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The high-decibel political drama in Maharashtra is coming to an end, with Eknath Shinde taking oath as the new chief minister of the state on Thursday evening. While it is clear who is in power in Maharashtra, the question remains: Who is the real Shiv Sena?

Both Eknath Shinde and former CM Uddhav Thackeray have called their respective factions the real Shiv Sena. Both are asserting that they will carry forward the legacy of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

While political wrinkles in Maharashtra have been ironed out, the battle will now shift to the Election Commission. The next round of fighting will be for the Shiv Sena's bow and arrow party symbol and it will be the Election Commission that will determine who gets the symbol.

Two major decisions have been announced by Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad, as she steps down from her position as Maharashtra School Education Minister, on Thursday.

“ Signed off as School Education Minister, Maharashtra yesterday with these two decisions close to my heart…,” said the tweet by the Dharavi MLA, Gaikwad.

The first announcement is the ‘Happiness Curriculum,’ which will be introduced from the academic year 2022-23 for Std 1 to 8 in all government & aided Marathi medium schools.

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday with eight more people, including three children, losing their lives in the past 24 hours. While two people each perished in the flood waters in Lakhimpur and Nagaon, one person each drowned in Barpeta, Biswanath, Dhemaji and Morigaon districts respectively. With these, the death toll due to floods and landslides in Assam rose to 159 since April this year.

While 141 people have been killed in floods, 18 people have died in landslides. On the other hand, nearly 30 lakh people in 2,608 villages spread across 25 districts of the state still remain affected by the floods.

The flood situation in Assam worsened on Wednesday with 12 more people losing their lives and the number of affected people increasing to 31.5 lakh, with Silchar town in Cachar district remaining under water for the last 10 days.

According to bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), eleven people died due to floods and one in a landslide, pushing the toll due to floods and landslides in the state this year to 151.

The number of affected people increased to 31.54 lakh in 26 districts, up from 24.92 lakh on the previous day. Brahmaputra, Beki, Kopili, Barak and Kushiyara rivers were flowing above the danger level.

Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM suffered a major setback in Bihar today after four of its five MLAs joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal. The RJD’s strength in the state Assembly thus went up to 79, helping it regain the status of single largest party in Bihar. 

The four AIMIM MLAs who joined the RJD are Shahnawaz, Izhar, Anjar Nayani and Syed Rukundin. Now, only party’s state chief Akhtarul Imam is left with in the camp. 

A news agency, in an earlier report, quoted sources as saying that four AIMIM MLAs are in contact with the RJD as they are apprehensive about their future after the 2021 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in which the Owaisi-led party had fielded its candidates on more than 90 seats but failed to win even a single constituency.