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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Bihar’s huge gain, Maharashtra’s pause

Shadow cast over the national trajectories of several heavyweights including Fadnavis Mumbai: The sudden appointment of Nitin Nabin as the BJP’s national Working National President on December 14, 2025, has done more than just fill a leadership vacuum; it has recalibrated the internal power dynamics of the ruling party. While the 45-year-old Bihar minister’s elevation is being hailed as a masterstroke in generational transition, it has simultaneously cast a shadow over the national...

Bihar’s huge gain, Maharashtra’s pause

Shadow cast over the national trajectories of several heavyweights including Fadnavis Mumbai: The sudden appointment of Nitin Nabin as the BJP’s national Working National President on December 14, 2025, has done more than just fill a leadership vacuum; it has recalibrated the internal power dynamics of the ruling party. While the 45-year-old Bihar minister’s elevation is being hailed as a masterstroke in generational transition, it has simultaneously cast a shadow over the national trajectories of several heavyweights, most notably from Maharashtra. Nabin, a five-term MLA and a seasoned organisational hand, represents the “new guard” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have spent years cultivating. By choosing a leader from Bihar—a state where the BJP is looking to fill a leadership void as ally Nitish Kumar nears the twilight of his career—the high command has signaled that the path to the top is reserved for those under 55 with deep grassroots roots. However, this “Bihar first” strategy has created an unexpected bottleneck for Maharashtra’s most prominent national aspirants. Block Fadnavis Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has long been the subject of “Delhi-bound” rumours. Despite his public assertions that he will remain in Maharashtra until 2029, insiders suggest his national ambitions were a poorly kept secret. Nabin’s appointment complicates this path significantly. At 55, Fadnavis is ten years Nabin’s senior. With Nabin now positioned to transition into the full-time President role by early 2026, the organisational “Top Spot” is effectively occupied for the foreseeable future. For Fadnavis, entering the national arena now means competing in a space where the leadership has already signaled a preference for younger, non-entrenched faces. “The appointment of a 45-year-old sends a message that the party isn’t just looking for experience; it’s looking for a long political runway,” noted a senior BJP strategist. Another senior BJP leader from Bihar highlighted the “Low Key” factor that might have helped Nabin in being elevated to the top slot. Another analyst said that the appointment of Nabin also suggests that the BJP leadership is unlikely to pay heed to the insistence from the RSS while devising the succession strategy within the party and in the government. This factor too goes against Fadnavis, the analyst feels. Waiting Game Another leader feeling the squeeze is BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde. Known as a prolific “troubleshooter” in Delhi, speculation was rife that a cabinet reshuffle would see Tawde move from the organisation to a ministerial post. Instead, the elevation of a younger leader to the Working Presidency suggests the “organisational refresh” may keep current secretaries in their administrative roles longer than anticipated. For Tawde, who successfully navigated from state-level sidelines to national relevance, the prospect of a high-profile cabinet berth now appears to be a “distant dream” in the current reshuffle cycle. The “Nabin Era” marks a departure from the traditional seniority-based hierarchy. Those hailing the feat as a masterstroke say that the BJP leadership has achieved multiple goals like neutralising factions and forced recalibration by promoting a leader who was not on the typical media “shortlist”. In Nabin’s appointment the BJP central leadership has bypassed the traditional power centers of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and pushed leaders like Fadnavis and Tawde to double down on their current roles rather than looking toward the capital, they say. As the party prepares for its plenary session in January 2026, the message to the rank and file is clear that the national arena is no longer a natural progression for state stalwarts, but a field of high-stakes, unpredictable selection.

Hang the killer, probe case afresh: Kin

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Kolhapur / Mumbai: A day after a Panvel Court verdict giving the life-sentence to an ex-cop for brutally killing his lover and a police-woman Ashwini Bidre-Gore, her kin has demanded the hangman’s noose for him, here on Tuesday.

 

Simultaneously, the Gore and Bidre family will seek to reopen the sensational case for a fresh probe into the case to establish the role of the errant police officials who allegedly carried out a shoddy investigation nine years ago when Ashwini was murdered, her body chopped into pieces, stuffed into bags and a sack, and then thrown into the Thane Creek near Vasai.

 

The victim’s husband Raju Gore and his daughter Siddhi, 16 as well members of the Gore and Bidre family are unanimous that the convict – Abhay Kurundkar should be given the capital punishment for the gory crime, without any future privileges like parole, furloughs, etc.

 

“We are satisfied by the justice done to Ashwini, but feel let down by the life sentence to Kurundkar for the heinous crime he and others committed. The entire town and district of Kolhapur also feel likewise. If the government does not allow an appeal, then we shall file an independent petition in the Bombay High Court,” a determined Raju Gore told ‘The Perfect Voice’.

 

He lauded the role of the (then) Deputy Superintendent of Police Sangeet Shinde-Alphonso for carrying out the meticulous probe involving tech-intel, witnesses and other evidence since “the body was never traced”, but claimed that now the officer has been ‘sidelined’.

 

The Special Public Prosecutor Pradip D. Gharat has already said that the prosecution would file an appeal for the death sentence to Kurundkar, plus enhanced punishment for his two accomplices Kundan Bhandari and Mahesh Falnikar (who got 7 years in jail each).

 

Simultaneously, the defense lawyer Vishal Bhanushali told ‘The Perfect Voice’ that they plan to challenge the verdict in the high court on various grounds, after studying the judgement delivered by Panvel Court Sessions Judge K. G. Paldewar.

 

“We adhered to the full legal procedures, highest standards of fairness and due process although there was formidable evidence against his client Kurundkar in the high-profile case,” said Bhanushali.

 

How a murder suspect was named for a national honour?

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The victim’s husband Raju Gore, a farmer, said that though the convict Kurundkar was already under a cloud for months before his arrest, “how did the state government and police department initiate the process to recommend him for the President’s Gallantry Medal for 2017”.

 

“The entire procedures, all the officials, both police and civilian must be investigated, what compulsions prompted them to push (the convict’s) name, the related circumstances, etc.,” demanded Gore, the 9-year-old matter.

 

Kurundkar, then a Senior Police Inspector with Thane Rural Police was nominated for the top award in Jan. 2017, but was later arrested and the honour revoked.

 

In the verdict, the Court also expressed its ire over the developments, which now the Gore-Bidre families want to be investigated and all the culprits booked under criminal charges.

 

Ashwini’s killing shattered the two families. Her mother Nirmala went into shock and died three years ago, her brother Anand settled abroad has returned to India to look after his father Jaikumar.

 

Gore’s daughter, 16, has appeared for her SSC exams and has set her eyes to first pursue a degree in medicine and later crack the UPSC.

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