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TOI : PUNE: “I am not the only candidate who possesses so much gold. Many others own much more. The only difference is that they keep their gold in bank lockers while I wear it.” Golden words from MNS’s new MLA Ramesh Wanjale, dubbed the ‘golden boy’ because of the 2kg of gold jewellery he wears. Wanjale, 44, emerged winner in Khadakwasla.

All eyes were on the first-time MLA as he arrived on a bullock-cart at the counting centre soon after it was announced that he had taken a sizeable lead. Wanjale’s glittering paraphernalia — thick gold chains with huge pendants, rings in eight fingers (including one with the party symbol), thick bracelets and a gold watch — is worth a whopping Rs 32 lakh.

While filing his nomination, Wanjale had put his movable assets at Rs 73 lakh and immovable assets at Rs 3 crore. He claims to have earned his fortune by brokering major land deals. He took on the Congress-NCP alliance in Khadakwasla, which forms part of the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, defeating Vikas Dangat of Congress and BJP’s Murlidhar Mohol.

The burly politician had been the talk of the town ever since he filed his nomination and started campaigning in the slums and streets with the yellow metal shining bright. Wanjale says he shows off his possessions so that he wouldn’t be accused of making a fast buck after becoming an MLA. Topics: MNS Assembly elections Related Articles Assembly polls ‘09: Split opposition helps Congress cement lead over wilting BJP Live results: Maharashtra I Haryana I Arunachal Cong victory march to end in unipolar polity? Mayawati’s pan-India dream bites the dust Split-and-rule helped Congress-NCP? More Stories from this section Four dead, two injured in e-way mishap History-sheeter nabbed NCP rebels upset equation Industry circles welcome stable government Many big names aw…More

TOI : PUNE: Officials of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught red-handed a deputy commissioner and an assistant commissioner of the state fisheries department while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from a fishing contractor at Hotel Akshay on Thursday afternoon.

The arrested were identified as deputy commissioner Vitthal Salve, posted at the regional deputy commissioner’s office on Bhandarkar road and assistant commissioner Suresh Jagtap, fisheries business (technical), Sangli. They were arrested on a complaint filed by businessman Mahadeo Kadam of Sangli.

A member of the Sangli zilla parishad, Kadam is engaged in the business of agriculture and fisheries. He is also the chairman of Morna Dam in Shirala taluka of Sangli district, which has bagged the contract to operate fisheries trade at the dam on a co-operative basis for the next five years.

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, ACB additional superintendent of police, Sanjay Naik-Patil (administration), said the government had appointed Jagtap as the monitoring and competent authority to ascertain the fulfillment of the conditions by the firm as laid down by the government.

According to a state government directive, under section 3.17 of the eligibility condition, it is mandatory to provide employment to Gosavi and Bhoi fishermen of Sangli to carry out fishing activities at the dam. However, Jagtap had sent a report to Salve stating that the guidelines were being violated by the firm and recommended cancellation of the contract. Accordingly, Salve issued a notification on June 15 stating cancellation of the said contract.

Kadam appealed before the state agriculture and animal conservation dairy and fisheries development minister, Ravisheth Patil. Patil stayed Salve’s order and asked Kadam to file an appeal before the commissioner, fisheries development, Mumbai.

According to the ACB, Kadam met Jagtap and showed him the stay order granted by the minister. On seeing the order, Jagtap told him that he was in the good books of…More

TOI : PUNE: On paper at least, it appeared that justice had been done to all in Pune city. Of the eight assembly seats at stake, the Congress, the BJP and the Shiv Sena got two each, the NCP had to remain content with one seat and new-kid-on-the-block the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) made its debut with a particularly interesting candidate winning the Khadakwasla seat.

The Congress’s tally dipped by one as compared to the 2004 assembly polls. Former state minister and three-time MLA Chandrakant Shivarkar, who belongs to the Vilasrao Deshmukh camp, lost the Hadapsar seat to former deputy mayor Mahadev Babar of the Shiv Sena.

The NCP, which has been in power in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) since 2007, couldn’t improve on its 2004 assembly score of one seat. Bapu Pathare of the party defeated Ajay Bhosale of the Shiv Sena to win the Vadgaonsheri constituency.

The NCP had also fancied the chances of Vikas Dangat from Khadakwasla, which comes under the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. Baramati is represented by Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. However, Dangat was felled by the MNS’s Ramesh Wanjale, who canvassed wearing his jewellery worth all of Rs 32 lakh.

The MNS also increased its vote share in the city. It polled three times the number of votes it got during the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The party secured 2,88,158 votes as against the 75,000 votes it had polled in the LS elections.

Three sitting MLAs Girish Bapat (BJP, Kasba Peth), Ramesh Bagwe (Congress, Pune Cantonment) and Vinayak Nimhan (Congress, Shivajinagar) won comfortably. The other winners were another former deputy mayor Chandrakant Mokate (Sena, Kothrud) and Madhuri Misal (BJP, Parvati).

The rebels and the young brigade failed to make a mark in the city. The youthful Rohit Tilak (Congress), Sachin Tavare (NCP) and Ranjit Shirole (MNS) and rebels such as suspended Congress leader…More

TOI : PUNE: For district guardian minister and NCP senior leader Ajit Pawar, victory was a done deal. The question was by what margin.

Pawar won with over 1.02 lakh votes in Baramati, the highest margin in the district which also saw other ministers like Dilip Walse-Patil (NCP) and Harshavardhan Patil (Congress) emerging as winners from Ambegaon and Indapur constituencies respectively.

In the district, which has 21 assembly constituencies (as against of 18 in 2004), the NCP leads the tally by winning seven seats; Congress four, followed by BJP, Shiv Sena and independents with three seats each and one seat going to the MNS. The 21 constituencies in the district includes eight seats in Pune and three in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The NCP tally in the district, which officially stands at seven, could well be regarded as nine because two of its sitting MLAs, Vilas Lande and Laxman Jagtapboth NCP rebels successfully contested as independents from Bhosari and Chinchwad respectively. The NCP received another setback in Daund as Congress-NCP rebel Ramesh Thorat defeated the official nominee Rahul Kul by 17,442 votes. The party’s overall tally in the district has gone down from eight (in 2004) to seven this time.

The seats that have been retained by the NCP include Baramati, Junnar, Ambegaon and Khed. While there were no surprises in Baramati where Ajit Pawar defeated his nearest rival and independent candidate Ranjankumar Taware by 1,02,797 votes, in Ambegaon, state finance minister Dilip Walse-Patil defeated Kalpana Adhalrao Patil of the Shiv Sena by 37,020 votes. Kalpana Adhalrao Patil is the wife of Shiv Sena MP from Shirur Shivaji Adhalrao Patil. Her defeat is seen as a major setback to the Shiv Sena.

In Junnar, sitting MLA Vallabh Benke of the NCP defeated Asha Buchke of the Shiv Sena by 6,458 votes. In Khed, another sitting NCP MLA Dilip Mohite defeated his rival Ashok Khandebharad of the Shiv Sena by…More

TOI : PUNE: Votes safely secured, it was time for the winning candidates to begin pledging to improve conditions in the city on Thursday. And, if they make good on even half the promises, Pune is sure to become a much more liveable city in the next five years.

While Chandrakant Mokate has promised to build a government hospital on the lines of the Sassoon hospital in Kothrud, Bapu Pathare has promised that water shortage will be a thing of the past in Vadgaonsheri. Others have promised to find a solution to the traffic issue and to resolve the problem of the growing slums.

However, most candidates made promises limited to the problems of their constituency, not to Pune as a whole.

According to Mahadev Babar of the Shiv Sena, traffic bottlenecks are a serious problem in Hadapsar, and something his predecessors have not been able to solve.

“There are terrible traffic jams in most areas of this constituency. I will set about resolving this on a priority basis,” Babar said.

In Kasba Peth constituency, wada redevelopment has been a major issue for many years. Three-time sitting MLA Girish Bapat said that he had resolved the issue to some extent. “In areas where the wada issue still persists, I will hold meetings with the builders, tenants and wada owners jointly and see that it is solved,” he said.

Water shortage has been a big problem for residents of Vadgaonsheri. Tanker water has been the only solution so far for them.

NCP’s Bapu Pathare pledges to put an end to this. “Within a year, no tanker will be seen in Vadgaonsheri. All water problems will be resolved. I will initiate projects worth Rs 35 lakh for water distribution,” Pathare said.

Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Mokate said that accidents on the highways is of concern in the Kothrud constituency as the highways going to major cities…More

TOI : PUNE: Congress-NCP rebels had a huge impact on the 2009 assembly poll outcome in the politically crucial western Maharashtra, by winning nine of the region’s 58 seats. With this, the ruling alliance’s tally fell from 35 in the 2004 elections to 31 seats.

Both the Congress and NCP, suffered major reversals in Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur district. Three ministers, including Solapur strongman and six-time MLA Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, suffered shock defeats in the region that covers Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli, Pune and Satara districts.

Other significant losers were the Congress’ Siddharam Mhetre (MoS rural development) in the Akkalkot constituency of Solapur district and Madan Patil (EGS minister) in Sangli city constituency.

Among the ministers who retained their seats were Ajit Pawar (Baramati), Dilip Walse-Patil (Ambegaon), Jayant Patil (Islampur), Patangrao Kadam (Palus-Kadegaon), Harshavardhan Patil (Indapur), Hassan Mushrif (Kagal) and Vinay Kore (Shahuwadi).

Assembly speaker Babasaheb Kupekar emerged victorious in the multi-cornered contest at Chandgad constituency in Kolhapur, while NCP state president RR Patil retained his Taasgaon assembly seat.

The opposition Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, on the other hand, made significant gains in the Sangli-Kolhapur belt, once considered a Congress-NCP fortress, and in Pune district. The Congress paid heavily in this belt as the BJP milked the public ire over the communal violence that hit Sangli city, Miraj and Ichalkaranji towns during the Ganesh immersion procession this year.

Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) minister Madan Patil (Cong), who belongs to the influential Vasantdada Patil family, lost to the BJP’s Sambhaji Pawar. For Pawar, this was his fourth win although his previous three victories were on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket and he had lost the last two successive elections from Sangli city.

Similarly, BJP nominee Suresh Khade, who had shifted to Miraj after his traditional Jat constituency was dissolved, defeated his Congress rival. In Ichalkaranji, which falls in Kolhapur district, BJP’s Suresh Halwankar defeated Congress’ four-time MLA and…More

TOI : PUNE: A 30-year-old doctor, who had gone missing two days back, was found dead in a hotel at Yerawada on Thursday. The doctor is alleged to have committed suicide by self-injecting a poisonous substance with the help of a saline bottle.

The Yerawada police identified the deceased as Ganesh Vasant Kakde of Gandhinagar, Yerawada. The suicide note recovered from the hotel room states that the man ended his life as he was not able to stay with the woman he loved.

According to the police, Kakde was a BAMS doctor. They received a call from the hotel about the body on Thursday afternoon. “When we reached the spot, we found Kakde lying on the bed with the saline bottle alongside,” a police official from the Yerawada police station said.

“Kakde had written the name of the woman on his chest. Her name was also mentioned in the suicide note. A married man, Kakde was in love with another woman, who is also married,” he said. Further investigations in the case are on. Topics: Doctor Dead More Stories from this section Now, fertiliser dealers to get district-wise license PCMC to review 10% water cut today Satara readies action plan to tackle H1N1 outbreak in winter New chakan international airport: MADC to approve project consultant next week Stage set f…More

TOI : PUNE: NCP’s state rural development minister and former deputy chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil’s loss in the Pandharpur constituency of Solapur district proved to be the most-talked about defeats in the 2009 assembly elections in western Maharashtra.

An equally significant defeat was that of the Congress’ minister of state for rural development Siddharam Mhetre, a two-time MLA. Mhetre was embroiled in a murder case in the run-up to the elections in Akkalkot constituency, also in Solapur district.

Congress’ state employment guarantee scheme minister Madan Patil and former minister Prakash Aawade, a four-time MLA, too suffered unexpected defeats in Sangli city and Ichalkaranji constituencies, respectively.

Vijaydada, as Mohite-Patil is referred to in Solapur, was expected to have a smooth run after having played a pivotal role in NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s landslide win in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Madha parliamentary seat.

However, Mohite-Patil’s bid to seek re-election for the seventh time in succession (he had never lost since 1980) started on a false note as his traditional Malshiras assembly seat was declared a reserved constituency in the delimitation exercise.

Mohite-Patil was keen on contesting from the Madha assembly seat, but faced stiff opposition from the NCP’s sitting MLA Babanrao Shinde. It took Pawar’s intervention to resolve the tussle.

The resultant compromise saw NCP’s five-time MLA Sudhakar Paricharak giving up his renomination bid in favour of Mohite-Patil’s candidature from Pandharpur. The solution did not go down well with Paricharak’s supporters, who even staged a protest in Pandharpur. Paricharak himself had campaigned in the constituency till his last-minute withdrawal.

According to political analysts in Solapur, Mohite-Patil was seen as an outsider’ in Pandharpur and someone who disturbed the established equations of the local representative.

The overwhelming public sentiment in Pandhapur to favour a local person rather than an outsider’ worked to the advantage of independent candidate Bharat Bhalke, who had the backing…More

TOI : PUNE: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) displayed its Marathi card even in celebration, after Ramesh Wanjale, the party’s Khadakwasla constituency candidate, was elected by a huge margin on Thursday.

Party workers took on the city streets to celebrate the triumph. At the counting centre, Wanjale and his wife boarded a bullock cart and, accompanied by a huge placard of the party symbol and chants of Jai Shivaji’, proceeded through the city.

Wanjale appeared ecstatic. “I owe a lot to my party workers who have worked day and night. Their efforts have paid off and I also thank them for this terrific show today.”

For the other parties, celebration was almost non-existent. The Congress suffered the biggest upset, with Shiv Sena’s Mahadev Babar defeating three-time MLA Balasaheb Shivarkar in Hadapsar.

An extremely grim-looking Shivarkar, who had been stationed outside the Hadapsar constituency counting centre since early in the morning said, “I do not hold anybody responsible for this defeat.”

At the counting centres there was not much activity. Apart from the candidates, not many people turned up or showed any curiosity about the results. In fact, the few corporators who stood for the elections were accompanied by just a couple of party workers and, in some instances, none.

It was low-key outside the Shivajinagar godown, where the counting was taking place. Unlike the Lok Sabha elections, when the roads were blocked owing to the heavy traffic, this time around the scene was restrained, quiet almost. MNS party workers clearly outnumbered the total number of party workers from the BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress.

At party offices it was a sombre scenario. The BJP party office located at Appa Balwant Chowk wore a deserted look. A few firecrackers were, however, burst in celebration of victory in four of the city’s eight constituencies. Girish Bapat and Madhuri Misal of the BJP won in the Kasba…More

TOI : PUNE: The counting of votes on Thursday for the October 13 state assembly elections promises to settle some interesting electoral battles in the politically influential western Maharashtra region. It will also bring out the extent of the Congress-NCP alliance’s ability to retain its grip over the region in the wake of the reversals suffered, particularly by the NCP in Kolhapur, during the Lok Sabha elections in May.

As many as 10 incumbent ministers, the state assembly speaker and the NCP state unit chief are in the fray from the western Maharashtra districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune and Solapur that collectively account for 58 assembly seats.

Apart from deciding the fate of these key figures, the poll outcome holds the promise of establishing the political legitimacy for young debutants like Praniti Shinde, daughter of Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde. Praniti contested from the Solapur City Central assembly seat against veteran CPI (M) leader Narsaiyya Adam aka Adam master’.

Much of the public interest would also revolve around the performance by the nominees of the politically fledgling Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS), which dealt a huge blow to the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance’s prospects in the Lok Sabha polls; the Republican Left Democratic Front (RLDF), besides the rebel and independent candidates. The last two, in particular, are expected to tilt the balance of power in the wake of a highly anticipated hung assembly.

Both, the Congress and the NCP had to deal with rebellion in Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts. Some of these rebels like Balasaheb Patil from Karad North in Satara, who won the 2004 elections on NCP ticket, are seen as being capable of upsetting the party’s equations.

The focus would also be on independent groups in Kolhapur like the Jana Surajya Shakti (JSS), which was floated in 2004 by local strongman Vinay Kore; the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, which is led by newly-elected Hatkanangale…More