Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam reiterates his claim that Bal Thackeray's body was kept at his residence for two days before his death was announced, making further allegations against Uddhav Thackeray. Other politicians weigh in, demanding answers and clarifications.
It was a courtesy call as they had worked with Thackeray as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government for the last two-and-half years, said Congress leader Nitin Raut.
Former Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party ally Sadabhau Khot on Thursday filed his nomination for the upcoming polls to 10 seats of the state legislative council as a BJP-backed independent candidate.
The ruling Shiv Sena on Wednesday announced the candidature of Sachin Ahir and Aamshya Padvi for the upcoming Maharashtra legislative council polls as it decided against renominating senior leader and state minister Subhash Desai and another party veteran Diwakar Raote for the election to the upper house of the state legislature.
Condemning the firing incident in which a farmer was killed in Sangli district, Shiv Sena flayed Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar over his remarks about a prominent farmers' leader in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena on Monday continued to demand the resignation of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the Legislative Council over his controversial remarks on drought and load-shedding.
The Shiv Sena Bhavan is controlled by 'Shivai Seva Trust'. Its founding trustees include late Bal Thackeray and his wife late Meena Thackeray. Many of the founding trustees are not alive now.
The Maharashtra government on Monday said action would be taken against ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi if he had indicated involvement of Hindu organisations in the Pune German Bakery blast.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on September 16 said that talks are going on with Shiv Sena regarding seat-sharing and a decision will be taken soon.
Bharatiya Janata Party-backed independent candidate Sadabhau Khot and Nationalist Congress Party's Shivajrao Gajre on Monday withdrew their nominations for the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, leaving 11 contestants in the fray for 10 seats as the state was set to witness another bitter fight between the BJP and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after the last week's cliffhanger in the Rajya Sabha polls.
With the Sena now joining the government, Mr Fadnavis can hope for an easier time during the winter session of the Assembly, beginning in Nagpur on December 8. The government will have a clear majority of 184 in a House of 288. The BJP has 121 MLAs, 43 short of a majority. The Shiv Sena 63.
After being outwitted by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the ruling Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is now facing another challenge of getting all its six candidates elected to the state Legislative Council in the June 20 polls, which has once again put the spotlight on Independents and smaller parties.
Earlier, there were speculations that the party may nominate Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, for the MLC polls, to be held on June 20.
The MLAs of the three ruling parties and the BJP have reached Mumbai ahead of the elections.
The decision, set to be implemented from August 1, had met with fierce opposition from pump owners.
Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party gave it an ultimatum to take a final call on the seat-sharing pact for the Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena said on Thursday night that it would not be dictated by anybody.
Shiv Sena legislators on Monday occupied opposition benches as the special three-day session of Maharashtra assembly began here during which Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will seek a trust vote as mandated by Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao when he stakes claim to form the government
With the new post, the Thackeray junior, 27, who already heads Yuva Sena, will now be a part of the Sena's core team.
State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote said new black and yellow cabs come fitted with air conditioners but passengers cannot use the facility because it is not permitted.
"No one is a saint in politics," he added, possibly a hint to the senior ally that committing such a 'sin' was not entirely unfathomable for the Sena.
The 25-year-old saffron alliance in Maharashtra is hurtling towards a break up with the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders walking out of a meeting with their Shiv Sena interlocutors that was called to discuss seat-sharing for Maharashtra assembly polls.
The day-long statewide strike called by the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen's Union, the largest auto union in the city, began from midnight demanding ouster of call centre-operated Uber and Ola cabs besides revocation of Maharashtra government's decision to scrap the Hakim panel on auto and taxi fares.
Commuters in Mumbai faced a harrowing time as auto-rickshaws and taxis drivers attached with 'Swabhiman Union' began a day-long strike in the metro city on Monday morning to press for their demands.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday allocated portfolios to the twenty-member council of ministers, including 10 of the Shiv Sena, who were inducted into his expanded cabinet.
"I thought why not the son of a person who had contributed for Maharashtra should become the CM and I insisted Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. Fadnavis had worked with Uddhav so he knows how Uddhav is. He should stop questioning repeatedly about how Uddhav became CM," the NCP chief said.
In a controversial move, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra has decided that autorickshaw permits in future will be issued to only those who can speak Marathi language.
Both parties claimed they wanted to extend Diwali greetings to the governor and denied that any political discussion took place during the meeting.
Following an assurance from the state government that their grievances would be looked into, the strike -- which was to begin on Tuesday -- has been pushed back.
Farmer leader and Lok Sabha member Raju Shetti, who participated in the talks, said he was happy that their demands had been met.
Voices of resentment resonated in the camps of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress criticising the choice of new faces by the leadership. Sena leaders have expressed disapproval over party seniors and former ministers not finding a place.
However, the Sena's demand for elevation of the existing ministers of state to the Cabinet rank was turned down by the chief minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena leaders who were sworn in today during the expansion of Devendra Fadnavis ministry include some who have been ministers in the past and some new faces.
The 36 new ministers included 10 cabinet and four ministers of state (MoS) of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of the Sena, and eight Cabinet and two MoS of the Congress.
"The people of Mumbai voted overwhelmingly for the BJP as they believed in our agenda of transparency in the civic administration. Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party while we were two seats behind them. We did not get the numbers to have a Mayor of our own," Fadnavis told media persons at his official bungalow in Mumbai.
'A message was sent to society that those who question dogmas and believe in scientific methods will be silenced.' Hamid Dabholkar tells Neeta Kolhatkar why he is disappointed that his father Narendra Dabholkar's killers have not been arrested yet.