oppn parties Maharashtra: Fissures In Maha Vikas Aghadi Come To The Fore Again

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Maharashtra: Fissures In Maha Vikas Aghadi Come To The Fore Again

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-06-14 21:59:41

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is once again facing a tussle. This time, it is reportedly over the sharing of the 12 Vidhan Parishad seats. As per the proportionate formula, the Shiv Sena gets 5 seats, the NCP 4 and the Congress 3. But it seems the Congress is not happy with this. It wants the seats to be shared equally among the alliance partners. Congress leader Ashok Chavan said that the alliance partners are going to have a meeting in a couple of days to solve this and other disputes. He made it clear that there are some "issues" among the MVA allies and the bureaucracy.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had tried to wash his hands off the mismanagement of the Covid-19 situation in the state by saying that although his party was in the alliance, it was "not a key player". Yet, when it comes to getting seats, the Congress wants an equal share. If Gandhi's party can try to punch above its weight in seat-sharing, why can't it do so to hold the state government, of which it is a partner, accountable for mismanaging the coronavirus crisis? Or contribute to decision making as it has rich administrative experience?

In the state elections, the Shiv Sena had got 56 assembly seats, the NCP 54 and the Congress 42. Hence, it a just formula to divide the legislative council seat proportionately. It is just a matter of one or two seats. But the Congress is trying to put a spanner in the works by demanding an extra seat. Obviously this seat is going to come from Shiv Sena's proportionate share. The NCP is not going to be affected. Hence, it remains to be seen whether Sharad Pawar plays the peacemaker or lets the other two thrash it out. The Shiv Sena is unlikely to yield ground and the Congress might have to swallow its pride and make do with just 3 seats.