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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 4:59:11 pm

Fadnavis seeks judicial probe against chiefs

AI Generated Image Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday, requested Governor Jishnu Dev Verma to constitute a committee to investigate the current and former chairpersons of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) over an exam paper leak by invoking Article 317 of the Constitution, even as opposition MLA Rohit Pawar issued a two-day ultimatum to the state government, warning that the protesting MPSC aspirants will either shut down Pune city or storm the Mantralaya if...

Fadnavis seeks judicial probe against chiefs

AI Generated Image Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday, requested Governor Jishnu Dev Verma to constitute a committee to investigate the current and former chairpersons of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) over an exam paper leak by invoking Article 317 of the Constitution, even as opposition MLA Rohit Pawar issued a two-day ultimatum to the state government, warning that the protesting MPSC aspirants will either shut down Pune city or storm the Mantralaya if the commission’s leadership is not held accountable. The chief minister’s recommendation to the Governor follows a high-level meeting with a delegation of students preparing for competitive exams. Responding to their primary demand for the immediate removal of MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar, the government clarified that a constitutional inquiry is legally mandated before any dismissal. Consequently, Fadnavis has urged the Governor to appoint a retired High Court judge to head the probe committee, requesting a report within three months to facilitate further administrative action. Honoring another commitment made during the meeting, the state government issued orders transferring MPSC Secretary Mahendra Harpalkar from his post. The current unrest stems from the leaked Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug inspector examination paper, a breach that recently led to the arrest of several accused individuals and three beneficiary students. However, the state government’s actions have failed to quell the agitation in Pune, which has now entered its fifth day and fractured into three distinct groups over varying demands, including disputes over descriptive versus objective exam patterns. The protest site has rapidly transformed into a political flashpoint, drawing visits from prominent leaders across the spectrum, including Sharad Pawar, Raj Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray, and Manoj Jarange Patil. Taking an aggressive stance on the ground, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar cautioned the administration that a massive escalation is imminent. Anticipating a potential visit by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on October 7 or 8, Pawar estimated that over one lakh students could soon take to the streets. He stated that the students and their parents will heed calls to lock down Pune entirely or march directly to the state secretariat in Mumbai if the government fails to clean up the alleged corruption within the MPSC. The escalating standoff also triggered a direct political exchange between Pawar and Minister Nitesh Rane. Rane urged Pawar not to hold students hostage for political optics, emphasizing that the issue concerns the future of the youth and should not be used as a political launchpad. Rane sarcastically extended an olive branch, stating that as friends, they might even work together as cabinet ministers in the future. Pawar quickly dismissed the overture, retorting that Rane should focus on demanding Bhimanwar’s resignation from his own government rather than predicting future alliances. Pawar quipped that the BJP’s sudden collaborative tone indicates they have realized a change in government is imminent, urging Rane to show the courage to sit in the opposition. Meanwhile, the ruling BJP launched a fierce counter-offensive, categorizing the Pune protests as a staged political event rather than a genuine student movement. Addressing a press conference at the BJP state office, chief spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that 80 percent of the crowd consists of political workers. Ban claimed that after genuine students boycotted the initial days of the protest, Pawar orchestrated the arrival of employees from Baramati Agro and local sugar factories in 200 to 250 vehicles bearing political flags. Defending the MPSC chairman, Ban pointed out that the paper leak did not even occur during Bhimanwar’s tenure as he took charge in March 2026 and noted that the student delegation that met with Fadnavis in Mumbai had already expressed satisfaction with the government’s intervention. To bolster his claim of political infiltration, the BJP spokesperson cited a recent incident where Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omraje Nimbalkar was met with hostile “traitor” slogans at the protest site, arguing this proved the crowd consisted of partisan workers rather than competitive exam aspirants seeking academic reforms.

Clever seat selection helped BJP to secure historic win

Writer: Ruddhi Phadke
Ruddhi Phadke
Nov 29, 2024
2 min read

The party won 65 seats against Congress, 37 against NCP (SP) and 29 against Shiv Sena (UBT)

Clever seat selection

Mumbai: The BJP’s strategic seat sharing with the allies has proved beneficial for the party. An analysis of the Assembly election results show that the BJP has scored over its main rival, the Congress, in a big way because of the direct fights.


The analysis shows that BJP defeated all three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – in the direct fights. This is attributed as one of the reasons for the BJP’s historic poll success.


The BJP contested 147 out of 288 seats. In 76 constituencies, it faced Congress. BJP secured victory in 65 seats and lost only 11 seats, making it a whopping 86 per cent of the total direct fights. This was followed by an even stronger performance against NCP (SP). Of the total 39 fights with Sharad Pawar’s party, BJP captured 37 seats making it 95 per cent of the total fights with NCP (SP). BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were head-to-head in 32 constituencies, of which BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, making this 91 per cent of the total direct contests.


According to a BJP strategist the party had bargained hard with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP to get the desired constituencies in the seat sharing formula. “We had studied to potential candidates of the MVA. That helped us in choosing the seats where we can register comfortable victories,” the strategist said.


BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty attributed the success to all the party workers who worked hard to boost development, infrastructure in the state. He gave credit to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his contribution to the party’s success.


Shetty pointed out that in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stalled all the “novel” and “legendary” projects that Fadnavis had started when he had taken over as CM, making it very easy for the people of Maharashtra to strike a comparison between both the leaders and the potential they had for serving the people. “Devendra Fadnavis gave up his post very easily for the larger good. There are many such examples like Venkaiah Naidu who was BJP National President and later worked as the Vice President of India because that was the need of the hour. We seldom care about our posts,” Shetty told The Perfect Voice.


Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe refused to call the election results as the people’s mandate. “This is not at all a Janata mandate. Despite Maharashtra struggling with so many basic social issues, how can BJP acquire such a huge mandate is the question. If a student copies and fails with just passing marks, it can go unnoticed, but if a student copies and bags the number one position, something is fishy. Why is the BJP scared of ballot papers?” he said.

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