The swearing-in ceremony of the Mahayuti cabinet is underway in Nagpur in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. Reportedly, 39 MLAs are being sworn in as ministers 

Many Shiv Sena and NCP MLAs are set to be inducted into the council of ministers, reflecting the alliance’s push to finalise its governance team. Reports stated that while 20 MLAs from the BJP are set to become ministers, the party is likely to keep some ministerial positions vacant. Furthermore, 13 MLAs from the Shiv Sena quota and 10 from the NCP quota are being sworn in. The list of portfolios is likely to be announced by tonight after the searing-in ceremony. 

Notably, BJP’s state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule was the first to be sworn in as cabinet minister. Another BJP candidate who took oath as a minister was Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, who was earlier with the Shinde party as a revenue minister.

Beside the aforesaid BJP leaders, Girish Mahajan, Ganesh Naik, Chandrakant Patil, Mangalprabhat Lodha, Jaykumar Rawal, Pankaja Munde, Atul Save, Ashok Uike, Ashish Shelar, Sanjay Savkare, Jaykumar Gore, Shivendra Raje Bhosale, Ashish Shelar will take oath as ministers.

From SHIV SENA, Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Uday Samant, Shambhuraj Desai, Sanjay Shirsat, Pratap Sarnaik, Bharatshet Gogawale will be sworn-in as ministers. NCP leaders Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dattatray Bharne, Narhari Jhirwal, Manikrao Kokate, Aditi Sunil Tatkare will also take oath as ministers.

Reportedly, the BJP, which holds a significant share of cabinet berths, is expected to bring in new faces during the expansion. Furthermore, the BJP is likely to hand over the housing ministry to the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra cabinet expansion while retaining the home ministry.

Reports said that both Shiv Sena and NCP are expected to keep the portfolios they held in the previous Mahayuti government, with the Shiv Sena gaining one additional ministry.

Additionally, the BJP is likely to retain major departments like revenue, education, power and irrigation. NCP is likely to keep the finance, cooperative, agriculture and sports portfolios.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju slammed Congress General Secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in the Parliament boring. The Union Minister said that Priyanka Gandhi made such remarks as she is new to the Parliament, and she did not understand the Prime Minister’s vision. 

Reacting to the PM’s 100 minute speech, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra compared it to a double period of Mathematics in school, mentioning it to be unengaging and lacked novelty. She further remarked that the Prime Minister has not spoken anything new. She claimed that the Prime Minister has bored the Parliamentarians. 

Responding to Gandhi’s remarks, Kiren Rijiju defended PM Narendra Modi’s address, stressing its significance. He added that maybe Priyanka Gandhi did not understand what the Prime Minister was saying, but everything Narendra Modi said was correct. 

He emphasized that PM Narendra Modi outlined 11 mantras for making India a developed nation. The Union Minister further underlined that the mantra is not for any single party but a collective mission, which all have to follow. Kiren Rijiju stated that they must work together to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2027. He added that whatever PM Modi said, they need to unite and make India a developed nation.   

Speaking during the Lok Sabha debate on the 75-year journey of India’s Constitution on Saturday, Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of failing to honour Dr BR Ambedkar appropriately. He also demanded an apology from the party to lessen its sins, alleging that the Congress initially excluded Ambedkar from the cabinet and later made him lose the 1952 parliamentary election. He further questioned why the Bharat Ratna was conferred on Ambedkar only in 1990, decades after his contributions. 

The Union Minister dismissed claims that minorities lack safety and rights in India. Mentioning Article 15 of the Constitution, he stated that India has always ensured equal rights and opportunities for all, including minorities. He added that India is one of the first countries to grant universal suffrage. He also highlighted that the Constitution protects the freedom of religion and minority interests.

Estranged Wife of 34-year-old techie Atul Subhash, Nikita Singhania, her mother Nisha and brother Anurag have been arrested in an abetment to suicide case, days after Atul died by suicide after accusing Nikita and her family of harassment and extortion.

While Nikita Singhania was arrested from Gurugram, her mother and brother were arrested in Prayagraj. Also, her uncle Sushil, also an accused, is on the run. The police said that the three accused were arrested yesterday and brought to Bengaluru late at night. The accused were produced in court today and remanded in custody for 14 days. Earlier, Bengaluru police had asked them to appear within three days.

Notably, Nikita Singhania and her family members are at the centre of massive outrage over Atul Subhash’s death by suicide and the allegations he made against them in a 24-page suicide note and an 80-minute video. Atul Subhash, originally from Bihar’s Samastipur, was found dead at his Bengaluru flat on Monday. The police found a detailed note at his home, with every page starting with justice is due.

In the suicide note and video, the 34-year-old techie alleged that he married Nikita in 2019 after finding her on a matchmaking website. They had a son the next year. He further alleged that Nikita and her family would ask him for huge amounts of money to set up businesses, which led to arguments when he refused and she eventually left home in 2021 with their son.

The following year, Atul Subhash alleged that she filed a litany of cases against him and his family members under serious charges of cruelty against a woman, dowry harassment and even murder. His estranged wife and in-laws accused him and his family members of harassing Nikita’s late father for dowry, leading to his death. However, this case was later withdrawn.

Atul Subhash claimed that before his death Nikita and her family members had filed multiple cases to harass him and extort a huge sum as alimony and maintenance. He added that Nikita had demanded Rs 3 crore to settle the case. He further said that the court had asked him to pay Rs 80,000 monthly as maintenance to Nikita and his son, but she wanted more.

Furthermore, accusing the judicial system of favouring women in such cases, Atul Subhash wrote in the note that the more he works hard and becomes better at his work, the more he and his family will be harassed and extorted and the whole legal system will encourage and help his harassers. He continued that with him gone, there won’t be any money and there won’t be any reason to harass his old parents and brother. He mentioned that he might have destroyed his body but it has saved everything he believes in.

Additionally, he also accused Nikita and her mother Nisha of instigating him to die on two occasions.

After his death, his brother Bikas Kumar filed an abetment to suicide case against Nikita, her mother Nisha, brother Anurag and uncle Sushil Singhania. His family alleged that he was under severe stress because of the legal fight and that he had to travel between Bengaluru and Jaunpur 40 times. They asserted that Nikita refused to let him meet their son and demanded money for that too. Meanwhile, Nikita’s uncle Sushil Singhania earlier told the media that Atul’s allegations are baseless and that they are innocent.