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Dnyanesh Jathar
Dnyanesh Jathar

MAHARASHTRA

Roundup: Mahajan at Dawood's kin's wedding, Rohit Shetty plans unique padyatra and more

girish-mahajan Girish Mahajan

Wedding woes for Mahajan

Girish Mahajan, the irrigation minister of Maharashtra is at the centre of a storm. After reports surfaced that Mahajan, along with a couple of party legislators and half a dozen police officers, was spotted at Dawood Ibrahim's relative's wedding, the opposition sensing an opportunity demanded an inquiry. Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar even demanded Mahajan's resignation. BJP Vice President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who was in Mumbai to address a press conference on the occasion of Modi government completion of three years in office, suddenly found himself facing questions about Mahajan. The media was then told that Sahasrabuddhe was there to brief them about achievements of Modi government. Soon after Sahasrabuddhe's briefing, chief BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told media that Mahajan was at the wedding because he had been invited by the father of the bridegroom, who was a known Muslim community leader in Nashik. Bhandari made it clear that the minister was a guest of the bridegroom and not of the bride. 

Shetty's unique padyatra

Member of parliament and founder of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Raju Shetty, has undertaken a padyatra from Pune to Mumbai. Shetty and his party are allies of BJP and his colleague Sadabhau Khot is a minister in state government. But Shetty is not happy with government, especially with its handling of agrarian issues and refusal to announce a loan waiver to farmers. Hence the padyatra. Shetty, an intelligent leader, contested each election by reaching out to each household in his constituency and collecting Re.1/ as donation from farmers. For his padyatra, Shetty and his close group of activists have hit upon a unique idea. His partymen are collecting two Bhakris each and chilly pickle, a farmer's breakfast, from houses in his constituency. Bhakri is a traditional Maharashtrian roti made from Jowar, Bajra or Ragi. It's often eaten with Thecha, a green chilly pickle. Shetty and other participants in the Padyatra will have Bhakri- Thecha as their food during the five-day walk. Some ten thousand Bhakris are being collected for the purpose and the people from Shetty's constituency are only happy to contribute. 

Dealing with Lavasa project

Why did Sharad Pawar meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on May 23rd night? The meeting has raised many eyebrows in the corridors of power as it took place within a few hours of Fadnavis revoking Special Planning Authority status to the Lavasa Hill township project. Lavasa project is the brainchild of Ajit Gulabchand of HCC and had received a solid backing from Congress-NCP government as Gulabchand is a close friend of the Pawar family. Fadnavis cancelled Special Planning Authority status of Lavasa and has included it within Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Lavasa got the status in 2008 and became only private township in India to get town planning rights within its jurisdiction. Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan wasn't happy with the arrangement, as he had wanted a firm government control over the Hill township project. But he couldn't do much as NCP was Congress's alliance partner and Ajit Pawar was deputy chief minister. Activists and environmentalists, too, were firmly opposed to Lavasa getting any special status. Now, Fadnavis has made them happy by bringing Lavasa back under government control. Talking of Pawars, their home town of Baramati is plagued by pigs menace and are causing much trouble to people in Baramati. The local municipal council spent close to two and half lakhs in catching some 580 pigs. The trouble is, however, far from over as pigs continue to roam around freely.

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Topics : #Maharashtra

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