Pramod Mahajan's death-biggest political news

Mumbai, Dec 20: The seven train bomb blasts on 7/11, suicides byhundreds of debt ridden farmers and murder of four persons from a Dalitfamily at Khairlanji were among the major events in Maharashtra in 2006.

The death the 57-year-old BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who was shotat by his younger brother Pravin at his residence at Worli in southcentral Mumbai on April 22 created a big void not only in Maharashtrabut also in national political scene.

The reason for firing three rounds from an automatic revolver onPramod Mahajan, still remains a mystery even as Pravin is languishingin jail and the case is still going on in court.

Mahajan's initials were PM and due to excellent oratory andorganisational skills he was always considered the 'Prime Ministrial'candidate in the BJP. his death put an end to all speculation.

Mahajan remained in the news for the whole year even after hisdeath on May 3 as his personal assistant Bibek Biman Moitra died withina couple of months due to an overdose of drugs and his son Rahul wasalsoinvolved in the same drug controversy.

Rahul, who tried to make an entry into politics after the death ofhis father and even attended the national council meeting of the BJPrecently, got involved in yet another controversy of 'ill treatment andtorture ' to his wife Shweta. Both Rahul and Shweta have denied thenews report given by an eveninger from Mumbai.

Besides, Mahajan's daughter Poonam Mahajan-Rao has now joined the BJP.

The murder of Mahajan has not only affected the BJP but also theShiv Sena-BJP alliance of Maharashtra as the late Mahajan wasconsidered the architect of the alliance.

After the death of Pramod Mahajan, the centralisation in the stateBJP has ended. Mr Nitin Gadkari has got a second term as the stateParty President while Mahajan's brother-in-law Gopinath Munde is tippedto take up responsibility in the party at the national level.

The Shiv Sena, a major ally of the BJP which suffered severe blows lastyear after Mr Narayan Rane and Mr Raj Thackeray quit the party,continued to suffer this year also. This year, seven Shiv Senalegislators resigned from the assembly and out of which six succeededin getting re-elected as Congress candidates. Now the Shiv Sena isfacing an uphill task on February 1 to keep its citadel of MumbaiMunicipal Corporation intact where it was ruling since 1985 with anexception of four years.

With the downslide of the Shiv Sena, its executive presidentUddhav Thackeray became the target of criticism even as his father BalThackeray is aging and has given up looking at the day-to-daydevelopments of the party.

The alliance did not do better in the local bodies elections alsowhere the NCP and the Congress succeeded in maintaining their supremacy.

On the other hand, Mr Raj Thackeray, nephew of the seniorThackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President, is gaining afoothold as his 28 candidates have succeeded in winning local bodieselections.

The incident of seven serial train bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 187people were killed and 817 were injured on 7/11 was a reminder of the13-year-old serial bomb blasts. The train blasts were followed by twinMalegaon blasts which shook the nation. The ISI hand was established inthese blasts.

The Shiv Sena-BJP continued to lose its ground while the Congressand the NCP became stronger with their combined strength at 146 in theassembly of 288.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh looked firmly in the saddle aftercompleting two years despite the presence of a formidable challenger MrNarayan Rane. His first tenure was three-and-a-half years old.

Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil is in for some rough times withpeople's Republican Party of India MLC Jogendra Kawade demanding hisresignation for not handling the Khairlanji murder case in a propermanner.

UNI