Heavy rainfall causes water logging in Uttam Nagar's Bindapur area
The rains lashed parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) on Wednesday, bringing relief from days of intense heat.
Waterlogging was witnessed in several parts of Delhi. Traffic also came to a standstill in many parts of the national capital following the heavy rainfall.
Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj and other leaders took to X, shared images of waterlogged streets and slammed the BJP for its repeated failure to tackle flooding, even with all four 'engines' in power.
Sharing photos of waterlogging in Lutyens' Delhi, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said, 'This is Lutyens' Delhi. Just an hour of rain, and this is the state of the road near the official residence of PWD, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Parvesh Verma.'
Calling out the BJP's failed promises, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, 'BJP's Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, PWD Minister Parvesh Verma, and other ministers and leaders made tall claims that Delhi won't drown this year. They said all necessary preparations had been made to prevent waterlogging. If everything was in place, then why did Delhi flood after just one hour of rain?'
He sharply criticised the administration and said, 'The truth is, all four of BJP's so-called 'engines' in Delhi are junk. Neither the Delhi government, nor the MCD, nor the central government, nor even the LG cares about the people of Delhi. All their claims are pure hot air. And just one hour of rain was enough to wash away all their promises. BJP leaders only know how to talk big. They are simply misleading the people of Delhi. The reality is--they've done nothing concrete to tackle waterlogging in the city.'
Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the MCD House, Ankush Narang, shared a video of waterlogging on X (formerly Twitter), and said, 'Despite having a four-engine BJP government, Delhi has turned into a city of water. CM Rekha Gupta's promises have once again proven hollow. Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh had said Delhiites will enjoy the monsoon this time. Well, this time, waterlogging has turned the city into a swimming pool. Mayor sahab, now you too should come--let's swim together.'
Ankush Narang stated in another post on X, 'All the promises made by the Delhi government and the BJP-run MCD about the monsoon have turned out to be hollow. Before the rains, they boasted that Delhiites would enjoy the monsoon. Now look at the BJP's definition of 'enjoyment'--buses submerged, vehicles stuck, people swimming on roads. They've now forced citizens to swim even in the underground. My heartfelt thanks to Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh for turning Delhi's streets into ponds and swimming pools.' (ANI)
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Thackeray cousins repackage politics of old, but can chemistry trump arithmetic?
As former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray walked onto a stage in Mumbai's Worli last week and embraced his estranged cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj, a loud cheer went up. The Thackeray brothers sat side by side after a gap of 20 years to celebrate the BJP-led Mahayuti government scrapping the move to introduce Hindi as a third language in primary schools, with everyone wondering how this turn of events will shape state politics. Uddhav made no secret of their intention. Nudged by the Supreme Court, the elections to the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) — it has a budget larger than that of several states — and other local bodies will be held in the coming months. And the cousins are resolute about capturing them. In a sarcastic dig, Raj Thackeray thanked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for making possible what Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, his uncle and Uddhav's father, could not achieve: bring the cousins together. The government first made Hindi a compulsory third language in Classes 1-5 in state schools, and as the Thackerays took up the issue of 'Hindi imposition', Fadnavis moved with alacrity. The government made Hindi an optional third language, and then withdrew the directives altogether. The MNS chief, known for his oratory, organisational skills, and seen as Bal Thackeray's natural successor, had walked out of the Shiv Sena in 2005 after the party patriarch chose Uddhav over him. He formed his party the following year, but it turned out to be more of a spoiler than anything else. Even as Raj drew crowds at his meetings, he did not mop up votes and was down to a vote share of just over 1% in the Assembly elections last year. Uddhav's woes have also grown after the BJP split the Shiv Sena in 2022, costing him the CM chair. In the Assembly polls, he was down to 20 seats (out of 288) and only 9.98% of the popular vote. So, the brothers had little to lose and everything to gain, and they buried their differences to come together. What happens next will depend on whether chemistry can trump arithmetic. The chemistry they generate will depend on their ability to hang together, though Uddhav said at the 'victory rally' they had 'come together to stay together'. The Shiv Sainiks present at the NSCI Dome in Worli applauded after every other sentence Raj and Uddhav uttered. But the real test will be the seat-sharing talks for the BMC polls. At present, there are three claimants for the leadership of the fragmented Sena. Besides the Thackerays, there is Deputy CM Eknath Shinde who is heading the Shiv Sena, the largest group with 51 MLAs, and will watch, hawk-like, every move the new jodi makes to dent his party's support base. Just as the cousins see the BMC as the route to power in Maharashtra, Fadnavis sees the BJP's bid to wrest control of the civic body from the Sena as a way to consolidate his hold on the state. Will the cousins now force the BJP to opt for alliances for the BMC elections, instead of going it alone as the ruling party had hoped for? The Raj and Uddhav reunion is a testament to the Congress's inability to set an agenda to counter an increasingly dominant BJP. No senior Congress leader was present at the Thackerays' rally. The party is apprehensive about the impact the duo may have on the non-Marathi-speaking vote base in the state (just more than 30%, though the Marathi-speaking population in Mumbai is only around 30% at present). There is also a weakening of Sharad Pawar as a pole in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). While he was not present at the rally, his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule sat in the front row. The NCP (SP) working president was also seen getting Uddhav and Raj's sons Aaditya and Amit ready to be photographed with their arms around each other. The NCP (SP) may hope the Thackerays will provide a new pole around which the MVA can re-coalesce. This comes at a time when many in the Pawar camp want to join the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The Deputy CM is not so keen on the idea, though he goes out of his way to do the 'work' of his former colleagues and keeps them in good humour. Beyond the immediate politics, the coming together of the cousins poses larger questions. Can this lead to a Marathi versus non-Marathi polarisation in the months to come, and a deepening of the Gujarati versus Marathi faultlines? The Thackeray cousins resisted the 'imposition' of Hindi to protect Marathi asmita (pride). But, the irony is that the actions of MNS workers on the ground — they assaulted a shop owner in Thane for not speaking in Marathi — show they are insisting on 'imposing' Marathi on all who live in the state. At the rally, Raj Thackeray, in the characteristic manner of the Sena of yesteryear, said there was 'no need to beat people if they don't speak Marathi, but if someone shows useless drama, you must hit below their eardrums'. Under Uddhav's stewardship, the Sena's image has softened. But this time, like his cousin, the usually mild Sena (UBT) chief struck a harsher note, saying, 'If we have to be goons to get justice, we will do goondagardi.' While people from outside a state should speak the local language, it should never be through coercion. The Maharashtra of 2025 is not the state it was in the 1960s, 70s or 80s, where the identity politics that the cousins are espousing worked. Mumbai, the country's financial capital, is rapidly growing, and so is Bollywood's outreach, spreading the influence of Hindi more effectively than anything else. The service sector in the city is also expanding quickly as aspirational entrepreneurs and migrants from different parts of the country seek its shores in search of opportunities, all requiring skills other than just the knowledge of Marathi. The coming together of Uddhav and Raj could have been a seminal moment in the Maharashtra story. They could have put out a new message in a new language for a new way forward, all the while keeping Marathi asmita as one of the elements in the vision. But it was more of the old. Even those who live in the state's hinterland now want to reach out to the world beyond them. On a visit to Nandurbar, a tribal-dominated district in north Maharashtra, I visited an interior village to look at a project. 'What if I were to tell you that I would convey to the PM what you really seek? But it has to be your dearest wish, not a string of wishes,' I asked a couple of hundred people who sat under the trees listening. Three women stood up, replying in unison, 'We want an English medium school here.' To them, the language was a doorway to opportunities they had not received so far. (Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express, has covered the last 11 Lok Sabha elections. She is the author of How Prime Ministers Decide)
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Eknath Shinde's Guru Purnima dash to Delhi: Is embattled Sena leader seeking reinforcements?
In the 2022 Marathi film Dharmaveer, widely seen as a cinematic effort to shape Eknath Shinde's public perception ahead of his rebellion from the Shiv Sena and eventual rise to Maharashtra Chief Minister, a key scene unfolds on the day of Guru Purnima, a traditional Hindu festival dedicated to honouring one's mentor. In the film, Shinde and his mentor Anand Dighe are shown tracking down Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray at a private retreat. What follows is an emotional moment with Dighe washing Thackeray's feet, applying sandalwood paste, and offering flowers as a gesture of reverence to the Sena founder. Moments later, Shinde's character performs the same act for Dighe, visually positioning himself not just as a devoted follower but as Dighe's rightful heir in the Shiv Sena legacy. Fast forward to 2025. Deputy CM Shinde marked the eve of Guru Purnima on Wednesday with a visit to New Delhi, reportedly to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, now viewed as his political patron. The visit comes at a time when Shinde finds himself on increasingly shaky ground. The potential reunion between Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is threatening to revive the original Thackeray brand; the friction between the Sena and the state BJP leadership over power sharing is becoming more pronounced; and internal dissent, including MLA indiscipline, is beginning to spill out into the open. Against this backdrop, Shinde's meeting with Shah is widely seen as a strategic move to reassert his authority and reinforce his standing within Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti coalition, amid concerns he is being marginalised in the state's shifting political landscape. After his dramatic split with Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022, Shinde experienced an unexpected political ascent, becoming the CM with BJP support in a move that surprised many, especially since Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP's top state leader, was widely expected to return to the post. Fadnavis settled for Deputy CM, reportedly after the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. Initially perceived as a pliable figurehead, Shinde gradually shed that image. The once-low-profile leader grew in stature, leveraging his position to carve out an independent political persona, which didn't sit well with the BJP's state leadership. Yet the alliance persisted, as the BJP continued to use Shinde to fracture the Shiv Sena and diminish Uddhav Thackeray's influence. However, the BJP's commanding performance in the 2024 Assembly elections altered the power equation. With Fadnavis reinstated as the CM, Shinde's leverage within the alliance has diminished significantly. Shinde now finds himself increasingly marginalised, from being denied key portfolios in the Cabinet to facing mounting discontent within his party. His own MLAs have been complaining, particularly over a lack of funds from the Finance ministry, which is controlled by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar of the NCP. These sentiments have only been compounded by the growing closeness between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray. The prospect of Marathi political consolidation, through a Uddhav-Raj partnership, poses a direct threat to Shinde's long-standing claim of being the 'true inheritor of Bal Thackeray's legacy'. With both son and nephew of the Shiv Sena founder signalling unity, Shinde faces the risk of being increasingly viewed as an outsider or usurper, particularly by the Marathi-speaking electorate. The pressures faced by Shinde became evident recently when, in a seemingly flustered moment, he unexpectedly shouted 'Jai Gujarat' in front of Shah during an event in Pune – just a day before the joint rally of the two Thackeray cousins, which projected a message of Marathi unity and pride. Adding to Shinde's woes are controversies involving his MLAs and ministers, raising questions about his control over the party. The most high-profile of these incidents involved Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad slapping a canteen employee at the MLAs' hostel in Mumbai, complaining of stale food. Though Sena colleague and Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam initially said the police cannot take any action against Gaikwad without a complaint against him, Fadnavis on Friday said there was no need for the police to initiate a probe. Later on Friday, Mumbai police registered a non-cognisable complaint against Gaikwad. Meanwhile, state Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat, a close Shinde associate, is facing multiple allegations that his son was illegally allotted a 21,275-sq-m plot in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation's (MIDC). The Shirsat family is also under fire for allegedly manipulating the auction of a prominent hotel in Aurangabad. On Thursday, Shirsat received a notice from the Income Tax Department over a sharp rise in his declared assets between 2019 and 2024. Shirsat admitted to receiving the notice and also made a remark suggesting Shinde's son and Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde had received a similar notice, though he quickly retracted the claim. Most recently, on Friday, Shirsat landed in new controversy after a video, in which he is seen with a bag full purportedly of cash in his home, went viral. Shirsat, however, claimed the bag contained only clothes. 'The video is from the bedroom of my house and I am sitting on a bed while unpacking the bag after coming from a tour. Have I lost my mind to keep cash in a bag?' Shirsat said. Against this backdrop, Shinde's unscheduled visit to Delhi, many believe, was a defensive move to lobby his case with the BJP top brass, and insulate himself from the ramifications of a possible Thackeray alliance and the latent hostility of the state BJP leadership. The Shiv Sena has downplayed the visit. 'We don't know exactly who Eknath Shinde met in Delhi, but there's nothing wrong with meeting leaders there if it's for the development of Mumbai and Maharashtra,' said Industries Minister and Sena leader Uday Samant. But the Opposition has taken swipes at Shinde over his Delhi visit. NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar suggested Shinde's Delhi visit was linked to 'internal sabotage' within the Mahayuti. 'Some leaders from Eknath Shinde's party have received Income-Tax notices. Shinde may suspect an internal conspiracy,' Pawar said. 'Ajit Pawar's people don't receive notices, but Shinde's people do. That's worth analysing. It now appears the BJP is trying to cut Shinde's influence ahead of the Mumbai civic elections,' he added.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
CPI faults coalition govt for ignoring public issues
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