Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday amid conundrum over cabinet portfolios. Almost three weeks after winning a majority in Maharashtra elections, the Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on cabinet portfolios among the three alliance partners namely BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.  

The meeting with the Prime Minister comes amid the three parties requesting the intervention of central BJP leaders to address remaining contentious issues. Earlier on Wednesday night, Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde chose not to join the trip.

Reports said, Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar agreed on a division of 22 ministerial berths for the BJP, 11 for Shiv Sena, and 10 for the NCP. Notably, the maximum number of cabinet positions in Maharashtra, including the chief minister, is 43.

Nonetheless, the distribution of berths may still change. As per BJP leaders, if Shiv Sena and NCP request more positions, they will likely be assigned less significant portfolios. The major portfolios, including home and revenue, are expected to remain with the BJP. Reportedly, while Eknath Shinde had pushed for the home department, he has been given urban development, and the finance portfolio will go to the NCP.

The Shiv Sena initially argued that the election victory was achieved under Shinde’s leadership, insisting that he should remain Chief Minister. Nonetheless, the BJP stood firm, pushing for Fadnavis to hold the top position. Eknath Shinde had limited leverage, as the BJP only needed the NCP’s support to secure a majority. Notably, Shinde has always maintained publicly that he would not block government formation and took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister on December 5. 

However, Eknath Shinde’s current absence from the capital has raised questions in political circles, and it remains unclear whether he will join the discussions in Delhi.

Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash’s suicide has sent shockwaves accross the nation. Amid this, details have emerged of his wife’s 2022 police complaint alleging harassment and assault for dowry. 

In her complaint filed on April 24, 2022 in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, Nikita Singhania alleged that her husband Atul Subhash used to beat her up and started treating the husband-wife relationship like a beast. She mentioned her husband, his parents and brother-in-law as accused. Subsequently, an FIR was lodged under the provision of Dowry Prohibition Act. 

In the 2022 complaint, Nikita alleged that after her marriage, her husband and in-laws demanded Rs 10 lakh as they were not satisfied with what her parents gave them. She further alleged that her in-laws started torturing her physically and mentally for dowry. 

She added that despite sharing her ordeal with her parents, they advised her to listen and keep living with it. Nonetheless, she said that the situation did not improve, and her husband started to threaten and beat her. She claimed that her husband started to beat her after drinking alcohol and started treating the husband-wife relationship with her like a beast. She further asserted that her husband used to transfer her entire salary from her account to his by threatening her. 

Nikita further claimed that repeated harassment by her in-laws led to the deterioration of her father’s health, who died on August 17, 2019, due to a stroke.Nikita Singhania, who is from Jaunpur, got married to Atul Subhash, a Bihar native from 2019. They lived in Bengaluru and used to work there. 

Atul Subhash, who worked for a private firm in Bengaluru, died by suicide on Monday, alleging harassment by his wife and her family members. Subhash left behind a 24-page suicide note detailing emotional distress from marital issues and multiple cases filed against him by his wife.

Following, a case of abetment of suicide has been registered against Nikita and her family members. In the suicide note, Subhash mentioned that Nikita’s claim of her father passing away due to shock after his family demanded a dowry of Rs 10 lakh was false. He also alleged that Nikita’s father died due to a heart-related ailment.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party delegation on Wednesday met the Election Commission to present evidence on the alleged deletion of voters’ names in the electoral rolls ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.

Speaking to the media, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that  today they met the Election Commission and submitted before them 3000-page evidence on how BJP is conspiring to cut votes of people of the national capital. He added that votes of the poor, SC and Dalits are being cut. 

The former Delhi Chief Minister stated that they told EC how a BJP member did the work of cutting the votes of 11,000 people in the Shahdara area. He mentioned that they have requested the EC to stop this mass deletion of names before elections and FIRs be registered against those who have applied mass deletion of names. The Election Commission has said that no mass deletions will be done before elections, he continued.

Arvind Kejriwal also mentioned that in cases of voter deletions, a field inquiry will be carried out by the Booth Level Officer (BLO), accompanied by representatives from various political parties.

Earlier on Wednesday, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia at a press conference alleged that the BJP had submitted a large number of applications for the deletion of voters names from the electoral rolls.

The Senior AAP leader said that when it has become impossible for the BJP to defeat AAP in Delhi, and when it has become impossible to stop Arvind Kejriwal, they are trying to defeat AAP by cutting votes. 

The former Deputy Chief Minister further claimed that a large number of applications have been made to delete voters’ names from the electoral rolls, including those of people who have been living in the same area for years.

The AAP,  which is aiming for a third consecutive term, has accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate the voter rolls to influence the elections.