Mumbai Jan 30 PTI Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday asserted that the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA is the political future of Maharashtra and there is no truth in speculations about an under the table deal for a reunion of the BJP and Sena In his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece Saamana Raut said state Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in his address to Shiv Sainiks on January 23 had turned the tables on the BJP which was criticising him over his illness Thackeray who underwent a cervical spine surgery a couple of months back had hit out at the BJP over its hypocrisy double standards on Hindutva and elaborated on how the Shiv Sena had rotted in alliance with the BJP he said The message from his speech was that the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena NCP and Congress is the political future of Maharashtra and there is no truth in speculations that there was an under the table deal happening between the Shiv Sena and BJP and they could get back together Raut said Thackerays speech and BJP leader Devendra Fadnaviss response to it have made the states politics clear and there is no room for confusion he said Notably Fadnavis had claimed the Shiv Sena grew politically when it was in alliance with the BJP There is no possibility of a Shiv Sena-BJP reunion after Fadnaviss response said Raut who is the executive editor of Saamana The MVA is here to stay and the BJP will have to spend next many years around the Raj Bhavan the Rajya Sabha member claimed in sarcastic comments apparently referring to the BJP approaching the governor over various issues pertaining to the state The Shiv Sena had snapped ties with the BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post The Thackeray-led party later forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to form government in the state Raut also said the recent nagar panchayat election results in Maharashtra should act as a guideline to both the ruling MVA and the opposition BJP in the state The BJP did get more seats but the MVA parties collectively were ahead of the BJP This shows that whenever the state Assembly elections are held the MVAs majority of 170 seats out of total 288 seats in the House will continue to stay he said This is the mindset of Maharashtra the Shiv Senas chief spokesperson said He claimed there is a wall of businessmen around Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi has transformed Indian politics into an event and given it a festive character No one in the world has done this Raut said targeting the PM Hitting out at former CM Fadnavis for claiming that the Shiv Sena grew politically because of the BJP Raut said the Sena was formed in 1966 and the BJP in 1980 More than the year of birth what is important is what one has achieved The BJPs earlier avatar Jana Sangh never participated in the Sanyukta Maharashtra movement Fadnavis went to Belgaum recently calling for the defeat of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti which is fighting for the rights of Marathi people he said Earlier BJP leaders like Gopinath Munde Pramod Mahajan and Eknath Khadse never behaved in such a manner Nitin Gadkari senior BJP leader and Union minister is a supporter of the Vidarbha state but he has never gone to Belgaum to campaign against Marathi organisations Raut added Maharashtra and Karnataka are locked in a dispute over some bordering areas including Belgaum in the neighbouring state where there is a sizable Marathi-speaking population PTI MR GK GK

Mumbai Nov 30 PTI Maharashtra on Tuesday achieved the landmark of vaccinating four crore people against COVID-19 with both the doses said Dr Pradeep Vyas assistant chief secretary state public health department Maharashtra today achieved vaccination of 1132 lakh people across the state With this the state also achieved the landmark of four crore people getting both the doses he said With the ongoing vaccination drive 74287818 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine he added As of Tuesday Maharashtras tally of infections stood at 6635658 and the COVID-19 death toll at 140997 as per the state health bulletin said The state has 7555 active cases PTI ND NSK NSK

Mumbai Nov 30 PTI A day after reporting the lowest single-day COVID-19 cases at 536 after April 27 last year Maharashtra on Tuesday saw 678 fresh infections and 35 fatalities 14 more compared to the previous day With the latest additions Maharashtras tally of infections rose to 6635658 and the COVID-19 death toll to 140997 on Tuesday a health bulletin said A total of 942 patients were discharged during the day taking the number of recoveries in Maharashtra to 6483435 at the recovery rate of 9771 per cent leaving the state with 7555 active cases The cumulative number of tests conducted in Maharashtra climbed to 65511394 after 91277 samples were examined the lowest in recent times in the last 24 hours the bulletin said In Maharashtra 10 districts and seven municipal corporations did not report any new COVID-19 cases Mumbai districts reported the highest 180 infections followed by 86 cases in the Pune city and 82 in the Pune district Of the eight regions of Maharashtra the Mumbai region reported the highest 298 cases followed by 232 from the Pune region and 80 from the Nashik region Latur region reported 25 new infections Aurangabad 15 Nagpur 11 Kolhapur nine Akola eight Mumbai region reported the highest 22 fatalities among the eight regions in the last 24 hours Aurangabad and Nagpur regions recorded zero fatalities Presently the highest number of 2029 active cases are in two Mumbai districts Among the 6483435 recovered patients the highest 1139020 are from the Pune district Coronavirus figures for Maharashtra are as follows Total cases 6635658 new cases 678 total deaths 140997 fresh deaths 35 total recoveries 6483435 active cases 7555 total tests conducted -65511394 PTI PR NSK NSK

Mumbai Oct 20 PTI Colleges and universities across Maharashtra resumed physical classes on Wednesday after being closed for over one-and-a-half years due to the COVID-19 pandemic As per the state governments directive only fully vaccinated students are being allowed to attend the classroom sessions For those who cannot attend the physical classes in the wake of the fully vaccinated criteria most colleges have made the provision of broadcasting live lectures or continuing with the online lectures facility Last week Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant said all the colleges and universities in the state can conduct physical classes from October 20 and students must be fully vaccinated in order to attend the classroom sessions The decision comes in the wake of schools across the state resuming physical sessions for classes 5 to 12 on October 4 after being shut for more than one-and-a-half years due to the pandemic The state government has allowed all non-agricultural colleges state-run universities deemed universities self-financed universities and colleges affiliated to them to hold physical classes with effect from Wednesday Minister Samant last week said every university should issue the standard operating procedures SOPs to the colleges affiliated to it Acting on the governments directive the Mumbai University on Sunday issued SOPs for all colleges affiliated to it As per its SOPs the classrooms can have only 50 per cent students of the total capacity Also colleges should give the students an option for online or offline sessions The institutes should keep a record of the COVID-19 vaccination certificates of every student and staff attending the physical sessions according to the Mumbai Universitys SOPs On Tuesday Maharashtra reported 1638 new coronavirus cases and 49 fatalities taking the tally of infections to 6594820 and the toll to 139865 while 2791 patients recovered a health department official earlier said The total number of recoveries in Maharashtra rose to 6424547 leaving the state with 26805 active cases the official said Maharashtras COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 9742 per cent while the fatality rate was 212 per cent PTI KK GK GK

Mumbai Sep 17 PTI Maharashtra on Friday reported 3586 new coronavirus infections and 67 fatalities taking the caseload to 6515111 and death toll to 138389 a health department official said As many as 4410 patients were discharged from hospitals taking the count of recoveries to 6324720 There are 48451 active cases in the state now As many as 281072 people are in home quarantine and 1813 in institutional quarantine Maharashtras COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 9708 per cent while the fatality rate is 212 per cent The number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state thus far climbed to 56709128 after 179246 samples were tested during the day Mumbai city reported 472 new cases and three deaths taking its infection tally to 737200 and death toll to 16042 Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows Total cases 6515111 New cases 3586 Death toll 138389 Recoveries 6324720 Active cases 48451 Total tests 56709128 PTI ND KRK KRK