Woman held in K’taka in Gadkari extortion threat

Maha records

New Delhi (PTI):

Amid talks of opposition unity in the runup to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has invited leaders of various opposition parties here on Thursday to discuss issues of common interest and efficacy of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Sources said the meeting will take place at 6 pm.

Pawar has held that in the interest of free and fair elections, EVMs need to be accurate and any doubts over their efficacy must be addressed by the Chief Election Commissioner.

Experts have said that any machine with a chip inside can be hacked and we cannot allow democracy to be hijacked by unscrupulous elements.

Therefore, in the interest of free and fair elections, we must sit together and listen to the views expressed by eminent IT professionals and cryptographers, Pawar said in his letter to the opposition leaders. Leaders of several opposition parties are likely to attend the meeting keeping in view Pawar’s stature.

The meeting comes in the wake of several efforts being made to bring unity in opposition ranks to help take on the BJP together.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Telangana ters’ treatment of MNS councillors in the Mumbai civic body.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao have made some efforts in this direction in the recent past.

The Congress has been maintaining that there can be no opposition alliance without it as the party has a national spread.

During his speech, Sandeep Deshpande highlighted the struggles and dedication of MNS workers and criticized other political parties for not making similar efforts. He also questioned Aaditya Thackeray's conduct, asking if he felt no shame while berating MNS councillors.

Moreover, Deshpande criticized Aaditya Thackeray's conduct in switching political alliances and challenged his courage to speak up against injustice. He further accused Aaditya of hypocrisy in his actions towards the BJP and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.

Interestingly, Raj Thackeray’s muchawaited comments on the political scenario did not materialize.

However, the vocal show of strength from his party leaders is sure to fuel further speculation and debate in political circles, and it remains to be seen how the Thackeray family and Shiv Sena will respond to the criticism.

First India Bureau

Nagpur: In an important development in the threat against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, a woman identified only as Razia has been detained by Karnataka police, with the Nagpur police en route to arrest her, officials said.

While she is not directly behind the three threat calls that came in to Gadkari’s Nagpur office on Tuesday, the caller--who identified himself as Jayesh Pujari-gave the authorities Razia’s number when he demanded Rs10 crore as “protection”.

Police traced the call

You had no affection for cousin Raj: Nandgaonkar points finger at Uddhav

First India Bureau Mumbai: Former MLA Bala Nandgaonkar has accused Shiv Sena Thackeray group chief Uddhav Thackeray of never having felt affection for his cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. This was why Uddhav rejected an alliance with the MNS, he said, while addressing the the latter’s Gudi Padwa rally in Mumbai on Wednesday evening.

“We had wanted the two brothers to come together. So, in 2017, we went to Matoshree and proposed an alliance. Subhash Desai, Anil

Parab, Anil Desai, Rahul Shewale and Milind Narvekar were also were present at the time. However, Uddhav Thackeray rejected the alliance,” Nandgaonkar said. “You had no affection

‘We had wanted the two brothers to come together. but Uddhav rejected the alliance’ to Belgaum, and detained Razia, who is now undergoing treatment in Belgaum, officials said. for your younger brother, you felt enmity,” he added, directing his comments to Uddhav Thackeray.

During a primary interrogation, Razia told the Karnataka police that Pujari, who is in the same jail in Belgaum as her boyfriend, had told her he was sharing her number to get her a job. He had got in touch with her after her boyfriend used Pujari’s phone to call her. Police are also looking into how many other people may have been involved in the extortion call.

Notably, this is the second such threatening call to Gadkari’s office in the past 2.5 months.

“After the MNS came to power in Nashik, we made a change under the leadership of Raj

Thackeray,” Nandgaonkar also said. Nandgaonkar also attacked Uddhav for his leadership in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. “If you didn’t give anything to BMC despite having a budget of Rs45,000 crore, it means that your leadership was ineffective,” he said, further claiming that the Shiv Sena would not have split under Raj Thackeray.

FARMERS’ WOES

First India Bureau Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will visit Ayodhya on April 06, according to those familiar with the issue.

In a bid to show that he and the MLAs and MPs that support him are equals, Shinde is expected to take them along on the trip, which is being held at the behest of the Mahant of the Ayodhya temple.

“The truth is that Ayodhya is a matter of our faith and identity. So we will definitely go to Ayodhya,” Shinde had said, while accepting the Mahant’s invitation.

While this is Shinde’s