1. Uddhav Thackeray, Amit Shah Put Aside Differences; BJP to Contest 25 Seats, Sena 23 in Lok Sabha Elections
After five years of overt political hostility, the Shiv Sena and the BJP have restored their partnership for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray and BJP president Amit Shah — three leaders who had repeatedly indicated that their parties were prepared to go solo — displayed their new unity at a press conference on Monday. Any talk of lingering bitterness between the two sides quickly ended as reports emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Mumbai to attend the bhoomi poojan of the proposed Bal Thackeray National Memorial at Shivaji Park. It’s a swift turnaround in ties considering only two months ago Uddhav had repeated the Opposition’s swipe against Modi: “Chowkidar chor hai.”
Under the seat-sharing pact, which was finalised after prolonged discussions that literally went on till the last minute, the Sena will field candidates in 23 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra and the BJP in 25. There are 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. For the assembly contest, the two have settled on a 50:50 formula, with each agreeing to contest 140 seats out of the total 288. Eight seats will go to their smaller allies.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Rahul Gandhi Likely to Address Rallies in Dhule and Mumbai on Mar 1
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to launch the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state from Dhule on March 1 and also address a rally in Mumbai the same day, sources said on Monday.
The Congress is also planning a rally of recently-appointed party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the state next month, they said.
Rahul Gandhi’s rally will follow two joint public meetings of the Congress and NCP on February 20 and February 23, to be held in Nanded and Beed respectively.
The joint rallies will be attended by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and All India Congress Committee (AICC) incharge for Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge along with other leaders of the two parties and their allies.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Maharashtra All Set for Straight Fight Between Two Alliances
With the announcement of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance, Maharashtra is all set for a straight fight between the BJP-Shiv Sena and Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliances.
As expected, the BJP and Sena have reunited after a gap of five years. They fought the 2014 LS polls together, but snapped ties six months later as they failed to work out a seat-sharing agreement for the Assembly elections. Even though the Sena joined the governments at the Centre and state, it kept criticising the BJP in a bitter tone. With changes in circumstances, the two parties have now managed to work out an alliance again.
Source: Hindustan Times
4. Mumbai Coastal Road Project: BMC Appoints Agencies to Study Effect on Environment, Prepare Conservation Plan
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will prepare a marine biodiversity conservation plan and conduct a tidal pattern study to understand the effect on the quality of seawater from the Coastal Road Project.
The civic body has appointed the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) for both the projects. The BMC will spend Rs 7.88 crore on preparing the bio-diversity conservation plan and conducting the tidal pattern study. A proposal for appointing these government agencies will be tabled in the Standing Committee meeting for approval.
Source: Indian Express
5. Electoral Rolls Will Have Voters’ Photos This Time
EC says you still have time to register; voters will be added till a week before nominations.
The Election Commission has said that the electoral rolls will have photos of all voters in the upcoming general elections to rule out the possibility of impersonation.
Dilip Shinde, additional chief electoral officer of Maharashtra, said that the officials will ensure that the voters’ list in each election booth will have photo against the voter’s name.
The Election Commission said that the voters who have not yet registered themselves for voting can still do it. New voters will be added to the list till at least one week before the nominations are to be filed.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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