Maharashtra : CM writes to Governor on major issues

Maharshtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in a letter wrote to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari that the issue of OBC reservation in local bodies was raised in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thackeray said that empirical data is essential to prove backwardness of the community for political representation. He said that this data is with the central government and if it is given to the state government, then further steps can be taken. The Chief Minister requested the Governor to join in taking follow up action for the same.

This happened several days later after Koshyari sent a letter to Thackeray in which three issues were raised and which were presented to him by a BJP delegation led by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.  The issues were: holding the monsoon session of the state legislature only for two days, election of the Assembly Speaker and OBCs’ political reservation.

Thackery also said that he had requested the State Election Commission to postpone the by-election to the local bodies’ seats which had fallen vacant following the Supreme Court verdict, as in case the by-polls were held, Covid-19 cases could rise and the administration would come under tremendous stress. Addressing the issue of conducting the monsoon session of the legislature only for two days, the CM stated that the decision was taken by the Business Advisory Committee, keeping in mind the Covid-19 situation in the state.

On the issue of the vacant post of Assembly Speaker, Thackeray informed the Governor that it could not be done due the pandemic and the Speaker’s duties are being handled by Deputy Speaker Narahari Zirwal for now.

Fake Vaccination: First Case in Navi Mumbai

After the Mumbai suburbs, the vaccination scam has reached Navi Mumbai. The Turbe MIDC police on Friday night registered a case against three persons including Dr. Manish Tripathi for holding a fake Covid vaccination camp at an industrial unit in Nerul. Kalpesh Patil, Administration Manager of Atomberg Technologies Private Ltd, Shirvane MIDC, registered a complaint after the company did not get the certificates of its employees. The camp was conducted on April 23 and a total of 325 employees were administered the fake vaccine. Only two employees were provided with certificates which had Nanavati Hospital’s name and a different date.

The accused Dr. Manish Tripathi and his two associates, of whom one has been identified as Kareem, charged Rs 1230 per dose plus other expenses. The industrial unit paid Rs 4,24.536 in three transactions to the account number provided by Dr. Tripathi. Senior Police Inspector Rajendra Avhad said that Dr. Tripathi is currently in the custody of the Mumbai Police. He informed that Dr. Tripathi was involved in multiple cases and that they would try to get his custody.