top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Strange bedfellows

BJP hugs Congress, AIMIM; panics after uproar Thane : Eyebrows were singed and blood pressures spiked when the Bharatiya Janata Party suddenly decided to hug its “sworn enemies” in Ambernath (Thane), and in Akot (Akola) – after the December 20 municipal council polls there.   The BJP became snug under its saffron blanket with the Congress and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party – all to politically leave the Mahayuti ally, Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, out in the...

Strange bedfellows

BJP hugs Congress, AIMIM; panics after uproar Thane : Eyebrows were singed and blood pressures spiked when the Bharatiya Janata Party suddenly decided to hug its “sworn enemies” in Ambernath (Thane), and in Akot (Akola) – after the December 20 municipal council polls there.   The BJP became snug under its saffron blanket with the Congress and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party – all to politically leave the Mahayuti ally, Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, out in the cold.   Similarly in Akot, the BJP cozied up under the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)'s green quilt, without a shred of guilt, to shoo off the Congress-Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and others from bagging the civic body.   In Ambernath, the Shiv Sena had emerged as the single-largest party with 27 seats in the 60-Ward house, and in Akot, the BJP achieved the same feat with 11 seats in the 35-Ward house.   Predictably, leaders across these parties rushed to douze the hayfires. A shaken Congress state chief Harshwardhan Sapkal suspended local leaders in Ambernath, including the local party chief Pradeep Patil, the executive committee and around a dozen elected municipal councillors.   A dazed AIMIM state chief Imtiaz Jaleel, declared there was “no question of joining hands with the BJP”, and added grimly: “We have sought a report from the local party leaders, and after getting all details, we shall initiate appropriate disciplinary action,” a grim Jaleel said.   Smarting under red-hot chilli criticism flung by Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and Aam Aadmi Party’s Preeti Sharma-Menon, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shot out an earful to the local party leaders in Ambernath and Akot.   “We shall not tolerate the alliances with Congress and AIMIM. These partnerships must be broken. If the local (BJP) units have worked out such deals, they are wrong and violate norms. We shall take stringent action against them,” warned Fadnavis. Later, BJP State President Ravindra Chavan slapped a notice on the Akot party units seeking an explanation.   Ideological Somersaults Since 2019, the state has witnessed many such brazen ideological somersaults that have left political parties and voters shocked and awed.   It started when the (undivided) Shiv Sena joined the Congress and (united) NCP to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which ruled the state for two-and-half years.   In the current civic elections season, even the MVA has fractured with Congress going solo or with local allies like Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have embraced the once-untouchable MNS.   Adding to this is the flurry of local leaders-activists hopping parties, leaving voters bemused and bewildered, even as the parties fumbled to save their ideological credibility.   Ambernath: Shoving out the winner Indulging in political creativity, the BJP, Congress and NCP floated the Ambernath City Development Front, uniting the BJP, Congress and NCP, intended to keep the Shiv Sena out of power at all costs.   Ambernath falls in the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat of Dr Shrikant Shinde, son of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who is already at loggerheads with BJP state chief Ravindra Chavan, hailing from Dombivali town, also in Thane district. BJP-Shiv Sena fought against each other in the civic polls last month.   In the 59-member Ambernath Municipal Council, the Shiv Sena won 23 seats, BJP 16, Congress 12 and NCP four. BJP’s Tejashree Karanjule was elected president through direct polls. Post-alliance, the BJP-Congress-NCP touched 32 seats, edging out the Shiv Sena which in its undivided form had ruled here for almost 35 years.     Akot: Bulldozing to grab power The BJP, AIMIM formed the Akot Vikas Manch, which included Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and NCP (SP) and Prahar Janshakti Party to wrest the 35-member house from potential claimants.   The BJP won 11 and AIMIM five, and along with others, the AVM claimed a majority with 25 municipal councillors, and the Congress, VBA floundered with just 8 seats.   The AVM was formally registered with the SEC. In the polls, BJP’s Maya Dhule was elected mayor defeating AIMIM’s Firozabi S. Rana.

Top terrorists killed in operation

New Delhi: The Indian strikes on terror nerve centres of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under Operation Sindoor on May 7 have neutralised five most wanted terrorists of these organisations, including the mastermind of IC-814 hijacking in 1999, officials said Saturday.


The funerals of these terrorists were attended by senior Pakistan Army officers and police personnel, besides wreaths were placed on behalf of the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, Maryam Nawaz, providing an open testimony of the Pakistan State's collusion with terrorist organisations, they said.


Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, listed at number 21 in the most wanted list of terrorists prepared by the Union Home Ministry, is the brother-in-law of Maulana Masood Azhar, the dreaded chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).


He was the mastermind of the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane IC-814 in which Masood Azhar was released with two other dreaded terrorists in exchange of passengers and crew members of the Indian Airlines flight that was taken to Kandhar in southern Afghanistan by the terrorists.


Yusuf Azhar was present in the Bahwalpur headquarters of the JeM, where he imparted weapons training to the cadres, with his family members when Indian munitions hit the centre with clinical precision, reducing it to rubble.


Another brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, who was in-charge of Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, a massive training centre for JeM terrorists, was also eliminated in the strike, they said.


Jameel was actively involved in the radical indoctrination of youth and fundraising for the JeM.


Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Mudassar Khadian Khas, who went by the alias Mudassar and Abu Jundal and was in-charge of Markaz Taiba, Muridke, was killed in the strike on the proscribed organisation's nerve centre by Indian forces.


His funeral exposed the active collusion between the Pakistan State and terror after videos of him getting a guard of honour from the Pakistan Army were circulated on social media.


It was noticed that wreaths were laid on behalf of the Pakistan Army Chief and Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz, who is the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and niece of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.


Army officers present

The funeral prayer was led by Hafiz Abdul Rauf of Jamaat al-Dawah -- who is a designated global terrorist -- and attended by a serving Lt. General of the Pakistan Army and the Inspector General of Punjab Police in a government school, concrete evidence of the State being hand in glove with the terrorists.


A Lashkar terrorist, Khalid alias Abu Akasha was involved in multiple terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, besides weapons smuggling from Afghanistan.


His funeral, held in Faisalabad, was attended by senior Pakistani Army officials and the Deputy Commissioner of Faisalabad.


Mohammad Hassan Khan, the son of the operational commander of JeM in PoJK, Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri, was also eliminated in the strike.

Comments

bottom of page