Tag: Maharashtra

Broad definitions and unchecked police authority could criminalise dissent, CJP cautions

The case of “journalist” Prashant Koratkar, who remains free even after refusal of grant of anticipatory bail, raises concerns especially as visuals of his proximity to the powerful in how Maharashtra’s government surface; Koratkar has been systematically distorting the legacy of both of Shivaji and Sambhaji detractors have stated

Leaders like Nitesh Rane, T Raja Singh, and Kajal Hindustani push dangerous narratives that threaten Mtra’s unity and secular identity

Part 1: In the wake of the brute December 2024 murder of a beloved Sarpanch of Massajog village of Beed district, Santosh Deshmukh. The author in this ground report from Beed, Marathwada, a land of agrarian hardships, documents the emergence of a dangerous, even venal form of casteism that is seriously tearing away at the social fabric

AIPC Chairman Praveen Chakravarthy held a press conference on "Election Fraud: manipulation of Maharashtra’s voter list?" He questions ECI over the suspiciously adding 48 lakh new voters in just six months before the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, casting doubt on their legitimacy. Chakravarthy also raised concerns over unusual voter registrations, including 5,000-7,000 voters from a single building in Loni village, Shirdi, without valid Aadhaar cards. He demanded full transparency from the ECI, asking, "Who are these new voters? Are they real, fake, or duplicates? Were their documents properly checked?"

A surge in hate crimes and divisive rhetoric under the new government reveals a growing threat to Maharashtra’s secular and pluralistic identity, with minorities and marginalised communities bearing the brunt of the assault

After the Maharashtra Cabinet granted CM Fadnavis sole authority to appoint the new SEC days ago, Dinesh Waghmare, a 1994-batch IAS officer, takes charge as SEC on January 21. Waghmare served as the Principal Secretary of Medical Education and Drugs department with additional charge of Employment Guarantee Scheme in Maharashtra and resigned only after this appointment, a development that raises serious questions of a conflict of interest: the SC in 2021 has held that SECs have to be "independent persons" not occupying a post under the Centre or state governments

The brutal abduction, torture, and murder of Deshmukh, who opposed a local extortion racket linked to powerful NCP leaders, has led to a surge of protests across Maharashtra by political leaders across spectrum; demands for swift justice, scrutiny intensifies over the involvement of senior politicians and the government's delayed response to rising criminality in Beed

With a huge outcry with the non-transparent manner in which elections were carried out in the state, a staggering 104 (out of 288 candidates) have sought verification tests from 95 constituencies across 31 districts in the state; the ECI has been accused of not honouring even the bare bone reliefs granted by the SC on April 26, 2024. This amounts to be doubts being cast on election in at least 755 election booths.

From EVM glitches to community boycotts, the single-phase election for 288 constituencies highlights logistical challenges and fierce battles between rival alliances