1. Last Day, Last Show: Political Bigwigs Flock to State
As campaigning draws to a close, political parties bring out the big guns; Gujarat CM, Sibal, Chidambaram in city today.
With 17 seats in the state going to the polls on Monday, top leaders across the political spectrum, including Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, flew down to Maharashtra for some last-minute campaigning.
These 17 seats include all six constituencies in Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a mega rally with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Bandra Kurla Complex on Friday evening.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. BJP’s State Social Media Head Quits
This is one ‘glitch’ that couldn’t have come at a worse time for the BJP. Two days before six constituencies go to polls in Mumbai, and 11 across the state including, it has come to light that the BJP’s information technology and social medial cell in-charge for Maharashtra, Ashish Merkhed, has resigned citing illness in the family. Sources said that Merkhed, 38, who’s from Nagpur, which is also the hometown of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was upset at senior BJP leaders’ attempts to interfere with the party’s social media campaigns.
Merkhed has called it quits at a time when the BJP is facing an unexpected blitz on social media from Raj Thackeray, besides the daily potshots from the Congress and other opposition parties.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Sena Deploys Its Own Home Minister to Woo Women Voters
Shiv Sena is banking on its own ‘Home Minister’ to boost the prospects of its candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The party is using the services of its leader and TV actor and host Aadesh Bandekar to give its election campaign a push among women.
Bandekar, who had joined the Sena in 2009, hosts the popular and longrunning Marathi reality show Home Minister. He has so far held more than 50 women-only sabhas across the state to galvanise them in support of Sena candidates.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Spl CBI Court Sentences 5 Men to Life in 2003 Bank Fraud Case
Taking a harsh stand against white collar crime in the city, a special CBI court on Friday convicted six men in a bank fraud case from 2003. Of these, five of them, including a former AGM of Bank of India, have been sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum sentence a person can get for forging bank documents.
According to the prosecution, the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy between 2000-03 to cheat the Bank of India’s Mandvi branch by obtaining credit facilities.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. Speeding Harbour Line Train Rams Into Buffer Stop at CSMT
A speeding Harbour Line local train exceeded its halt mark and rammed into the buffer stop at Mumbai CSMT’s platform No. 1 on Friday. Chief public relations officer, Central Railway, Sunil Udasi, said "The EMU (local train) did not dash into the buffer, but touched it slightly. The buffer is provided for the purpose of safety. No one was injured and no official was suspended. Trains are runing as per shedule. The incident happend at 11.25 am, and the train was cleared within 10 minutes.”
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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