Mumbai’s annual monsoon ordeal has become a test of whether governance can keep pace with a changing climate. Few cities romanticise the monsoon as much as Mumbai. The first showers arrive with nostalgia and Bollywood melodies. Soon enough, however, romance gives way to ritual: flooded roads, submerged railway tracks, fallen trees, gridlocked traffic and stranded commuters. Governance Audit This year, the examination has been particularly unforgiving. Between late June and th

CM Fadnavis tears apart Opposition over Connecting Link tragedy Mumbai: Mounting a fierce counteroffensive in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis aggressively retaliated against the opposition for their relentless criticism of the Mahayuti government following a landslide near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway’s ambitious ‘Missing Link’ project. The incident, which occurred two days ago, had briefly disrupted traffic and provided the opposition wi

Devastatingly symbolic, the raw egg has become the latest vocabulary of public dissent in West Bengal, reviving a centuries-old tradition of shaming those in power. A 1917 cartoon caricaturing the egg-throwing incident at Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes. The price of the humble egg has suddenly increased in cities and districts of West Bengal. No one ever imagined the use of the egg as a political weapon in the hands of the common man and woman before the tumbling down

The Centre’s bid to enforce political morality through constitutional amendment risks empowering investigative agencies at the expense of democratic mandate. Can a government be ethically run from a prison cell? That is the central question behind the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in August last year. The draft legislation mandates that if a Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or cabinet minister is detained for

Mumbai: Besieged for past six years with allegations that he had abandoned ‘Hindutva’, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray changed tack today to announce a state-wide agitation called ‘Ram Raksha Andolan’ (Protect Ram Crusade) from Sunday. The move is intended to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is currently under fire from all over after alleged financial irregularities linked to devotees’ donations at the Lord Ram Temple in Ayodhya – inaugurate

As legislators trade defections for reforms and accusations for applause, Maharashtra’s monsoon session finds the state’s citizens still awaiting relief. The Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Legislature has evolved into a revealing contest over power and political survival instead of the constitutional ritual of debating laws and approving budgets it is meant to be. While the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti has sought to project itself as a reforming administration pushing

Mumbai: In the unforgiving theater of the state politics, symbolism is often the precursor to a tectonic shift. By masterminding the unexpected move to field Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sachin Ahir for the coveted post of Deputy Chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has done much more than simply poach a high-profile rival. He has sent an unequivocal message across the political spectrum: ‘Operation Tiger’ is far from over. This aggressi

Mass defections are often blamed on ambition. But history suggests that parties begin to fracture when they lose ideological purpose. The spate of mass defections and vertical splits witnessed over the past few years has become the subject of heated debates in television studios and extensive media coverage. The list is long - the undivided Shiv Sena, the NCP, the AAP, the TMC, the Shiv Sena (UBT), with speculation also rife about several others. The BJP’s aggressive strategy

Mumbai: Keeping the health and safety concerns in mind, the BMC has now made its food and water testing laboratories more advanced. The result of the test will be given within 24 hours through email and WhatsApp. The test is also kept at a nominal price. The Municipal Analyst Laboratory located at the ‘G North’ Ward Office in Dadar tests more than 70,000 water and food samples every year. “Citizens and commercial establishments should avail the services of the Brihanmumbai Mu

Mumbai: Against the backdrop of an ugly controversy that erupted last week in Malad, a delegation of prominent office-bearers from a Jain community organisation called on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray, and tendered a written apology. The delegation included Deepak Savla and K. N. Maniar, Trustees of the ‘Shree Dhanna-Shalibhadra Tapagach Shwetambar Murti Pujak Aradhak Jain Sangh’ Malad, who tendered the apology – in Marathi – to Raj Thackeray and profusely expresse

Eknath Shinde’s greatest political challenge is not within the ruling Mahayuti but in ensuring that Uddhav Thackeray ceases to matter. Maharashtra has seldom witnessed political upheaval on the scale of the past decade. Since 2014, the state’s alliances have been broken and remade with astonishing frequency and parties that once defined themselves by ideological certainties have embraced improbable partners. Yet three years - 2019, 2022 and 2024 - stand apart. Each reshaped n

Journalists staged a protest outside Balasaheb Bhavan against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Dina Patil, condemning his alleged remarks against members of the media. Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: Mumbai North-East MP Sanjay Dina-Patil – who recently defected to the ruling ally Shiv Sena apparently went haywire on Thursday, hurling bomb threats at political opponents, spitting expletives at protestors, warning jounos of assault and warning anybody “to do whatever you can”, sparking a mass

Mumbai: A heated debate was seen between MLCs from the ruling alliance in the upper house of the Maharashtra legislature on Wednesday even as the house discussed the farm loan waiver scheme announced by the state government a few days ago. Newly elected MLC Bachchu Kadu of Shiv Sena raised several objection on the loan waiver scheme even as a comprehensive discussion took place in the Legislative Council. The objections were primarily about the state of implementation of the

Mumbai: Maharashtra government unequivocally declared its commitment to implementing the Uniform Civil Code across the state, assuring the legislative assembly that a comprehensive legal framework is already in the advanced stages of formulation. Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam categorically stated on the floor of the House on Tuesday that the ruling Mahayuti administration is entirely positive about the swift introduction of the Uniform Civil Code to standardize pers

The recent split within the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena marks a critical turning point in Maharashtra politics. With six rebel Members of Parliament (MPs) set to merge into the Eknath Shinde-led faction, the Shinde group’s Lok Sabha strength will rise to 13. While the BJP holds nine MPs, this shift significantly enhances the Shinde faction's independent political clout. Although the BJP maintains undisputed dominance in the State Legislative Assembly, these altering equati

Mumbai: As the rebel six MPs were proudly showcased before the media in a grand event by Shiv Sena President and Deputy Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, ex-CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray summoned his entire flock of lawmakers for a headcount – and discovered that four were allegedly ‘missing’, on Monday. The development came after a similar meeting last week of its nine Lok Sabha MPs saw only three in attendance and the six prospective turncoats proclaimed lo

Mumbai: Maharashtra Legislative Council elections have exposed the soft underbelly of both the ruling as well as the opposition combine. While the BJP couldn’t prevent rebellion in Nashik to ensure election of Mahayuti candidate, the MVA challenge was decimated under defection and cross-voting at several places effectively preventing them from adding anything to their strength in the upper house of Maharashtra legislature. Despite these internal vulnerabilities, the ruling Ma

AI generated image Mumbai: A quiet coup in the state has triggered a loud shift in the power dynamics of the nation’s capital. By engineering the defection of six additional MPs, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has nearly doubled his parliamentary muscle, transforming his Shiv Sena faction from a junior regional partner into an indispensable pillar of the NDA. Now sitting on a commanding 13 seats, Shinde has dramatically increased his political leverage—leaving a cautious

New Delhi: For nearly two decades, the Luv-Kush political equation has remained one of the most influential social and electoral formations in Bihar. The alliance between the Kurmi and Koeri (Kushwaha) communities was transformed into a formidable political force largely under the leadership of former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. However, as Nitish Kumar gradually steps back from active state politics and increasingly assumes a role in the Rajya Sabha, a crucial question is b

Political morality was compromised the day the MVA was formed. Everything that followed was a consequence of that turning point. Suddenly, after the news of six UBTSS MPs defecting to Shiv Sena, political discourse in Maharashtra has once again turned to questions of morality and ethics. Yet, the sudden outrage of self-proclaimed intellectuals, left-liberals, and purogami voices has started its vidhva vilap once again over these defections. During the 30-month tenure of the M