In the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from Maharashtra assembly for refusing to say 'Bharat mata ki jai'.
Similar flags were also unfurled at about 24 other places across the Vidarbha region.
At a time when a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra has hit the streets expressing displeasure over the party's proximity with the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has swung into action to bring together estranged partners BJP and Shiv Sena.
After political rivals, the Narendra Modi government has come under fire from Shiv Sena over the rail fare hike with its oldest ally terming the move as akin to the common man being run over by train.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, whose 13-day-old Bharatiya Janata Party government survived a controversial trust vote in the Legislative Assembly in voice vote, has dismissed allegation of "foul play" by opposition Shiv Sena and Congress, saying all rules and procedures were adhered to in the passage of the motion.
Making a statement in the legislative assembly, Fadnavis said, "Enough is enough. If the doctors fail to resume work today, government will not sit quietly. We cannot leave the patients to die. I am making a final attempt to break the deadlock today by meeting the doctors' representatives. If no solution is found and doctors don't resume work, they should be prepared to face legal action."
Ahead of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation polls, BJP is reminding Shiv Sena it is not the sole claimant of intellectual property rights for Marathi Manoos and Hindutva.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday evening released its first list of 54 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
The 13-day-old Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra headed by Devendra Fadnavis will seek a vote of confidence on Wednesday which it is expected to win with the help of Nationalist Congress Party despite its continuing stand-off with Shiv Sena.
'Do we not all exhibit a sense of entitlement every day,' asks Savera R Someshwar.
The 13-day Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra government won the Trust vote in the Maharashtra assembly.
'I am a Muslim and if my Hindu brothers were to march to my house and if that were to give birth to any controversy, then this government will use it to exploit another issue.' 'I don't want to give BJP leaders a chance to play their communal politics.'
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
Maharashtra politics is at crossroads. Anything can happen in this dynamic situation. Uddhav will have to prove he is a worthy inheritor of his father's legacy and keep his cadre and leaders in the party stable. Fadnavis will have to prove that manoeuvrings on floor of the house was an inevitable political necessity to change the destiny of Maharashtra eventually. Modi and Shah will have to show that they can and will are resist use of 'the system' in the pursuit of power. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com analyses the situation.