top of page

By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Victory in the streets, vacuum in the office

State BJP without official body since over 8 months Mumbai: Despite a crushing wave of victories across Maharashtra’s urban and rural landscape, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in a peculiar state of organizational paralysis. More than eight months after Ravindra Chavan officially took the reins as State President from Chandrashekhar Bawankule in July 2025, the party has failed to constitute its state executive body, exposing deep-seated internal friction and a...

Victory in the streets, vacuum in the office

State BJP without official body since over 8 months Mumbai: Despite a crushing wave of victories across Maharashtra’s urban and rural landscape, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in a peculiar state of organizational paralysis. More than eight months after Ravindra Chavan officially took the reins as State President from Chandrashekhar Bawankule in July 2025, the party has failed to constitute its state executive body, exposing deep-seated internal friction and a deadlock with the central leadership in Delhi. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited Delhi twice this week. On Friday he also called on the newly elected national party president Nitin Nabin. Though it is being speculated that the meeting might lead to political realignment in the state, real question is whether it will bring to the tracks the derailed organizational appointments of the state party unit. The primary catalyst for this administrative limbo is said to be a strict directive from the BJP high command. In a bid to ensure that elected representatives remain laser-focused on their constituencies ahead of the 2029 cycle, the party leadership has mandated that no sitting MLA should be appointed as an organizational office bearer. While logically sound, this "one person, one post" enforcement has drained the pool of seasoned leaders available for the state body. State President Ravindra Chavan, himself an MLA from Dombivli, is reportedly struggling to balance the requirement for experienced "organizational engines" with the demand for fresh, non-legislative faces. The friction has reportedly peaked over the appointment of a specific former minister who lost his seat during the 2024 Lok Sabha debacle. Sources indicate this leader, who feels sidelined after being denied a cabinet berth in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, is lobbying aggressively for the powerful post of State General Secretary. However, the Delhi high command remains unimpressed. Citing his recent electoral loss and a "cloud of controversy" surrounding his previous tenure, the central leadership has twice rejected the list of office bearers submitted by the state unit. This tug-of-war has effectively stalled the entire process, as the state unit is hesitant to move forward without accommodating senior loyalists. The irony of the situation is not lost on political observers. The organizational delay comes at a time when the BJP’s "election machine" is performing at its peak. While demonstrating its civic dominance, in the January 2026 municipal elections, the BJP swept 1,425 out of 2,869 seats across 29 corporations, including a historic victory in the BMC. It also demonstrated its rural surge in the recently concluded Zilla Parishad polls, where the party emerged as the single largest entity, winning 225 of 731 seats. "The party is winning on the strength of the 'Fadnavis-Chavan' duo and the Mahayuti's momentum, but the skeletal structure of the organization is missing. We have generals and soldiers, but no mid-level commanders," noted a senior party strategist on the condition of anonymity. When questioned about the delay, Ravindra Chavan’s office has maintained a disciplined silence. Staffers decline to provide a timeline, merely stating that "consultations are ongoing." This lack of a formal state body means that key wings of the party—including the Youth, Women, and Kisan Morchas—are operating without a full set of sanctioned leaders. While the BJP continues to win elections through centralized command, the simmering discontent among senior leaders who feel "abandoned" by the high command's new rules could pose a challenge to long-term internal harmony.

In a first, Pakistan admits loss during Operation Sindoor

  • PTI
  • Dec 28, 2025
  • 3 min read

President Zardari reveals he was advised to hide in a bunker


Deputy PM says Nur Khan airbase was attacked

By M Zulqernain

Lahore: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has revealed that he was advised to “hide in a bunker” when India launched Operation Sindoor in May this year.


Zardari made the revelation while speaking at an event in Larkana, Sindh province, to mark the 18th death anniversary of his wife and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.


“My MS (Military Secretary) came to me and said, 'Sir, the war has started.' I had actually told him four days earlier that a war was going to happen. He said, 'Sir, let's go to a bunker (being a safe place)'... I said, 'If martyrdom is to come, it will come here. Leaders don't die in bunkers. They die on the battlefield. They don't die sitting in bunkers,” he said on Saturday.


India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes between the two countries and ended with an understanding to stop the military actions on May 10.


“Pakistan desires peace but remains fully prepared to defend itself,” Zardari said, while making claims about what he called Pakistan's “decisive stance” during the four-day conflict.


President Zardari also praised Army chief Asim Munir for what he called a “befitting reply to India” in the armed conflict in May.


The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) top leader claimed that the international community is now acknowledging Pakistan's stance and even US President Donald Trump had praised Munir.


He also claimed that it was PPP that made Munir the Field Marshal. “We, the PPP, made Gen Munir Field Marshal,” he said.


Zardari's son and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also spoke on the occasion.


Nur Khan Airbase was a target: Dar

Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has admitted that India attacked its Nur Khan airbase in the early hours of May 10, in possibly a first-time admission eight months after the four-day armed conflict between the two countries.


Dar also said that Islamabad did not request mediation between Pakistan and India during the May conflict, but claimed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan expressed a desire to speak with New Delhi.


India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.


The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes between the two countries and ended with an understanding to stop the military actions on May 10.


“As many as 79 of 80 drones sent by India were intercepted within 36 hours. India then made the mistake of attacking the Nur Khan Airbase in the early hours of May 10, prompting Pakistan's retaliatory operation,” Dar, who is also the foreign minister, said while outlining Pakistan's diplomatic engagements in 2025.


Dar said that on May 10, US Secretary of State Rubio called him at around 8.17 am, in which he conveyed that India was ready for a ceasefire and asked whether Pakistan would agree. "I said we never wanted to go to war,” Dar added.


He further said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal later contacted him seeking permission to speak with India and “subsequently confirmed that a ceasefire had been agreed.”


Dar also claimed that Pakistan shot down seven Indian jets during the May 7 air battle, without providing any evidence in support of his claims.


The minister reiterated Pakistan's position that lasting peace in the region is linked to a resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Comments

bottom of page