Devendra Fadnavis

Unseasonal rains damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in 5 districts: Fadnavis

Unseasonal rain in the last two days damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in five districts of the western Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. The intermittent showers affected crops in Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldana districts. Crops over 7,400 hectares are damaged. The damage assessment is completed on 3,243 hectares. The remaining assessment will be completed soon. As many as 7,596 farmers have been affected by the unseasonal showers, Fadnavis told reporters in Amravati district after holding review meetings. It is observed that certain villages in specific areas in the state have been frequently affected by unseasonal showers in the last few years. "We are working to find some solution to the new challenge of climate change, the deputy CM said. Fadnavis said the kin of those killed in the Akola tree fall incident would get financial assistance from the state. "The government has also decided to bear the entire med

Maha govt announces Rs 4 lakh compensation for Akola temple incident's kin

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the Akola Babuji Maharaj temple incident

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde to visit Ayodhya with Shiv Sena leaders today

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with fellow Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs, will visit Ayodhya on Sunday

Shiv Sena (UBT) hits out at Fadnavis, calls him 'failed' home minister

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday called Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a "failed" home minister while claiming the law and order situation in the state was bad and farmers were committing suicide. An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not even giving a warning to China after it changed the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. Pakistan is being issued hollow threats, but what about China which has made "incursion" in the Indian territory, it said. Earlier this week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray dubbed Fadnavis a worthless home minister after a woman worker from the Thackeray-led faction was allegedly attacked by activists of rival Shiv Sena in Thane. Fadnavis had then hit back saying he was a "bullet" (kartoos), while Thackeray was a weak chief minister who had sacrificed his ideology for the sake of power and need not be given importance. Notably, the Supreme Court recently made strong

Keep ED-CBI aside and face us: Sanjay Raut dares Devendra Fadnavis

Referring to Fadnavis' claim that he was not a 'fadtus' (useless) - as labelled by Thackeray - but a "kartoos" (cartridge), Raut took a swipe, saying it was more like a "wet kartoos"

Mob attack on cops in Aurangabad unfortunate, maintain peace: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the incident of a mob allegedly attacking police personnel in Aurangabad city, now named Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was unfortunate and appealed to leaders to avoid making provocative statements and giving political colour to it. A mob of more than 500 people allegedly attacked policemen on Wednesday night after some youth clashed among themselves. The incident, which lasted around an hour, took place in Kiradpura locality, which has a famous Ram temple where a huge crowd is expected to celebrate the Ram Navami on Thursday, police officials said. Speaking at his residence in Nagpur on the violence, Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said, "The incident that happened in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is very unfortunate and efforts are on to maintain peace in the area. However, some people are trying to vitiate the atmosphere there by giving provocative statements." "I feel that political leaders should know ho

Maha govt to give LoI for Dharavi project on confirming financial capacity

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the Adani group which has won the tender for Dharavi redevelopment will get the Letter of Intent (LoI) only after it establishes that it has the financial capability to execute the project. He was replying after Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad, whose constituency includes Dharavi, raised concerns about the project in the wake of Hindenburg Research's allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani group. Gaikwad also asked if a fresh tender will be floated for the project. Fadnavis asserted that the tendering process was transparent. There was a global tender and three parties responded to it. The bids of two parties were proper and the highest bidder among them was awarded the contract, he said. "So it is incorrect to say that the process was flawed. The LoI has not been issued yet. This is because it is issued only after all the departments take that decision. "There is one decision (yet to be made) from the

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Losing political ground

After a brief interregnum in the Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis made a comeback last year, but things have gone from bad to worse since then

H3N2 virus: CM Shinde seeks public awareness, asks hospitals to be ready

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday chaired a review meeting of the Health department at Mumbai's Vidhan Bhavan to take stock of the state's preparedness

Amid protest, Shinde, Fadnavis to meet Maha farmers' representatives today

The farmers have been holding a long foot march from Nashik to Mumbai in a bid to put forward their demands before the government

Ajit Pawar targets government over ministers' absence; Fadnavis apologises

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar on Wednesday lashed out at the state government over the absence of ministers during the special sitting of the House due to which 7 of the 8 calling attention notices had to be postponed. This elicited an apology from Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A calling attention notice allows House members to bring the attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance. The issue cropped up after the Assembly, which is having its budget session, resumed its proceedings for the day at 11 am. As soon as Speaker Rahul Narvekar took up the Question Hour, an agitated Ajit Pawar said that in the special sitting today, 8 calling attention notices were listed but just one, related to tourism, could be taken up for discussion because only that minister concerned was present. The rest had to be postponed due to the absence of other ministers, he said. This is the height of shamelessness when ministers do not take legislati

Govt to launch Jalyukta Shivar 2.0 in 5,000 villages of Maharashtra: Dy CM

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that the State Government is putting efforts to promote ground water conservation.

Power tariff: Maha govt will ensure hike is not irrational, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the state government will ensure the proposed hike in electricity tariffs is not irrational. Fadnavis, who holds the power portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government, was speaking in the Legislative Council. "The tariff hike is proposed because of the rising cost of coal and other factors that are unavoidable. Our government will not impose any extra charge on consumers. If required, our government will intervene to ensure Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) does not increase power tariffs irrationally," he said. "There is going to be some hike in power rates because of factors such as import costs, transportation, wages etc. We will ensure the hike is linked with the increased input cost for power generation, he added. Sources said the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd has proposed 14 per cent hike in power tariff. Fadnavis said the MERC never accepts a hike proposal as it is

Shinde govt's 1st budget offers relief in professional tax, aid for farmers

The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on Thursday presented its maiden Budget for 2023-24 in which it proposed Rs 6,000 assistance to farmers and Re 1 crop insurance scheme while also offering relief in professional tax to working women, 50 per cent discount on ticket fares to women in state-run buses and a new scheme for the girl child. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state Finance Minister, presented a revenue deficit budget of Rs 16,222 crore in the Legislative Assembly with a total outlay of Rs 1,72,000 crore. Announcing a crop insurance scheme for farmers at Re 1, the deputy CM said the government will bear the financial burden of Rs 3,312 crore. "Under the earlier crop insurance scheme, the farmers had to pay two per cent of the crop insurance premium. Now, the farmers will not need to pay anything as the government will pay the premium amount," he said. Apart from this, the budget also proposed the 'Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Scheme', under whi

50 km metro network to be added in Mumbai region this year, says Fadnavis

As much as 50 km of metro network will be added in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in 2023-24, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday. He made the announcement while presenting the 2023-24 Budget in the state Assembly. Projects including the Mumbai Metro line 10 (Gaimukh to Shivaji Chowk, Mira road with a total length of 9.2 km and estimated cost of Rs 4,476 crore, Mumbai Metro Line 11 from Wadala to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSTM) with a total length of 12.77 km and estimated cost of Rs 8,739 crore, and Metro line 12 from Kalyan to Taloja with a length of 12.77 km and estimated cost of Rs 5,865 crore will be completed, he said. For the Mumbai beautification project, 820 public utility improvement works have been undertaken at a cost of Rs 1,729 crore, he said. A project worth Rs 424 crore is being undertaken to connect Thane and Vasai creeks for water transport around Mumbai. A project costing Rs 162.20 crore has been approved for .

Unseasonal rains destroyed crops on 13,729 ha in 8 districts: Fadnavis

Recent unseasonal rains damaged standing crops on 13,729 hectares in 8 districts of Maharashtra and orders have been issued to provide immediate relief, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state assembly on Wednesday. He said the untimely showers affected crops like mango, wheat and harbhara' (Bengal gram). Orders to release immediate relief and financial assistance have been issued, said Fadnavis. Maximum damage has been reported from Palghar, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Dhule, Buldhana and Washim districts, he said. A decision on immediate relief was taken on Tuesday night based on preliminary information and the exact extent of damage is being ascertained, he said. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office said that he had spoken with the chief secretary and a few district collectors about the damage to crops. He had also instructed revenue officials to conduct the damage assessment survey of the affected areas, his office had said. On Wednesda

Anger, desperation in Uddhav's speech in Ratnagiri rally: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said only anger and desperation could be seen in Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's speech during his rally in Ratnagiri and there was nothing new in it. In a rally held in Khed on Sunday, Thackeray targetted the Election Commission over allotting the party's name and symbol to the rebel faction and termed it a "slave" of people in power. The Sena leader claimed that it was Bal Thackeray who stood with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when it was politically "untouchable", and dared the former ally to seek votes in Maharashtra only in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi without invoking the Thackeray senior. Talking to reporters in Bhiwandi on Sunday night, Fadnavis said, "Same words, same sentences, same taunts, nothing new was said at the meet. As 40 people left the party from under his (Uddhav's) nose, we could see anger and desperation in his speech. There was nothing more in his speech. It won't be proper to react t

MVA members protest against LPG price hike in the legislature complex

Legislators of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Thursday staged a protest in the Maharashtra legislature complex against the hike in cooking gas price and demanded its rollback. The cooking Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) price was on Wednesday was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder. Members of the MVA, which comprises the Nationalist Congress Party, Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), stood on the stairs of the Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday and shouted slogans against the state Eknath Shinde-BJP government, accusing it of hurting the interests of the common man and farmers. Since the time this government has come to power, the common man's household budget has collapsed. The electricity connections of farmers are being cut, they claimed. The budget session of the state legislature is currently underway. Following the price hike, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in Delhi now costs Rs 1,103, up from Rs 1,053, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. State-owned

Creating infra to win back startups & businesses to Maharashtra: Deputy CM

Devendra Fadnavis also reiterated that the state is aiming to stay number one in the space of fintech startups