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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture....

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Dr. Beramji, who headed the five-member statutory body 's inaugural term (from May 2018 to May 2023), was subsequently appointed as its Administrator after the council’s term expired.   According to Dr. Sawant’s plea, the Administrator’s appointment was initially meant to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year, and it was ‘extended’ later. However, nearly three years later, the position continues without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Dr. Sawant has 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 Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   The petition claims that the delay in conducting elections was justified on the grounds of an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday (April 21), also levelled serious allegations regarding the manner in which the MCA has been run under the Administrator. It claims decisions have been taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Besides, Dr. Sawant has made allegations of selective targeting of certain members who have attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Adding to the controversy, a former MCA office-bearer has claimed that over the past three years, approvals were granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals.   These institutions, it is claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty, and facilities. In addition, around two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres were also cleared during this period.   In his multiple prayers to the high court, Dr. Sawant has sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in that capacity in the last three years.   The petition also urged the court to direct the state government to conduct elections to elect and reconstitute a new five-member MCA within two months.   Pending this, the plea seeks an order restraining the Administrator from continuing in office or interfering in the functioning of the MCA or the CAEs in the interest of free and fair elections or the cause of Acupuncture.   Sources within the MCA have described the situation as “deeply concerning,” alleging that individuals of international standing, such as Dr. Lohiya - who has treated prominent personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, the late Manoj Kumar, state and central ministers and other public figures - are being unfairly hounded.   The petition has called for a comprehensive review of all decisions taken during the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA’s financial affairs, and an independent probe by the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Despite repeated attempts by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ , top MCA officials like the Administrator or the Registrar Narayan Nawale, were not available for their comments.

‘Vote for Cash’ – now at a different level!

Mahayuti leaders dangle ‘tijori’ carrot to woo voters

Mumbai: As the curtain falls on Maharashtra’s December 2 civic poll campaign, the spotlight fell onto a series of controversial remarks by ruling alliance leaders who openly linked public development funds to voter support. Opposition parties slammed the statements as “a display of arrogance of power” and a direct threat to democratic norms.

 

The latest controversy erupted after Mahayuti ally and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said at a Malegaon poll rally: “You have votes, I have funds. If you elect all my 18 NCP candidates, there will be no shortage of funds. But if you reject, I will also reject.”

 

The blunt remark triggered a political firestorm. Ajit Pawar, who holds the powerful Finance Department, (the ‘key to the treasury’ as he said), later attempted to soften the impact, claiming that “such things are routine during poll campaigns across the country.”

 

But the Opposition said the message to the masses was: “development only for votes or face punishment”.

 

Ajit Pawar’s statement revived memories of his similarly aggressive pitch during the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign in Baramati, when he warned voters that development resources would “dry up” unless they backed his wife, Sunetra Pawar. Though Sunetra lost to cousin Supriya Sule, she was later elected to the Rajya Sabha.

 

Another Bharatiya Janata Party Minister Nitesh Rane added fuel to the fire. Rane has repeatedly used the same “funds-for-votes” formula - first as a BJP MLA in 2022 and now as a minister - warning villagers that development money would flow only if BJP-backed candidates were elected.

 

This week, he went a step further, advising voters to ensure “the Lotus blooms in every home” and arguing that only the BJP had “the capacity to secure funds for development.”

 

The remarks echoed the BJP’s favourite slogans of “double-engine” and now “triple-engine” governance pitch - the promise that electing the party at the Centre, State, and local bodies can guarantee smooth development.

 

However, this time, the BJP also took a jab at its own ally. Responding to Ajit Pawar’s claim of controlling funds, party insiders quipped: “If you have the key to the ‘tijori’ (treasury), we have the owner,” a veiled reference to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, without whose consent things apparently can’t move.

 

Attempting to douse the flames, Fadnavis argued that “everyone says such things during elections,” but that governments, once elected, work for the progress of all citizens.

 

The latest in the list is Minister Jaykumar Gore, who told women beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme that they should remain “loyal” to the CM because they “don’t even get Rs 100 from their husbands.”

 

In the past few years, several Opposition-ruled states had accused the BJP-led Centre of “step-motherly treatment” in funds allocation. In early-2022, the then CM Uddhav Thackeray had written to the Centre seeking clearance of pending dues amounting to Rs 26,500 crore - a request that remained unfulfilled till his government toppled in June 2022.

 

SEC mum as MVA cries foul

Opposition leaders say such statements from the ruling side leaders “are not casual slips but part of a deliberate, national-level pattern” of weaponizing public money for electoral advantage and demanded that the State Election Commission (SEC) immediately act to curb this growing trend.

 

NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule called it the SEC’s “moral responsibility” to intervene, warning that unchecked intimidation “undermines the spirit of free and fair elections.”

 

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar asked pointedly: “If those in government threaten voters, how can impartial elections be ensured?”

 

Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve was more scathing: “Development funds come from taxpayers, not from Ajit Pawar’s home. How can he threaten voters as if he owns the treasury?”

 

The SEC’s silence has irked the Opposition, which says the inaction “emboldens those in power to re-package intimidation as campaign strategy - and end up laughing all the way to the treasury and the vote banks.”

 

 


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