Why Shiv Sena corporators shifted to hotel; who's afraid of whom? asks Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday questioned the shifting of corporators-elect from ruling ally Shiv Sena to hotels, asserting that no party could easily stake claim to the BMC mayor’s post, going by the mandate in the recent civic polls.
In the recently concluded civic polls, the alliance of the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won a clear majority in the 227-member BMC, securing 89 and 29 seats, respectively. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while its ally MNS emerged victorious on six.
The Shiv Sena has shifted its 29 members to a hotel in Mumbai, ostensibly for an orientation workshop to make them aware of the functioning of the country's richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The move followed the declaration of the BMC poll results, which showed that the seats won by Shiv Sena are crucial for the BJP, to draw up its strategy to get Mahayuti's mayor installed.
"Shinde has already shifted his corporators to a five-star hotel and, as per my information, the BJP is also planning to move its corporators to a safer place. Who is afraid of whom? You are the government. The chief minister is watching corporators being shifted while attending the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos (Switzerland). It is amusing," Raut told reporters.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that the BJP had defeated the Congress in the city where the party was born, Raut said the PM appeared to have ignored history, pointing out that the (then undivided) Shiv Sena controlled the BMC for the last 25 years while the Congress had remained largely marginal in Mumbai politics.
The Rajya Sabha member also recalled that the Congress was founded in Mumbai and the Quit India movement had been launched from the city during the freedom struggle, asserting the BJP did not exist during those crucial phases of India's political history.
Asked whether the Shiv Sena (UBT) had decided to sit in the Opposition in the BMC, Raut said no such decision was taken and the party was merely watching the unfolding political developments.
"We are enjoying the developments," he quipped.
In a sarcastic swipe, Raut remarked that the grand welcome accorded to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Switzerland -- following the party’s performance in the BMC and other civic polls -- made it seem as though he was on his way to becoming prime minister. The Sena (UBT) leader, however, added that he would take pride if a Marathi leader were to hold the post someday.
Raut also dismissed speculation about Fadnavis holding talks with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
He further alleged that Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was attempting to engineer a split among BJP corporators in the neighbouring Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (in Thane district) and could try a similar move in Mumbai.
Shinde had earlier split the Shiv Sena with the support of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he charged.
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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".
