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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

HC orders fresh elections in three months

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai: In a jolt, the Bombay High Court has directed the state government to hold elections to the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) - which is managed by an Administrator for past three years – within three months, here on Friday. A division bench of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) comprising Justice Ajit Kadethankar and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi were disposing off a petition filed a senior medical practitioner, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant through his...

HC orders fresh elections in three months

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : In a jolt, the Bombay High Court has directed the state government to hold elections to the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) - which is managed by an Administrator for past three years – within three months, here on Friday.   A division bench of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) comprising Justice Ajit Kadethankar and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi were disposing off a petition filed a senior medical practitioner, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant through his lawyer Sharad V. Natu, seeking different reliefs.   These included alleged serious irregularities in the functioning of the MCA and challenging the continuation of the Administrator for a prolonged period pending the elections. The matter was highlighted in detail by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’   on April 21.   Strong Observations In its order uploaded today, Justice Kadethankar and Justice Kankanwadi noted the petitioner’s contentions that the Administrator, Dr. Rumi F. Beramji was appointed for only one year, and that period is over.   “It should be the endeavour of the State to implement the various provisions of the Act, that is, the Maharashtra Acupuncture System of Therapy Act, 2015. Holding of elections and formation of the council as per Section 3 of the said Act should be adhered to by the State Government and it cannot be then postponed in infinity,” said the court.   Accordingly, Justice Kadethankar and Justice Kankanwadi directed the state government, through the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) to conduct the MCA elections within a period of three months.   Prolonged Tenure Among other things, the petitioner had termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman Dr. Rumi F. Beramji as “illegal and arbitrary,” and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Elected as the inaugural head (May 2018-May 2023) of the five-member statutory body, Dr. Beramji, was subsequently appointed its Administrator after the MCA’s term expired.   Adv. Natu pointed out that the Administrator’s appointment was intended to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year to facilitate the polls, but it was subsequently ‘extended’. However, nearly three years later, Dr. Beramji continued without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Directionless Members Dr. Sawant further contended that while Dr. Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   He argued that the excuse cited for delay in conducting elections was ostensibly an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, which was heard and disposed of on April 22, also levelled serious allegations against the style of functioning of the MCA Administrator, decisions were taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Selective Targeting It also made accusations of ‘selective targeting’ of certain prominent members who attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Other members raised doubts over approvals granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges and some two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals. Many of these institutions, it was claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty and facilities.   The petitioner called for a comprehensive review of the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA's affairs, and an independent probe by the MEDD into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Dr. Sawant had sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in the last three years, and ordering the government to hold elections to the body.

Pawar’s Muslim Diplomacy

Updated: Nov 18, 2024

The NCP (SP) is banking on its Muslim faces to consolidate the community’s votes

Pawar’s Muslim Diplomacy

Mumbai: Last month when Fahad Ahmad’s name was announced by the NCP (SP) as its candidate from Anushaktinagar, it brought a sprinkling of stardust to the elections; Ahmad is known to most as actor Swara Bhaskar’s husband. The outspoken neta of the Samajwadi Party was now suddenly in the NCP (SP). He was the party’s best bet to counter Sana Malik who is fielded by Ajit Pawar’s NCP.


Sharad Pawar’s choice of candidates shows that he is putting faith in the party’s young faces, including young Muslim faces that can appeal to the electorate from the community. Anish Gawande, national spokesperson of the NCP (SP) had earlier stated that the party had declared that it would give a chance to new faces. “These young faces are a reflection of our society and what people want—these candidates are young, dynamic and agile,” he says.


According to the 2011 census, Maharashtra has 1.30 crore Muslims who account for around 11 per cent of the population. The party, as a leader says, does not want to be anathema to any community or religion and hence, wants representation of most. “Muslim will not pick BJP or its allies as their natural choice. Our party stands to gain from this consolidation of votes,” says a party leader.


It helps that most of the Muslim faces are relatively young. If Fahad is in Mumbai, Mahebub Shaikh is the state president of the youth wing of the party. He was a fiery voice during the recent Shivswarajya Yatra and is the party’s candidate from Ashti in Beed, the region that is facing intense quota unrest and is likely to go against the Mahayuti alliance.


The value of these leaders is evident from what Babajani Durrani said while returning to Sharad Pawar after a stint with Ajit Pawar’s NCP. “During the Lok Sabha elections, we saw that Muslims and Dalits did not vote for us only because we are in alliance with BJP, Shinde Sena. For the last ten years, despite India being a robust democracy, Muslims are being targeted,” the Parbhani leader had said when he returned to the party.


The NCP (SP) realises that it now stands to gain the Muslim and Dalit vote which is unlikely to go to Ajit Pawar ever since he forged an alliance with the BJP. An NCP (SP) leader explains that the party is banking on the MADHAV combination of Marathas, Dhangars, Vanjaris along with Muslims and Dalits to consolidate its votes. At such a time, having prominent Muslim leaders gives the community confidence that the party will work for its interests. “We also need to find a replacement for someone like Nawab Mallik and these young faces have a longer career ahead of them,” says the party leader.

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