Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Monday said that he is being followed by some unidentified individuals in Mumbai and Nanded, and all his movements are being watched. “I am being followed. These people are collecting information about my meetings and travel plans. It could be a plot to harm me. I have been hearing a discussion from many about a plan to do ‘Mete’ on me,” said Chavan during a public rally in his hometown Nanded.
Chavan referred to late Vinayak Mete, a leader of the Maratha community, who died in an early morning accident in 2022, while enroute to Mumbai from Pune at the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Several conspiracy theories were floated after his death, and Chavan’s statement was likely to fuel these theories of a possible ‘foul play in Mete’s death’.
Singer Sonu Nigam and his team were allegedly manhandled at a music event in Mumbai’s Chembur on Monday night. Nigam and his team left the spot soon after the incident and filed a complaint regarding the same at the Chembur police station.
An official said that based on a preliminary enquiry, the incident took place when a local politician’s son wanted to take a selfie with Nigam. However, the singer’s team didn’t recognise him and pushed him aside which led to a scuffle between the politician’s supporters and Nigam’s team.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Nigam accused Swapnil Prakash Phaterpekar, the son of Chembur MLA Prakash Phaterpekar, a leader of Uddhav Thackeray’s party, of trying to ‘hold’ him as he was coming down from the stage. Nigam also claimed Phaterpekar ‘pushed’ his associates when they tried to come to his rescue.
Three days after it received EC recognition, the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took control of the party office in the Maharashtra legislative building, which was till now in the control of Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, on Monday. Hours later, Uddhav alleged that it was a pre-planned conspiracy to snatch the Shiv Sena name and political symbol. “They have stolen everything from me, from the party name Shiv Sena to symbol but remember, you can steal the party but you cannot steal my ‘Thackeray’ name.”
Breaking his silence on the political developments in Maharashtra, former state governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari on Monday described Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray as a “saintly person” who was not cut out for the Chief Minister post. Instead, Koshiyari said, Thackeray should have continued to run his own party.
Reflecting on his strained relationship with former chief minister Thackeray, Koshiyari said, “I am of the view that Uddhav Thackeray is a saintly person. He shouldn’t have taken the CM post. He was not fit for CM. He should have run his own party. It was NCP’s Sharad Pawar and Congress which instilled in him the chief ministership and made him a sacrificial lamb. Actually, I feel sorry for Uddhav Thackeray.”
