The Election Commission has transferred DGP Rashmi Shukla 16 days before the polling for the assembly elections in Maharashtra. The Election Commission on Monday morning instructed the Chief Secretary to replace Rashmini, saying her charge would be given to the next senior IPS officer in the cadre.
The commission also directed the chief secretary to send a panel of three IPS officers by 1 pm tomorrow (November 5) to appoint the new DGP of Maharashtra. Maharashtra's opposition alliance filed a complaint against Rashmi Shukla to the Election Commission. The Congress had said that Rashmi would not allow the elections to be conducted impartially.
Regarding the transfer of Rashmina, Sharad Pawar has said that the Election Commission has taken the right decision. We welcome this decision.
1988 batch IPS officer Rashmi Shukla also holds the record of becoming the first woman DGP of Maharashtra. Rashmi has also been the Director General of the Armed Forces Seema Bal and the Head of the Maharashtra Intelligence Department.
Opposition alleges- Rashmi is working for BJP
- Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Sanjay Raut: There are many serious allegations against DGP Rashmi Shukla. Rashmi works for BJP. When we had the government in 2019, they were tapping all our phones. All our information was given to Fadnavis. Can we expect them to hold fair elections? They should not be given the reins of elections.
- Congress President Nana Patole: Political violence against opposition parties has increased in the last few days. Law and order has also deteriorated in Maharashtra. DGP discriminates against Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). He tapped the phones while working as the state intelligence commissioner.
Rashmi accused of tapping Sanjay Raut's phone, FIR registered in Mumbai Rashmi Shukla was the state intelligence chief during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, when she was accused of tapping the phones of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse. An FIR was also lodged against him in Mumbai regarding this.
The Chief Election Commissioner warned the officials to be impartial CEC Rajeev Kumar had earlier warned officials not only to be impartial during review meetings and declaration of assembly elections in the state, but also to be non-partisan in their conduct while discharging their duties.
In Jharkhand too, DGP was replaced before assembly elections Along with Maharashtra, Jharkhand also has a code of conduct. On October 19, the Election Commission also transferred Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta. After removing the DGP with immediate effect, the Election Commission handed over the charge to the senior most officer in his rank.
In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP fell from 23 to 9 seats Out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 30 seats and the NDA 17 seats. In which BJP got 9 seats, Shiv Sena got 7 seats and NCP got only 1 seat. BJP has lost 23 seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NDA won 41 seats compared to 42 seats in 2014.
Estimated loss of BJP according to Lok Sabha Elections If the trend in Maharashtra Assembly elections is similar to that of Lok Sabha elections, BJP will suffer. BJP will be reduced to around 60 seats. At the same time, an opposition coalition survey projected MVA to get 160 seats. Maratha movement is the biggest challenge for BJP. Apart from this, people sympathize with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar after the sabotage in Shiv Sena and NCP.
Assembly Elections- 2019
- In 2019, there was a BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. BJP won 105 and Shiv Sena 56 seats. NCP got 54 seats and Congress got 44 seats from the alliance. BJP-Shiv Sena could have easily come to power, but the alliance broke down due to differences.
- On 23 November 2019, Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister. However, both resigned on November 26 before the majority test.
- On 28 November, Shiv Sena (undivided), NCP (undivided) and Congress' Mahavikas Aghadi came to power.
- After this, there was a split between the Shiv Sena (undivided) and the NCP (undivided) and these two parties split into four factions. However, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray gained in the Lok Sabha elections. Now the Assembly elections are also being held on this background.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
