MUMBAI: Fifty-six-year-old lowprofile Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab has emerged as the new power centre in the Shiv Sena.
A few days ago, when veteran Shiv Sena leader and his arch political rival Ramdas Kadam launched a frontal attack against him, saying he is all set to destroy the Sena, it was expected that Parab will react sharply, but he maintained a discreet silence and left it to his political mentor CM Uddhav Thackeray to comment.
A hardcore Shiv Sena activist, Parab was first elected as a member of the legislative council in 2012. Very few senior politicians knew that he took centre stage during the formation of the Mahavikasaghadi government in November 2019. He was part of most key deliberations in the absence of Thackeray. It was none other than Parab who drafted the legal strategy before the Supreme Court just before the formation of the government. Unexpectedly, Thackeray made him transport minister, which shocked his several rivals within the Shiv Sena.
Kadam pointed out that when he called up industries minister Subhash Desai, higher and technical education minister Uday Samant and even environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, he was told to first talk to Parab. Before the emergence of Parab in a big way, there were more than half a dozen key players, closely associated with Matoshree, but now all are sidelined. Thackeray has stood by Parab, who is under the scanner of the ED.
Parab’s biggest failure was inept handling of the transport strike. It appears to be the failure of the battery of bureaucrats and the powerful legal team with him. When the strike was launched, they never realised the gravity of the situation and let it escalate.
PWD makes guv happy
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has showered praise on a team of engineers led by public works department secretary Prashant Navghare for completing the structural and electrical work of the Darbar Hall in a record time, before December 8. Then it was expected to be inaugurated by President Ramnath Kovind, but the event was cancelled following the helicopter crash in which the country lost Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat.
Renovation of the Darbar Hall, which has witnessed several key events in Raj Bhavan, was long overdue. In his letter of appreciation to additional chief secretary (public works), Manoj Saunik, Koshyari observed that the public works department officials worked relentlessly day and night in difficult and challenging circumstances.
Koshyari has asked Saunik to put his letter of appreciation in the service record of the PWD engineers. There are several structures across the state constructed and maintained by the PWD under the leadership of successive ministers, including the incumbent, Ashok Chavan.
