Tales from the underground
There was this big-time bookie who was getting protection from the Chhota Rajan gang for several years. He is no more. However, his son has veered close to the Dawood Ibrahim gang. In fact, he is handling sizeable finances of D Company and is in touch with the don and his brothers in Pakistan and the UAE. Rajan, who is lodged in Tihar Jail, is aware of this development. But he has decided not to respond.
As of now there is an undeclared peace pact between Rajan and Dawood. For several years they were close to each other and operating from Dubai. Later they split up because Rajan suspected that Dawood was planning to eliminate him. So he fled from Dubai and set up base in Bangkok where Dawood sent a hit-squad to eliminate him. But Rajan had a dramatic escape to Iran where he lay low before being arrested.
Sleepless at Varsha
Recently one of the MLAs supporting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the latter was unwell. Sources in Mantralaya said the
biggest problem being faced by Shinde is lack of sleep. In his efforts to be like his mentor the late Anand Dighe, a bachelor who worked late into the night in his office at Tembhi Naka in Thane, Shinde also keeps awake till early morning meeting each and every visitor.
The CM’s advisors have asked him to drastically reduce the number of visitors. But he is in no mood to listen. Sleep deprivation is apparently taking a toll on his health. He is also under severe stress ever since Ajit Pawar joined his government as a deputy chief minister. Even though he has also come up in politics through the streets of Thane, he is finding it difficult to match Pawar’s brashness. Also, the BJP is not giving him an unambiguous assurance that he would continue in office till the assembly elections next year. All these things are now telling on his health.
BJP's ace in the hole
Ashish Kulkarni is the political analyst that the state BJP is depending on in a big way to decide upon its strategy for the upcoming elections to the Lok Sabha and assembly. An extremely low-profile man, he is known to be a genius when it comes to number crunching and election statistical analysis. A professional to the core, several times in the past he is known to have given correct and evidence-based poll forecasts. Several parties are trying to woo him, but he is firm that he will assist only deputy chief minister and the face of the BJP in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. Since the BJP has decided not to hold the BMC elections before the Lok Sabha polls, its game plan now is to fine-tune a winning strategy to bag a substantial number of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.
TAILPIECE
A reshuffle of the police force is in the anvil. Several IPS officials are likely to be moved out. The appointment of two police commissioners, Vivek Phansalkar and Deven Bharti, is not creating much of a problem. But some of the officers are found to be not 100% loyal to Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio.
Compiled by S Balakrishnan
