Besides Vikhe Patil, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar was also inducted into the state council of ministers on Sunday
Opposition MLAs staged a protest outside the Maharashtra legislature ahead of beginning of the monsoon session here on Monday and criticised the BJP-led state government for being "anti-people" and over the cabinet expansion.
ADVERTISEMENT
The MLAs, including NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Congress' Balasaheb Thorat, raised slogans against the government for allegedly not keeping the promise of development. They alleged that the government was instead busy in inducting into the Fadnavis cabinet those who switched loyalties from the opposition to the ruling party. The protesters did not name any leader, but dubbed them as "aayaram, gayaram" (referring to frequent floor- crossing by legislators).
They were apparently referring to former Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who was inducted into the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet on Sunday. A banner flagged by the opposition MLAs read "the dream of development comes a cropper, the government, however, is busy in expansion". Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde, who was among the protesters, said, "The government is anti-farmer and anti-people. We condemn it." Besides Vikhe Patil, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar was also inducted into the state council of ministers on Sunday.
Top five news stories of the day
Mumbai Crime: Powai police arrest pervert ex-professor for stalking, harassing student
The Powai police on Saturday arrested a man who formerly worked as a professor at a premier engineering institute in the city for allegedly sending lewd messages and videos to one of his ex-students. The accused, identified as Vijay Deshmukh, had been fired from the institute in 2018 following the student's complaint to its women's cell. But he resurfaced in her life recently after she returned from South Korea, following which she filed a police complaint against him. (Read more)
Mumbai trashes BMC's 'successful ban' claims as city vendors still use banned plastic
Life is plastic and fantastic for Mumbai once again. While the Maharashtra government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have been making tall claims regarding the effective implementation of the plastic ban, a test drive by mid-day at various markets in the city has revealed a very different picture. Close to a year since the state implemented the ban, plastic bags are still being freely handed out in the open market. (Read full story)
Female leopard that attacked two kids found dead in Thane
The decomposed carcass of a 10-year-old female leopard that attacked two children a couple of days back, was found in the forest patch in Murbad, Thane on Saturday. The children were attacked when they had gone to the forest with their grandmother to collect firewood and fruits in Karpewadi forest on Friday afternoon. (Read full story)
Mumbai: A year and Rs 3.34 crore later, Gokhale Bridge opens up
Almost after a year since repair work started, Andheri's Gokhale Bridge was fully opened to the public on Sunday morning. The work, which started in July last year after the cantilever footpath on the southern end of the bridge collapsed, was carried out at a cost of R3.34 crore. Soon after the incident, Western Railway (WR) had undertaken a safety audit of the bridge with help from IIT-Bombay, following which major repair and strengthening works had been identified. (Read full story)
Maharashtra radiologists to join doctors' stir
The Maharashtra State Branch of Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (MSBIRIA) has decided to support the striking doctors in West Bengal. To show their solidarity with them, members of the association have decided to shut all radio-diagnostic modalities like sonography, X-ray, CT scan, MRI etc for 24 hours across the state from 6 am today. (Read full story)
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates