Bollywood actor and former Congress Lok Sabha MP Govinda on Thursday joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.
"The nakli Shiv Sena wants to bury me alive. They abuse me in such a way that it will be liked by their favourite vote bank," Modi said.
Asked how many seats INDIA bloc will get, Gandhi said, "Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala's song '295'? So 295 (seats)."
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Various constituents of the INDIA bloc condemned Kejriwal's arrest and claimed that the BJP is scared of the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and acting out of panic to create problems for the opposition.
The seat-sharing issue is being discussed with the central leadership, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule told PTI.
The opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing a substantial portion with 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar 10 seats.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday suspended operations at Redbird Flight Training Academy, one of India's largest flight schools, across all five of its training bases in the country. This action was taken after five accidents involving the institute's planes in the past six months. The DGCA announced it would conduct an audit of the academy's maintenance practices and also proficiency checks of the institute's flight instructors before allowing it to resume operations.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
Pawar, who was also the deputy CM in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which was in power from November 2019 to June 2022, enjoys the image of a grassroot leader and an able administrator.
Observing that the name and photographs of Sharad Pawar cannot be used by the Ajit Pawar faction for political gains, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister on a plea of the veteran Maratha leader alleging misuse of his popularity by the rival camp.
The MPs representing various political parties offered heartfelt tributes to the building that has been the epicentre of India's democratic journey.
"If anyone did suggest that we should support the BJP contrary to the stand we had taken, (even) then many in the party including me did not agree with that (suggestion). Our stand not to go with the BJP was very clear," Sharad Pawar said.
'There is no grain of truth in the speculation that the Congress is thinking of contesting the Lok Sabha elections without taking Sharad Pawar along'
The Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the NCP are holding their meetings in Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in south Mumbai and in Bhujbal Knowledge City in suburban Bandra, respectively, on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is a "senior leader and MLA of the party", Supriya Sule said on Thursday when asked about the status of the former in the Nationalist Congress Party.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Monday said there was no confusion within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance over his meeting with nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune.
Asked whether Ajit Pawar gave any offer to Sharad Pawar during the meeting, Raut said, "When did Ajit Pawar become so big to give an offer to Sharad Pawar."
Vijay Baghel and Jogi accuse the chief minister of prompting liquor vends across the state.
The BJP is focusing on 160 seats 'we have never won, seats where we have reasonable support, and those we lost narrowly.'
Shinde, participating in a discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, took a jibe at the opposition coalition Indian National Develomental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) describing it as a 'destructive alliance' and said the next elections will be fought on the issue of scams of the United Progressive Alliance and schemes of the National Democratic Alliance.
There were discussions on issues like inflation, unemployment and 'deliberate attempts' at some places to encourage communal forces, Pawar told reporters in Baramati town in Maharashtra.
"I am boring, steady and not impulsive...Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two," she said.
Top government sources also said the civic polls in the state, delayed due to the OBC reservation issue being heard by the Supreme Court, are likely to be held in October after getting a clarification from the apex court.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the alleged derogatory word used by his cabinet colleague and state agriculture minister Abdul Sattar was "wrong" and it cannot be defended even as protests against Sattar continued on the second consecutive day.
The DGCA has has commenced an investigation to ascertain the cause of the incident.
'We know these are mind games Ajit dada is playing, but he (Sharad Pawar) doesn't get swayed by such gestures.'
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Ajit Pawar asked in his speech at his faction's meeting when would Sharad Pawar, who is 82 years old, "going to stop".
When asked about Ajit Pawar being upset, Sule said, "This is all gossip. Dada (Ajit Pawar) is Leader of Opposition in the state (Assembly). His position is equivalent to that of the chief minister. BJP is trying to target Ajit Pawar...sometimes they target me."
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he has clarified his stand on the Election Commission's decision to recognise Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real 'Shiv Sena' and allocation of the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it, and will not get involved in the controversy over it.
'I was never interested to work as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs'
He also said the topic of Sharad Pawar's resignation as NCP chief and its withdrawal is over and the matter need not be discussed.
'He has a fierce will power; he has been a fighter all his life and even at this age his spirit is strong enough to take on any kind of adversity that comes his way.'
In 1999, Sharad Pawar, along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from Congress. The same year, Pawar founded the NCP.
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