Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
Sulking Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane, who was pitching for a leadership change ahead of the state assembly elections, on Monday resigned from the government.
'The problem lies in the popular perception that the Marathas are a rich, politically powerful and dominant caste in the state... The truth is different. The tragedy of this community is that only 137 Maratha families are the dominant players in state politics. The disparity is so wide, that the rest of the Maratha community isn't even half as rich, forget being powerful,' says N Suresh.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday held parleys with the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana amidst the possibility of a change of guard in some of the states where it is in power as the party prepares for a massive rejig in the wake of its unprecedented debacle in Lok Sabha polls.
Congress MPs Sanjay Nirupam and Priya Dutt on Monday led a protest morcha outside the Reliance Energy office in suburban Kandivli, seeking reduction in power tariffs in the metropolis.
Launching a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over the "India Shining" campaign, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the balloon of Gujarat's development model will burst.
Discussions on other issues are in progress, Pawar said after the meeting, held at the Nehru Centre in Worli.
Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday wrote letters to fellow chief ministers, urging them to oppose the Communal Violence Bill saying it was a blatant intrusion upon the powers of the state governments.
Thackeray held talks with Thorat, former chief minister Ashok Chavan and another senior Congress leader, Manikrao Thakare, at a suburban hotel.
The first of it was in February 1980 when the Indira Gandhi government dismissed the Progressive Democratic Front government headed by Sharad Pawar.
Facing eviction notices by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, residents of Campa Cola Housing Society, who are set to lose their flats in demolition, on Friday received no concrete assurance of help from Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
'They want to keep the BJP out, but how to make it happen is the issue that the Congress high command will resolve.'
Prasanna D Zore reports on the backroom drama accompanying the efforts to cobble together the next government in Maharashtra. 'While the Congress is insisting upon equal power sharing structure among all the three parties, the NCP is of the opinion that ministries should be distributed based on the number of MLAs belonging to each of the three parties.' Prasanna D Zore reports on the backroom room accompanying the efforts to cobble together the next government in Maharashtra.
Sulking Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane on Thursday said he will quit the Prithviraj Chavan ministry on Monday but has decided to remain in the Congress.
"We want to see Aaditya Thackeray as the next chief minister. But Uddhav ji will take the final decision," said Pratap Sarnaik, MLA from neighbouring Thane city.
'The voters of Maharashtra have taught a lesson to Modi's arrogance.'
The assembly election results are likely to put a lid on the impending battle the old guard and young Turks, strengthen the hands of the veterans, and force the younger leaders to negotiate a truce. Archis Mohan reports.
Here's how the heavyweights are faring.
Maharashtra and Haryana voted in assembly elections on Monday. Several prominent personalities also exercised their franchise.
In the second such exercise in four days, the Prithviraj Chavan led Congress-Nationalist Congress Party ministry in Maharashtra was expanded on Monday with the induction of two Congress ministers.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who spearheaded Congress' Lok Sabha election campaign in the state, attributed the party's rout to some policies of the central government.
Reacting to Patole's suggestion that he was under watch, the NCP, which handles the home department, on Monday said his claim was based on incomplete information, while the Shiv Sena asserted that all was well in the ruling alliance.
'Who else will solve these issues if not the chief minister?' 'Who else shall we take our complaints to?'
Only 19 out of 41 ministers in the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra have vacated their official bungalows so far, whereas names of NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane figure in the list of squatters, an RTI query has revealed.
The government-controlled City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) has kicked off the tendering process for the over Rs 14,500 crore (Rs 145 billion) international airport project in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.
The Metro line 3 project envisages an Rs 23,136 crore (Rs 231.36 billion).
In a vitriolic attack on Sharad Pawar for equating the Shiv Sena to "ants that will be stuck to jaggery of power," the ruling alliance partner on Friday described the Nationalist Congress Party as "blood sucking leech" waiting to join hands with the BJP to be a part of Maharashtra government.
Soon after the Supreme Court stayed the demolition of Campa Cola Compound in Mumbai till May 31, 2014, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said his government's "sympathy" is with its residents and it will consider legal options available.
Maharashtra government on Monday offered to provide 22.5 per cent of the developed land to those whose lands would be acquired for the Navi Mumbai International Airport project.
Going on the offensive, the Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday gave Congress a day to revert on the issue of seat-sharing for the October 15 assembly polls in Maharashtra, saying it will "wait a day longer".
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is spreading lies and rumours through the social media and Congress workers should wake up to its thread and respond to it.
The death toll in Friday's building collapse in Mazgaon area here has climbed to 61, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Asked if the rescue operation has been called off, the BMC said though no formal announcement to this effect has been made so far, "it is as good as being called off".
A worker of right-wing organistaion Sanatan Sanstha picked up from Goa by Pune police, as part of their probe into the murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar.
"I received about 40 anonymous calls since Thursday evening. Some threatened to kill me while others wanted me to apologise to Pankaja," Sawant claimed.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria on Monday submitted a report containing information on his meeting with the former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi to the Maharashtra government.
A senior NCP leader said the government is likely to be formed before the first phase of the Jharkhand polls scheduled on November 30.
The meeting is significant as PM Modi heaped heavy praise for the NCP during a debate on Monday to mark the 250th session of the Rajya Sabha was viewed with interest.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday defended the extension of the parole of actor Sanjay Dutt, who was convicted in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case, saying the action was taken as per law and no rules were violated.
The Congress questioned the Maharashtra governor for the "arbitrary" allotment of time to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove support for government formation.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party leaders met on Tuesday morning to decide on seat sharing for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections but the talks were "inconclusive." With only four days left, to file nominations for the October 15 polls, time's running out for the 15-year-old alliance.
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