Politics

Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Dharmarao Baba Atram's daughter Bhagyashri joined the NCP (SP) on Thursday, despite attempts by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to dissuade her from crossing over to the Sharad Pawar-led party.

State NCP (SP) president Jayant Patil and party leader Anil Deshmukh were present at the function held at Aheri in Gadchiroli district, where the minister's daughter joined the Opposition party. This development sparked speculation about a possible contest between Bhagyashri and her father, who is an MLA from Aheri, in the state Assembly elections likely to be held in November.

Bhagyashri said when her father was kidnapped by Naxalites, it was Sharad Pawar who ensured his safe return.

"This is my way of paying gratitude," she said, lamenting that her father left Sharad Pawar's side when the NCP split after Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra. Atram was kidnapped and held hostage by Maoists in 1991, who were demanding the release of their supporters from jail. Sharad Pawar was the Chief Minister at that time.

Patil said Bhagyashri didn't approve of her father's decision.

"We postponed her return to the party because we wanted to see if she is firm on her decision," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday demanded that Chief Justice India D Y Chandrachud recuse himself from the cases tied to the disqualification petitions concerning rebel Shiv Sena and NCP MLAs.

The Rajya Sabha member’s demand comes amid a row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the Ganpati Puja celebrations at CJI Chandrachud’s residence. Talking to reporters, Raut said doubt arises in the minds of people when “protectors of the Constitution meet politicians”.

“The Chief Justice of India should recuse himself from the cases because his relations with the Prime Minister are out in the open. Can he give us justice,” he asked. The Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray is caught in a legal wrangle with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, with the matter reaching the Supreme Court, after the split in the Bal Thackeray-founded party two years ago.

“Our case is going on before CJI Chandrachud. We have doubts whether we will get justice because the Centre is a party in our case and the (central) government is headed by the prime minister,” Raut said.

For three years, an “illegal government” has been in power in Maharashtra when someone like Chief Justice of India Chandrachud is in that position, Raut claimed.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde launched a strong criticism against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "spewing venom against the country" during his visits to the United States. Shinde described Rahul Gandhi's statements as reflecting a "petty mentality."

"Rahul Gandhi's views reflect his petty mentality. Whenever Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he spews venom against the country. The country can never agree with Rahul Gandhi's petty views. It has been Congress' habit to do politics in the name of religion and caste," Shinde remarked on Wednesday. Shinde further accused Rahul Gandhi of creating confusion around the issue of reservation.

"Spreading confusion about the Constitution and reservation has become their fashion. Rahul Gandhi's anti-reservation face has now come before the world," he said.

Noting that September 9 was the deadline for Foreign Portfolio Investors to disclose the beneficial owners of their holdings, the Congress on Wednesday asked SEBI if those implicated in the Adani matter have done so and why has it taken the capital markets regulator 18 months to enforce the new norm.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it is September 11 today, two days after the SEBI's September 9 deadline for FPIs - those who stand accused of holding concentrated portions of their equity portfolio in a single corporate group - to disclose the beneficial owners of their holdings. "We had raised this issue a few days ago, in light of information that two Mauritius-based FPIs that were part of the revelations in the still-unfolding Modani mega scam, have petitioned the Securities Appellate Tribunal to seek urgent relief from complying with these new foreign investor norms," he said in a post on X.

"Some questions to the SEBI on the current status of these disclosures - have all FPIs required to comply with these norms disclosed the details of their ultimate beneficial owners to SEBI? Which FPIs have complied, and which ones have failed to do so?" the Congress leader said. In particular, have the FPIs implicated in the "Modani mega-scam" revealed the details of their owners to SEBI, he asked.

"As part of its initial rulings on the Modani mega scam, the Supreme Court had mandated that SEBI investigate the violations by these FPIs within a timespan of two months - why has it taken SEBI 18 months to enforce this new norm?" Ramesh said.

Did this extended timespan of 18 months between the Supreme Court ruling and the compliance date for the FPIs allow these funds and their owners to divest from stocks and frustrate the transparency-seeking intent of these norms, he asked.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Tuesday refused to take up the responsibility as "communication chief with the Election Commission of India for Maharashtra assembly polls", stating that he should have been consulted beforehand.

In a letter to Raosaheb Danve, chairman of the party's state election campaign committee, the former Mumbai MP termed the treatment given to him as 'insulting'. "It is wrong to appoint me as communication chief with the Election Commission of India for Maharashtra assembly polls without even discussing it with me. I disapprove of it, but you can appoint someone else for that position," read the letter.

"I am not a member of this committee, and I request you and the state president (Chandrashekhar Bawankule) not to treat me so insultingly," Somaiya added. The letter also touched on a period in the past when the BJP, then in alliance with the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, had to sideline Somaiya as he had targeted the Shiv Sena continually over alleged corruption in the Mumbai civic body. Having won in 2014, he was denied Lok Sabha ticket in 2019, as well as in 2024.

When asked for comment, state BJP chief Bawankule said, "Somaiya is our senior leader. It is a rule in the BJP that we do not ask anyone, we delegate responsibilities. The party did not discuss with me whether I wanted to become state chief or not. I was made state chief directly."

Famous devotional singer Kanhaiya Mittal has said that he has changed his mind about joining Congress after receiving feedback from sants, mahants and politicians.

Mittal became famous with his song 'Jo Ram Ko Laye Hai Hum Unko Layenge'.

Earlier, he had expressed his wish to join Congress ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections. “I had expressed my wish to join (Congress) but people gave me feedback that I should not join. Sants, mahants and politicians said that this should not happen. When BJP’s senior leadership interfered and I spoke with them, I thought that this step was wrong,” Mittal told PTI on Tuesday about his plan to join the Congress.

On September 8, Mittal said he would join Congress as soon as possible.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has indicated that the Congress party is in alignment with the ruling BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on major foreign policy issues like the relationship with the US, no talks with Pakistan unless the flow of terrorism is stopped, concerns over extremist elements in Bangladesh and Israel.

However, Gandhi, 54, was not in sync with Modi’s policies on China, as he alleged that Chinese troops had taken control over Indian territory in Ladakh the size of Delhi. At a press conference held on Tuesday at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, Gandhi supported Modi's policies on Pakistan.

“Pakistan's instigation of terrorism in our country is holding the two countries back. We are not going to accept Pakistan carrying out terror acts in our country. We're just not going to accept it. And until they keep doing that, there's going to be problems between us,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi was on an unofficial four-day trip to the US that concluded Tuesday.