Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Maharashtra unit president Shashikant Shinde on Saturday said his party chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders had no prior knowledge about the decision that Nationalist Congress Party's Sunetra Pawar would take oath as the state deputy chief minister.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday refuted talk of his stir not being a factor in the Maharashtra assembly polls, which were swept by the Mahayuti comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.
Out of the 24 NCP MLAs who attended the session, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, cabinet ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, Dhananjay Munde, Anil Patil and Dharmarao Atram were seated on the ruling side.
Patil, who heads the Maharashtra NCP unit, also scotched speculation that he was set to join the Ajit Pawar-led group in the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government.
A delegation of the Maharashtra government, comprising ministers, on Tuesday failed to convince Manoj Jarange, whose hunger strike for Maratha quota entered the 8th day, to withdraw his protest.
The move will put a burden of Rs 6,500 crore on the state's coffers, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said.
This is for the first time that Maharashtra is going through such "worst situation", she said, and held the Union government responsible for it.
The day before, the state government banned assembly of more than five persons in public places between 9 pm to 6 am and restricted the number of people allowed at public functions in view of a spurt in coronavirus cases.
With this decision, Malik will be left with no portfolio in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Shinde announced that his government is committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community.
The state had recorded 1,134 new infections and three deaths the day before.
The state government is closely monitoring the situation in areas outside the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Amravati, a senior state official said.
"Pawar saheb himself had said about the necessity of change in the guard a few days ago. We should see his decision in the light of his age and health also. Everyone has to take a decision according to time, Pawar saheb has taken a decision and he won't take it back," Ajit Pawar said.
Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said that the peak of COVID-19 third wave is over in the state as COVID-19 cases are reducing in cities like Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar that were worst hit.
Currently, the weekend lockdown is in force from 8 pm on Fridays and last till 7 am on Mondays.
The new rates will be Rs 900, Rs 1,400 and Rs 1,800 per test, adding it was the fourth time rates had been revised from the original Rs 4,500.
The veteran politician accused the BJP of breaking duly elected governments in opposition-ruled states even as it boasted about providing a stable government at the Centre.
The daily requirement of medical oxygen in the state has witnessed a rise, it said, adding that the present demand is 400 metric tonnes.
Suggesting an alliance with ruling Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress in Maharashtra, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Imtiaz Jaleel has said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) can become a 'comfortable car' from the three-wheeled autorickshaw which can prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said the restrictions will continue after June 1, and will be relaxed later in a phased manner.
Tope said only 35,000 vials of Covaxin are currently available with the state government for administering the second dose to the people above 45 years.
"I think there is no community spread of coronavirus in Maharashtra. The state government has been able to trace almost every COVID-19 patient and his or her source of infection. Hence, in my opinion, there is no community spread in the state," he said.
Amid mounting concerns over the new 'XE' variant of Covid and a day after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation reported its first case in Mumbai, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the state health department has not received any confirmation about the variant and thus cannot confirm it.
Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Health Minister Rajesh Tope told reporters.
State health minister warned against indiscriminate use of steroids to treat COVID-19 patients.
"Lockdown is not an option but restrictions will be made more strict," Tope told reporters in Mumbai.
The minister said the state government is keeping a close tab on the present situation and it will take the "right decision at the right time" based on the prevailing scenario.
Further relaxing the Covid-19 curbs, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to allow malls and restaurants to remain open till 10 pm with a 50 per cent capacity from August 15 onwards, provided the entire staff is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Shops are also allowed to operate till 10 pm.
Seeking to allay concerns over shortage of Remdesivir, the minister said the government held talks with pharma companies and ensured sufficient supply of the medicine for COVID-19 patients.
The government is also considering if those who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus can be allowed to travel by local trains in Mumbai, he said.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar was on Tuesday admitted to a hospital in Mumbai, a day ahead of the scheduled surgery, after he experienced pain in his abdomen, a party leader said.
Tope, however, stressed that there was no need to panic as the count of active cases in the state still stood below 1,000, while the number of cases per million in the state was far less than other states.
In a bid to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, only government personnel engaged in providing essential services would be allowed to travel by local trains in Mumbai from Sunday night, a release by the Konkan divisional commissioner said on Saturday night. The restriction, which will effectively shut down the train services, Mumbai's lifeline, will come into effect from the midnight of Sunday, March 22, the release said.
The BMC decision follows the state government's appeal to citizens to avoid bursting firecrackers this Diwali as the resultant pollution could cause breathing problems among COVID-19 patients.
The Maharashtra government has capped the prices of N-95, double and triple layer masks for suppliers and private hospitals in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, state health minister Rajesh Tope has said.
Thackeray is scheduled to hold consultations with the finance and other state departments on Monday and discussion will also take place in the cabinet meeting later this week.
Pawar also announced a panel of senior party leaders to draw a future course of action. Party workers and leaders, however, demanded that Pawar withdraw his decision.
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is serious and proactive about the state's issues and accuses people under PM of not taking this issue with same seriousness.
"The international travellers who arrived in Mumbai from the high-risk countries have been identified and the swab samples of 28 such persons have been sent for genome sequencing. Out of them, nine persons have already tested COVID-19 positive," Health minister Rajesh Tope said.
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