Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) With none of the candidates taking back their candidature on the last day for withdrawing nominations on Friday, 12 candidates are in the fray for the biennial elections to 11 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) scheduled on July 12.

The ruling MahaYuti has fielded nine candidates, including five from the BJP, and two each from the Shiv Sena and NCP, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has fielded three nominees, one each from the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Peasants and Workers Party.

Based on the present strength of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly of 274 seats, the quota is 23 votes. Both the MahaYuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi are striving to avoid cross-voting.

The BJP has nominated former ministers Pankaja Munde and Parinay Phuke, along with Amit Gorkhe, Sadabhau Khot, and Yogesh Tilekar.

The Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has fielded former MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhawana Gawli, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has nominated Rajesh Vitekar and Shivajirao Garje.

The Congress has renominated Pradyna Satav, while the NCP (SP) is supporting sitting MLC and PWP legislator Jayant Patil. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s close confidant Rahul Narvekar.

With 103 legislators, the BJP is confident about the victory of its five nominees, while the Shiv Sena with 37 legislators and support from 10 Independents is also sure of its two candidates winning the polls.

The NCP with 39 legislators also sees no problem for its two nominees, while the Congress is confident of the victory of its lone nominee with its strength of 37 legislators.

However, PWP’s Jayant Patil, and Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Milind Narvekar are banking on excess votes from Congress and also from the support from 16 legislators of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and 13 MLAs of the NCP (SP). They are also expecting support from a few Independent legislators.

The biennial elections were necessitated because 11 MLCs are retiring.

They are: Manisha Kayande (Shiv Sena), Anil Parab (Shiv Sena-UBT), Vijay Girkar, Nilay Naik, Ramesh Patil, and Ramrao Patil (BJP), Abdullah Durrani (NCP), Wajahat Mirza and Pragya Satav (Congress), Mahadev Jankar (RSP), and Jayant Patil (PWP).

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) The Maharashtra government on Friday announced the formation of a high-level committee to make recommendations for ensuring the safety of Flamingos coming to various parts of the state after travelling thousands of kilometres crossing the borders of Iran, Middle East and various other countries.

Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar announced in the state assembly that the government is positive to ensure the safety of these species and their natural habitat and the high-level committee will submit its report in two months.

The committee will also look into the encroachment on seas especially on the areas with the presence of mangroves.

The committee will consist of Principal Secretaries of the Forest, Environment, Urban Development Departments, Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) CEO Praveen Pardeshi, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Thane District Collector, Maharashtra Maritime Board CEO and Chief Conservator of Mangrove forests.

The minister said that since 2017 the number of flamingos has increased in Mumbai and Thane areas due to good habitat. Flamingos come from Iran, Kutch, and the Middle East.

He said that the high-level committee will also probe the reasons for the deaths of six Flamingos near DPS Lake Seawood in Navi Mumbai.

The minister said that Maharashtra is the state that pays the most attention to Mangrove forest conservation, adding that the Maharashtra Mangrove Foundation is doing a great job in this area.

“Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman in her interim budget had asked states to follow Maharashtra for its work in the conservation of mangrove forests,” the minister said.

He said that the state government has requested the Union Forest and Environment Minister to hand over the portion of Mangroves forest to the state forest department from the state revenue department.

“Efforts are being made to control this area through CCTV and the Forest Department is committed to take strict action if there is any environmental damage in the area,” the minister said.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 5 (IANS) The tussle between West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay over the oath ceremony of two Trinamool Congress MLAs — Sayantika Banerjee from Baranagar and Reyat Houssen Sarkar — took a murky turn on Friday after Bose wrote to President Droupadi Murmu accusing Bandopadhyay of breaching Constitutional provisions.

The delay in the oath ceremony of Banerjee and Sarkar, who won the by-elections from Baranagar and Bhagwangola, respectively, had turned into a bitter bone of contention between the Trinamool Congress and the Governor’s office in West Bengal.

The impasse finally ended after the duo was administered oath by Speaker Bandopadhyay during the single-day special session of the Assembly on Friday.

However, the Governor took strong objection to the Speaker’s act of administering oath to the two new Trinamool legislators as he had nominated Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee for the job.

“The Speaker has defied Constitutional provisions. What next? A report is being sent to the Hon’ble President about the Constitutional impropriety of the Speaker in ‘administering’ the oath or affirmation to the newly elected MLAs. This Constitutional transgression has been done despite the Hon’ble Governor appointing Deputy Speaker as the person before whom the two newly elected MLAs shall make and subscribe an oath or affirmation,” read a statement issued by the Governor’s office.

In the statement, the Governor quoted Article 188 of the Constitution which states, “Every member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of a State shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor or some person appointed in this behalf by him, a declaration according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.”

Earlier on Friday, the Speaker argued that he was administering the oath abiding by the provisions of Section 5 of Chapter 2 of the ‘Rules of Business’ of the state Assembly that allows him to do that when the House is in session.

However, the Governor said that no rule can go beyond the Indian Constitution.

“Speaker has cited some Rules. Can any Rule be above the Constitutional provisions? It is a definite knowledge that the Constitution is above any Rule,” the Governor argued in the statement.

–IANS

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Davanagere, July 5 (IANS) A baby, whose genital allegedly got cut during the caesarean delivery in Karnataka’s Davanagre district, succumbed to his injuries on Friday, after which the family staged a protest demanding action against the erring doctor.

The relatives of the baby staged a protest outside Chigateri District Hospital, demanding accountability and action against the doctor.

On June 17, Amrutha was admitted to the district hospital for delivery. As Amrutha could not have a normal delivery, the doctor decided to perform a C-section surgery.

The baby’s parents Arjun and Amrutha alleged that doctor Nijamuddin while performing the surgery and taking out the newborn allegedly cut the baby’s private part.

The baby’s parents alleged that their baby died due to medical negligence.

After the newborn’s condition deteriorated, the baby was rushed to a private hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Details are awaited.

–IANS

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Patna, July 5 (IANS) Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Neeraj Kumar Bablu on Friday said that numerous irregularities have been discovered in tenders issued during the Grand Alliance government which has led to the cancellation of tenders worth Rs 4000 crores.

“Following the formation of the NDA government, all departments have been working actively, which prompted the cancellation of the old tenders to the tune of Rs 4000 crore. We will issue the new tenders soon,” the minister said.

He emphasised that the NDA government is focused on moving forward rather than dwelling on the past.

“The Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ambitious Nal Jal Yojana aims to provide water to every household, and upon reviewing the old tenders, it was found that many villages and localities were excluded from this scheme. The new tenders aim to connect these areas to ensure comprehensive water supply coverage,” he said.

He said that additionally, PHED plans to install solar systems on water tanks to ensure a 24-hour electricity supply, mitigating issues caused by power outages.

“The department has also planned to install automatic taps to prevent water wastage, further enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of the water supply system,” he added.

–IANS

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