National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah shouted "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"and "Jai Hind" at a condolence meeting for Vajpayee, and for this reason, he was manhandled in Srinagar.
"And the government shielded the culprits. This new kind of freedom has now emerged," the Sena MP wrote.
"When it is learnt that police have captured terrorists who had planned to carry out attacks in Delhi, it tells you that Independence Day is nearing. This tradition continued this year too. Ten terrorists who wanted to sabotage Independence Day celebrations were arrested. A huge cache of arms was seized. So (afterwards), the prime minister celebrated Independence Day fearlessly," Raut added.
"Prime Minister Modi made several announcements for the poor (in his Independence day speech). The tone of his speech suggested that previous governments did nothing, and so freedom (until now) had been wasted," Raut wrote.
He said though the prime minister says people who take bribes are facing action, bribery has not decreased.
"..It is true that welfare schemes are run on the taxes which honest people pay. It is also true that the prime minister's foreign tours are funded by the same money, and thousands of crores are spent on advertisements from the same money. This is how the new 'swarajya' is functioning," the Sena leader wrote.
Courtesy: www.firstpost.com
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Maharashtra: All files to be vetted by Shinde before being sent to CM Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has ordered that all files will now go through Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde before being presented to CM Devendra Fadnavis for approval.
The moves seeks to revive an arrangement which existed in 2023 of files being vetted by the then two deputy CMs --Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis -- before being forwarded to then CM Shinde.
State Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik issued an order to this effect on March 18. "Since July 26, 2023, files were moved from Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance department, to (then) Deputy CM Fadnavis, who held the home, law and judiciary departments before being sent to (then) CM Shinde for approval," as per the order.
This arrangement was made after Pawar, who was then leader of opposition in the state assembly, joined the Shinde-led government along with a several NCP MLAs on July 2, 2023.
Now, with Fadnavis taking charge as chief minister, following the victory of the Mahayuti (comprising BJP, Shinde's Shiv Sena and Pawar-led NCP) in the state polls last year, the arrangement has been changed.
All files will be routed from Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who continues to hold the finance department, to Eknath Shinde, who is also the deputy CM and holds housing and urban development portfolios.
The files will be sent to Fadnavis after Shinde's approval, as per the latest order.
Since the Mahayuti 2.0 took over, there has been speculation of a "cold war" between Shinde and Fadnavis. Both the leaders have strongly denied the speculation.
There have been disagreements over the guardian minister posts of some districts. Fadnavis had to revoke his decision on the appointment of guardian ministers of Nashik and Raigad districts after objections from Shinde.
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