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A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...

Uddhav Thackeray visits Sena office, consol Sena Bhavan employees

Uddhav Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray


Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday visited the new office of Shiv Sena (UBT) in Vidhan Bhavan premises and counseled the staffters of Shiv Sena Bhavan Mumbai who broke down on Monday when Shinde group forced them to vacate the place.

When asked about the misbehaviour by Shinde group MLAs with the women employees, Uddhav Thackeray said that he consoled the employees. “This is called loyalty. These employees have been working for Sena for the past thirty years. Tears rolled down from their eyes today,” said Thackeray.  Later, Thackeray garlanded the bust of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the office. He was accompanied by former Environment minister and MLA Aditya Thackeray.

It may be mentioned here that the ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday took possession of the existing office of Shiv Sena on the premises of the Vidhan Bhavan.

MLAs of the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray were allotted another office, a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) near the back side gate of the Vidhan Bhavan. MLAs of both sections of Shiv Sena were engaged in a war of words on Monday afternoon over the allotment of the office, which has been used by Shiv Sena for three decades.

Portraits of Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray were removed from the office by workers of the Eknath Shinde faction and the portrait of Shinde’s political mentor late Anand Dighe was displayed.

Employees of the Shinde-led faction asked the existing staffers, including two women, working for Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) camp to vacate and shift to the new office.


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