CIVIC COUNCILS PROPOSE EVS FOR TOURISTS

and achieved greater heights. The decision to leave Varsha shows how the Thackerays think; they aren’t the ones to stick to such materialistic things and possessions. At the same time, Matoshree has been a power centre since decades,” said Diwakar Raote, senior Shiv Sena leader, who was at Varsha on Wednesday. The future of the MVA government may be on razor’s edge, but for Uddhav Thackeray there is an existential crisis that lies ahead which is who will control the mantle of the party. Eknath Shinde has been repeatedly portraying his bellion as an effort to reclaim the Hindutva legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray. By leaving Varsha and retreating to Matoshree, Uddhav Thackeray is underscoring his position as the party’s supreme leader.

The Sena top brass is wary that the rebel camp may stake claim on the tag of official party and symbol. “Our aim is to retain control of the party organisation since we know the BJP will try to undercut Uddhav Thackeray’s authority in Sena,” said a key member of Thackeray’s team. “At several places there is confusion among the party workers as their local MLA has defected. Uddhavji is trying to reach out to them and sending them a message that he is fighting back. There are a significant number of areas where our voter votes in the name of party and not for the local leader. If the leadership sends clear message to them, the party cadre will be reassured,” he added not wanting to be quoted by name. It’s the same strategy, he said that was adopted after the previous rebellions by heavyweight leaders such as Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray. At the end of the day, politics is all about the leader having an emotional connect with the masses and party workers on the ground, he added.

Party MP and Saamna editor Sanjay Raut said: “We are warriors, we will continue to fight and the truth shall prevail. Matoshree remains the main power centre for Shiv Sena.”

Earlier in his public address, Uddhav Thackeray took a swipe at Shinde’s assertions about the party’s ideological turn. “Some people are alleging or creating an air that this is not the Shiv Sena that Balasaheb built. We are still taking forward his ideals. After Balasaheb passed away in 2012, we contested solo in the 2014 polls. We had the same ideology of Hindutva then, we have the same today and will remain in the future. We got 63 MLA at that time, and some people enjoyed ministerial berths in that government. That too was the Shiv Sena of Balasaheb.”

Following

Thackeray’s address, Shinde, in a series of tweets, claimed that in the last two-and-half years, the MVA government had ended up boosting its alliance partners (NCP and Congress) at the cost of the party. “While allies grew stronger, Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainik were left demoralised. It’s essential to get out of the unnatural alliance for the survival of the party. The decision needs to be taken for the sake of Maharashtra,” he tweeted.

All through Wednesday, there was hectic parlaying between the MVA allies. Thackeray spoke to Sharad Pawar, and Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole, and Ashok Chavan, and he also spoke to Congress leader Kamal Nath. Sanjay Raut dismissed media speculation that Pawar had suggested that Thackeray make Shinde the chief minister to save the government. “Uddhavji is the chief minister and he will remain so. If need be we will prove our strength on the floor of the house,” said Raut who played a key role in the formation of the MVA.

to Ajit Pawar’s revolt in 2019. The Shinde group is expected to get a maximum of 12 berths, which is the number of berths given to the Shiv Sena which was in alliance with the BJP when Fadnavis was the CM,” says the source.

The portfolios that may be allocated to Shinde’s group include PWD, Urban Development (in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, Shinde handled these portfolios). Some others who don’t find a berth in the Cabinet may be accommodated on the statutory boards and corporations just to retain them for the remaining term of 29 months,” the BJP functionary quoted above, adds.

The queues outside Fadnavis’s office have become longer with the BJP leaders sniffing power. Maharashtra BJP’S vice president Madhav Bhandari however cautions: “We do not want to speak about the current situation. If needed, Fadnavisji will lead from the front under the guidance of the central leadership. The formation of the next government has yet to be decided.”

performance of the Indian economy”, he said.

Modi listed four pillars responsible for the Indian economy’s recovery – technology-led growth, efforts to improve the ease of doing business, improvement of infrastructure and digital transformation.

“We are supporting innovation in every sector. We have made innovation-friendly policies in many areas like space, blue economy, green hydrogen, clean energy, drones, geo-special and data,” he said.

India now has one of the best ecosystems for innovation, reflected in the growing number of start-ups. India also has more than 100 unicorns among some 70,000 start-ups, he noted.

Even during the pandemic, India continued improving the ease of doing business, and thousands of rules were changed to reduce the compliance burden on business. “Massive work is being done to bring more transparency and consistency in government policies and procedures,” Modi said.

Infrastructure is being improved and expanded on a large scale, and a national master plan has been prepared for this. “There are investment opportunities worth $1.5 trillion under our National Infrastructure Pipeline,” he said.

“And fourth, the kind of digital transformation happening in India today has never been seen before in the world. By 2025, the value of the Indian digital economy will reach $1 trillion,” he added.

The digital sector’s growth has encouraged women to participate in the workforce, and about 36% of the 4.4 million professionals working in the IT sector are women. “Our rural women have also benefited the most from technology-based financial inclusion,” he said. Modi called on the Brics Women Business Alliance to do a study on this transformative change, as well as a dialogue between members of the grouping on innovation-led economic recovery.

PUNE: Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani municipal councils have sent a proposal to the state tourism ministry to ban petrol and diesel vehicles for sight-seeing as it is causing air pollution.

The proposal was sent on June 20.The tourist will have to use electric vehicles (EV) which will be made available by the administration at entry points of the hill stations.

The proposal has been prepared jointly by the municipal council of Mahableshwar and Panchgani. One can take fuelrun vehicles to entry points where the administration will be constructing parking spaces.

“The number of vehicles are increasing every day at both the hill stations. To control air pollution, electric vehicles are a good option. We want the state tourism ministry to approve this proposal. It has many benefits for the long term,” said Pallavi Bhore Patil, chief officer, Mahableshwar municipal council.

Local cab drivers however, did not welcome the proposal.

UDDHAV GOES HOME

BJP OFFERS SHINDE... 7.5% GROWTH