Eyebrows were raised on Monday in political circles after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray visited the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Mumbai and met the party's Maharashtra President Sudhir Mungantiwar.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has strongly objected to linking Bihar with the terrorists involved in 13/7 serial blasts in Mumbai.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on north Indians, singling out the arrest of terrorists from Bihar, in the 13/7 serial blasts case.
The Mumbai police believe that while selecting a crowded area in the vicinity of Kabutarkhana and Shiv Sena headquarters in Dadar for triggering blasts, the terrorists had a twin objective -- to create trouble in an area dominated by the Marathi-speaking middle-class and destabilise political equations. The headquarters of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the residence of its chief Raj Thackeray were also situated a few minutes away from the blast site.
In the backdrop of Wednesday's serial blasts, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday blamed "hordes of migrants" coming to Mumbai for spurt in crime rate in the state.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's estranged nephew Raj Thackeray rushed to his uncle's defence on Wednesday, lambasting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for criticising the Sena patriarch.
As the battle for Dalit votes ahead of the civic elections in Maharashtra got interesting amid reports that the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party is mulling a resolution on renaming Dadar railway station in Mumbai as 'Chaityabhoomi' station, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said he was opposed to any such move.
Commuters had a hard time getting to their offices in Mumbai due to the strike by the Sharad Rao-led Mumbai Autorickshawmen's Union, seeking a hike in minimum fares.
After warning multiplex owners over screening of Marathi movies, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns at taxi and auto drivers.
Unidentified men attacked some pilgrims sleeping outside the famous Siddhivinayak temple in central Mumbai late on Monday night.No arrests have been made in connection with the case so far, said the police.Some TV channels, which showed clippings of the attackers beating up the pilgrims, claimed that the attack was carried out by members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. However, MNS leader Atul Sarpotdar denied his party's role in the incident.
Singling out trade unionist Sharad Rao whose Mumbai Auto-rickshawmen's Union has threatened to go on indefinite strike next month, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday said his party would step in to counter the inconvenience caused to commuters due to their "arrogant" behaviour.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has said that he does not give importance to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, started by cousin Raj Thackeray, and neither do the people.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuedsay faced more flak across the political spectrum for blaming 'migrants' for malaria outbreak in Mumbai with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying the remarks were uncalled for and deplorable.
Maharashtra Navnirman Seva chief Raj Thackeray on Monday met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is observing a 72-hour fast for 'peace and harmony' in the state.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Friday said he was not aware of any talks about forming an alliance with main opposition parties, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi asked Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on what grounds it planned to revoke the suspension of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLAs who disrupted Azmi's oath taking.
The Mumbai police on Monday resorted to lathicharge to disperse agitating supporters of Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Azmi in suburban Govandi, protesting the assault on the Samajwadi Party leader in Maharashtra assembly by members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The first day of the newly elected Maharashtra assembly got off to a stormy start, with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena carrying out its threat and assaulting Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi, who too carried out his threat to take his oath in Hindi. Action was quick in following, with four MNS legislators -- Vasant Geete, Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam and Ramesh Wanjale -- being suspended for four years by the pro-tem speaker for the violent incident
Chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray, along with the 13 party members who were elected to the Maharashtra legislative assembly, plays floral tribute at the Hutatma Chowk in Churchgate on Monday.
Walse Patil said MNS chief Raj Thackeray will also be invited for the meeting.
Maintaining that anything is possible in politics, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde on Sunday called for a tri-partite alliance of Shiv Sena, BJP and Raj Thackeray led-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to pull down the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.
The Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidate from Ghatkopar (west) Ram Kadam for allegedly assaulting policemen and election officials during polling. The police also cane-charged MNS activists who protested against Kadam's arrest. Hundreds of activists gathered when police reached Kadam's residence to arrest him on Wednesday, Vatkar said, adding that the crowd broke the windowpanes of police vans.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who parted ways with the Shiv Sena in January 2006, on Monday said he was willing to "walk a hundred steps" for his uncle Balasaheb Thackeray and added that the doors of his party were always open for the Sena founder.
Downplaying the meeting between Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and its Maharashtra unit leaders, the Bahartiya Janata Party on Tuesday said there were no political discussions with him and hoped that Shiv Sena will participate in Wednesday's NDA rally against corruption.
Prakash Mahajan, brother of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, has been appointed Shiv Sena spokesperson and a deputy leader.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and Republic Party of India leader have been engaged in a mudslinging exercise after the former publicly questioned the latter's acquisition of property in Bandra.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who forced filmmaker Karan Johar to apologise for calling Mumbai 'Bombay' in his film, has attracted the ire of critics for calling the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by its former name VT.The bustling terminus, designed by Frederick William Stevens, a consulting architect in 1887-1888, was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in 1996, but the abbreviation VT has stuck with most Mumbaiites and Raj proved he is no "At
Five suspected members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Tuesday smashed the entrance glass of an Airtel outlet in Mumbai to protest the private telecom major not using Marathi language prominently in a customer interactive system, police said.
After presenting himself before the court, Thackeray would move an application saying he was surrendering, his lawyer Sayaji Nangre told PTI. After the court grants him custody, Thackeray would immediately move for bail.
Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena and MNS for their campaign against "outsiders" in Maharashtra, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Thursday advised the Bal Thackeray family to "strictly" follow his Art of Living regimes to calm their nerves. "Thackeray parivaar ko Art of Living ki sakht zaroorat hai (The Thackeray family strictly need Art of Living lessons)," Ravi Shankar told reporters.
Maharashtra Chief Minster Ashok Chavan on Thursday condemned Uddhav and Raj Thackeray for 'touching a new low' in politics with their comments on All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi. "Nowhere in Indian politics has such a low level of personal allegations been witnessed. I condemn their (Uddhav and Raj Thackeray) utterances," said Chavan.
The Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government on Wednesday, as to whether it found any evidence of involvement of top leaders of Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Congress in incidents of political vandalism in the state in recent past.
Accusing the chief minister of watering down the Cabinet decision taken on Wednesday to make local language clause mandatory for 4000 new taxi permits to be issued by the state, Thackaray said: "More than the welfare of the people Congress CMs are more concerned about what 'Madam' (Sonia Gandhi) would think. Our CM should do a part time job with CMs from southern states to practise how to know to remain steadfast in their decisions.'
Days after he asked local multiplex owners to screen Marathi movies at prime time or face the music, the Mumbai police has served a notice to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, warning him against giving any provocative or inflammatory speeches."A notice under Section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code was served to Raj Thackeray, warning him against giving any speeches that incite violence," said S R Unavane, senior inspector at Shivaji Park police station.
After politicians got into Mumbai clean up drive in the backdrop of rising Malaria cases, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also asked his party men to take up the responsibility of cleaning the metropolis.Raj directed his partymen to clean the city with the help of civic officials and local people. "Wherever you find garbage, clean it to control the diseases," he said.
Shiv Sena activists on Friday attacked a college in suburban Mumbai as the authorities did not allow around 70 students to appear for the exams after declaring them as ineligible, the police said.
Softening his stand against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Sunday that Raj's statement regarding migrants spreading Malaria was not from his heart.
MNS president Raj Thackeray is all praise for Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and does not mince words to express it.
A hoarding an MNS leader posted in Mahim, north-central Mumbai, to mark the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks, omits National Security Guard commandos Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havaldar Gajendra Singh Bisht who lost their lives battling terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel and Nariman House respectively.
Meanwhile, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a statement the reports suggesting that MNS has asked it to provide Marathi as an option on its website were erroneous.