Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashish Shelar stated on Tuesday that his party opposes the candidacy of Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election on November 20.

“We will not accept a ticket for anyone linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim,” said Shelar, who is the Mumbai BJP president, during an interview with a news channel.

“We will not support Malik and will take a different stance,” he added.

His comments came in response to media reports suggesting that Malik, the sitting MLA from Anushakti Nagar in the Mumbai South-Central parliamentary constituency, may contest from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar and allow his daughter Sana to run for the Anushakti Nagar seat as she seeks to enter electoral politics.

Malik served as a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and was arrested in 2022 in a case initiated by the NIA against Dawood and his associates, including Chhota Shakeel and Tiger Memon.

He was granted bail on medical grounds in July this year. Following the split in the NCP, the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar welcomed Malik into its fold, despite objections from its ally, the BJP.

At least 17 workers are feared trapped following the collapse of an under-construction building in Babusapalya, Bengaluru, on Tuesday amid heavy rainfall, officials reported.

Two rescue vans from the fire and emergency department have been deployed to assist with the rescue efforts.

The incident occurred during a period of significant downpour in Bengaluru, according to officials.

“Seventeen people are believed to be trapped inside the building, and rescue operations are underway in a coordinated effort with the support of other agencies,” a senior police officer stated.

Preliminary inquiries suggest that the entire building collapsed, trapping individuals beneath the debris, as reported by a fire department official.

Nilesh Rane, son of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Narayan Rane, announced on Tuesday that he will join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and contest the Kudal assembly election.

According to party sources, the Kudal constituency is allocated to the Shiv Sena as part of the seat-sharing arrangement within the ruling Mahayuti alliance, prompting Nilesh to switch from the BJP to the Sena.

Vaibhav Naik of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, an old rival of the Rane family, currently serves as the sitting MLA from Kudal, which falls within Narayan Rane’s Lok Sabha constituency of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.

Nilesh’s younger brother, Nitesh, represents the neighboring Kankavali assembly constituency and is affiliated with the BJP.

Previously, Nilesh Rane was with the Congress and served as the MP for the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency from 2009 to 2014. He joined the BJP in 2014 but lost in both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole announced on Tuesday that the seat-sharing arrangement for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the upcoming assembly elections will be finalized within a day or two. He noted that the situation within the rival Mahayuti alliance is more chaotic than in the MVA.

“The conditions in Mahayuti are more complicated than in the MVA. Seat-sharing takes time as we must consider our party workers. We will resolve our issues within a day or two. Balasaheb Thorat has met with Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, and I will meet with Thorat next. After that, we will hold the MVA seat-sharing meeting,” Patole told ANI.

He added, “The problem lies with about 25-30 seats, but it will be addressed soon.” Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved, emphasizing that the alliance has enough time.

“Things are being worked out. The seats in question are not too many… We have time and will resolve this quickly,” Thorat stated.

On October 20, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its first list of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections.

Star wrestler and Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday disagreed with Sakshi Malik’s claim that her and Bajrang Punia’s decision to accept an exemption from last year’s Asian Games trials undermined their protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, one of the key figures in the prolonged protest against the former WFI chief, suggested in her recent book that Vinesh and Bajrang’s decision made their movement appear “selfish.” Vinesh, however, expressed a different view, saying, “That is her personal opinion. I don’t agree. Unless I am weak, the fight cannot be weak. This is my belief. As long as Sakshi, Vinesh, and Bajrang are alive, the fight cannot be weak,” she told PTI Video.

She emphasized the importance of perseverance, stating, “Those who want to win should never be weak. You must always choose to fight on the field. For that, you have to be tough and face the obstacles. We are ready for the fight.”

In her book Witness, Sakshi wrote that their protest began to fracture when “people close to” Bajrang and Vinesh filled their minds with “greed.” The trio had accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing women wrestlers during his tenure as WFI president, a case currently being heard in a Delhi court.

The ad-hoc committee overseeing wrestling after the WFI’s suspension exempted Bajrang and Vinesh from the 2023 Asian Games trials, but Sakshi chose not to seek the exemption as her colleagues did. Ultimately, Sakshi didn’t compete, Vinesh was sidelined by an injury before the Games, and Bajrang failed to win a medal in Hangzhou.

Vinesh, who was recently elected from the Julana constituency in Haryana’s Assembly elections, vowed that their struggle will persist. “Our fight will continue as long as we are alive,” she said.

“When we were competing, we carried the responsibility of millions of people. Now, as an elected Congress MLA, the nation is still watching us,” she added. “But we can assure you that the fight we fought in the streets and up to the Olympics was for all daughters, sisters, and women who know how to fight and want to fight. Farmers, youth, and athletes are the foundation of our country. We will keep fighting.”

The protest, which lasted for months, ended when the wrestlers’ march to the new Parliament Building was halted by police on May 28, 2023. Both Vinesh and Bajrang later joined the Congress party before the Haryana Assembly elections. Vinesh contested and won in the Julana constituency, while Bajrang was appointed head of the party’s national farmers’ unit.