Maharashtra Congress leader and Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday side stepped the Padamsinh Patil issue, saying it is an internal matter of the NCP.He was responding to a question on whether Patil should resign from the Parliament, in the wake of his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation, in a murder case.The matter is subjudice and the law will take its own course, Deshmukh said.
"If the charges are proved, then the NCP will completely dissociate itself from Patil," senior NCP leader and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told media-persons in New Delhi.
Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who also heads the Maharashtra Congress Party election committee, said in New York on Friday that despite some irritants between Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar, seat adjustments would be done between the two parties for the coming assembly election.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who arrived in New Delhi after marathon talks with party leaders in Mumbai on poll preparations, said Congress has to take the initiative for the seat-sharing talks.He told reporters that "instead of wasting time in delaying the issue, let us accept the number (of seats) as last time".
Taking an aggressive stand on the incidents of heckling at functions attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Congress-ruled states, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said he would not attend Thursday's function in Nagpur.
Raj Thackeray issued a statement on Monday, admitting that one of his local party workers had opposed Sahgal's presence at the literary meet.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd started hacking trees from Friday night to make way for a car shed, hours after the Bombay high court dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision to allow felling of trees in the prime green lung of the city.
"I received about 40 anonymous calls since Thursday evening. Some threatened to kill me while others wanted me to apologise to Pankaja," Sawant claimed.
Patole accused the saffron party of failing to keep the promises it made to the people.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has pleaded ignorance about claims made by rebel state minister Narayan Rane regarding assurance of chief ministership by the Congress when he left Shiv Sena nine years ago.
With trends indicating a victory for Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra, Congress blamed corruption charges against its erstwhile coalition partner Nationalist Congress Party and an overall anti-incumbency factor for the party's "depressing" performance in the state.
Maharashtra Congress leader Narayan Rane on Friday said the first list of the party's candidates for next month's assembly polls would be announced on September 25 as he backed the continuation of an alliance with Nationalist Congress Party.
Congress's Mumbai unit president Sanjay Nirupam also told reporters that the party was planning to hold discussions with like-minded parties for a common candidate in mayor's election.
The Shiv Sena has spurned Congress' request to participate in the bandh.
Police arrested four people for the assault on Wednesday.
RSS worker Rajesh Kunte had filed the case after watching Rahul Gandhi's speech at an election rally in which he had alleged that the RSS was behind the killing of Mahatma Gandhi.
Deshmukh at a press conference in Mumbai on Sunday had threatened to sever ties with the NCP if it continued to raise the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins.
Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer took the extreme step 'out of frustration' due to his illness.
'For the Congress, the family is the final court of appeal.' 'If there is no family, all leaders are equal.' 'If all leaders are equal, anyone can lead the Congress.' 'So every time the family has stayed in the background, the Congress has split,' points out Aditi Phadnis.
'Each of them is a setu (bridge) that links the government with the party, but their territories are different.'
'His prowess in Aikido -- a Japanese martial art that focuses on harmony with the opponent to peacefully resolve conflicts -- gives Rahul Gandhi an advantage that fanatical adversaries lack,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
.jpg)
The party was retaliating to farmers' suicide comment by BJP national treasurer Piyush Goyal.
Putting pressure on ally Congress over the deadlock regarding seat sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, NCP said a meeting of its core committee in Mumbai on Monday will take a final call on the matter even as it asserted that it is sticking to its "original demand".
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that the 'opportunistic BJP-PDP alliance' set fire to Jammu and Kashmir, killing many innocent civilians and brave soldiers, and that the damage would continue even if the state was put under central rule.
State Congress legislators made a pitch for a change in party leadership by bringing in more new faces, especially youngsters in their Thursday meeting.
The opposition parties snatched the high-profile Kairana LS seat in from BJP with a united force.
The Shiv Sena passed a resolution not to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The protesters blocked roads in several areas of Mumbai, forced shops to shut down.
No power on earth can stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from getting majority in Lok Sabha elections, party president Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.
'Fourteen lives have been lost; the BMC should be charged with murder for this loss of lives,' says Congress MLA Nitesh Rane.
The two senior most leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist are at the loggerhead over alliance or adjustment with the Congress.
Shiv Sena on Monday emerged the single largest party in the bitterly fought Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation polls bagging 52 seats but fell short of a clear majority in the 122-member body, the battle for which had witnessed acrimony with ally Bharatiya Janata Party hitting a new low.
BJP made inroads into the Congress and NCP strongholds, winning 851 seats. Shiv Sena won 514, NCP 638, Congress 643, MNS 16, BSP 9, unrecognised parties 119, local coalitions 384, CPM 12 and Independents 324 seats.
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.
As fuel prices continue its northward march with petrol and diesel being sold at Rs 80.73 and Rs 72.83 per litre in the national capital, at least 21 opposition parties, led by the Congress have staged a Bharat Bandh protesting the rise in fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
The NCP says its support from outside to the BJP government is without compromising its ideology. Sanjay Jog reports
Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali's concert in the city on Friday was on Wednesday cancelled after Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt it.
Fadnavis said the opinion of advocate general was sought on the sanction and the law officer clearly said 'such permission should be and could be granted.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances