Arrests, political slugfest, virus: The year that was for Maharashtra

Maharashtrarsquos Shiv SenaNCPCongress coalition government battled coronavirus and renewed attacks from the BJP amid allegations of corruption against some ministers during the yearAnil Deshmukh resigned as home minister in April after then Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh claimed the NCP leader had asked police officer Sachin Waze to extort Rs 100 crore per month from bars restaurants and other establishments in MumbaiShiv Senarsquos Sanjay Rathod quit the Uddhav Thackerayled state cabinet in February after coming under the scanner over his alleged links to the death of a woman in PuneAs the year drew to a close Union home minister Amit Shah speaking in Pune on December 19 compared the statersquos Maha Vikas Aghadi government to an autorickshaw ldquoThe autorickshawrsquos three wheels three parties are in different directions and they cannot move as they are punctured It simply gives out smoke and increases pollutionrdquo Shah saidTargeting Shiv Sena Shah blamed the Uddhav Thackerayled party for ldquobetraying the cause of Hindutvardquo for the sake of getting the chief ministers postice cop Sachin Vaze killed Mansukh Hiren as he thought the latter was a weak link in the Ambani bomb scare case sources in the National Investigation Agency NIA said on ThursdayAlso read Yearender 2021 10 Mumbai personalities who grabbed the headlinesThe year began with the sensational killing of businessman Mansukh Hiren whose Scorpio car laden with gelatin sticks and a threat letter was detected outside industrialist Mukesh Ambanirsquos Mumbai residence Antilia in February Hirenrsquos body was found in Thanersquos Mumbra creek a few days later Waze was among those arrested in connection with the caseThe arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan by the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB in connection with a drugs case turned into a political slugfest with NCP minister Nawab Malik launching a tirade against NCB official Sameer WankhedeAryan was accused of consumption and distribution of drugs However the agency failed to prove the charges in court and he was granted bail after spending 26 days in jail He was later exempted from his mandatory Friday appearance at the NCB officeMalik accused Wankhede NCBrsquos zonal director of kidnapping Aryan for ransom He also alleged that Wankhede had forged caste certificate to get his job under the scheduled caste quotaWhat UPA Theres no UPA now Well decide on it together This remark by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after meeting NCP president Sharad Pawar at the latterrsquos home became the highlight of her visit to Mumbai earlier this monthPawar however appeared restrained saying There is no question of excluding anyone All those who are against the BJP are welcome to join ushellip The point is to take everyone togetherrdquo Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut who met Banerjee in Mumbai along with his partyrsquos state minister Aaditya Thackeray later met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in DelhiThe Enforcement Directorate ED attached assets worth Rs 65 crore of a sugar mill allegedly linked to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawarrsquos family members in JulyUddhav Thackeray who underwent cervical spine surgery on November 12 was discharged from a Mumbai hospital earlier this month He chaired two cabinet meetings and those related to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid19 online from his hospital bedThe second wave of the pandemic kept the statersquos coalition government on alert There was a spate of fires in hospitals and incidents of crime against womenMany BJP leaders kept announcing ndash some even giving specific dates ndash about the imminent fall of the Thackerayled regime but the government guided by octogenarian Sharad Pawar appeared undauntedCyclone Tauktae Konkan floods OBC and Maratha quota stalemate and MSTRC staff strike were among the important issues the state government tackled during the yearFormer chief minister Narayan Rane found a place in the Union cabinet along with other BJP leaders Bharati Pawar Bhagwat Karad and Kapil Patil this yea BJP leader Vinod Tawde who was denied ticket to contest the 2019 Assembly polls was elevated as the partyrsquos national general secretaryRane sparked off a row over his remarks about slapping Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for what he claimed as the latters ignorance of the year of Indias independenceldquoIt is shameful that the chief minister does not know the year of independence He leaned back to enquire about the count of years of independence during his speech Had I been there I would have given him a tight slap Rane saidRane was arrested for his controversial remark and Sena and BJP workers clashed on the streets In several parts of the stateShiv Sena candidates lost the MLC polls from AkolaWashimBuldhana local bodies seat and Amravati teachersrsquo constituency during the yearNCP lost the Pandharpur assembly bypoll to BJP while Congress retained the Deglur Assembly seat in the bypoll Both the seats had fallen vacant after sitting MLAs died of COVID19The post of the Legislative Assembly Speaker is lying vacant since February this year Nana Patole who held the post since 2019 resigned to take charge as the state Congress chief in February this yearGanpatrao Deshmukh the longestserving MLA of Maharashtra and a senior leader of the Peasants and Workers Party PWP died in a private hospital in Solapur on July 31 Deshmukh 94 a former state minister represented Sangola in Solapur district in the state legislative assembly for 11 terms since 1962 and served as an MLA for 54 yearsCongress MP Rajeev Satav died at a private hospital in Pune on May 16 days after recovering from the coronavirus infection Satav 46 was on ventilator support after his health deteriorated He had tested positive for COVID19 on April 22 and was later diagnosed with a new viral infectionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday 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