Rush Hour: Uddhav Sena leader alleges MPs offered Rs 50 crore to defect, comedian booked & more

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut alleged that his party’s MPs were being offered Rs 15 crore each to join the rival faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Raut had initially said that reports of a breakaway group were “a lie” and stated that all MPs had recently “expressed faith” in party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership.

However, Raut later alleged on social media that attempts were being made to induce MPs to switch sides. He claimed that the MPs were being offered Rs 50 crore to join rival parties, with Rs 15 crore being the “advance” payment.

Separately, Uddhav Sena MP Arvind Sawant wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urging him not to entertain any claims seeking recognition of a separate group or merger involving MPs elected on the party’s symbol. Read on.

The United States government announced that its military’s US Indo-Pacific Command will revert to its original name, the Pacific Command. The move restores the name under which the organisational unit operated for more than seven decades.

The Department of War said that the move was intended to honour the command’s historical identity and legacy. The decision reversed a change introduced in 2018, when the US government, during Donald Trump’s first term as...

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