He staked everything to ensure the BJP returned to power; and now that it has, he stands to lose a lot, points out Aditi Phadnis.
The assembly bypolls in Bihar and Maharashtra, scheduled for November 3, are set to be the first electoral test of the popularity of the respective state governments after a change in the political alignment.
The meeting between Thackeray and Pawar took place after the NCP chief met state governor B S Koshyari on Monday morning
The chief minister, who is currently not a member of either of the Houses of the state Legislature, submitted his nomination papers to the election officer in Mumbai.
Chandrakant Patil dismissed reports in a section of media which claimed that she may quit the BJP.
'If they don't make Ajit Pawar chief minister, what can he do?'
Shinde dismissed his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray's call for mid-term elections.
With organisations like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which is a front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, telling Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman they want OPS back, the government is in a bind, report Shiva Rajora and Aditi Phadnis.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the Bombay high court order granting bail to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case.
Speaking at a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Saturday, Raj Thackeray had criticised Sharad Pawar, accusing him of 'playing the caste card from time to time and dividing society'.
Shinde, Thackeray can't use party name and its symbol in the Andheri East assembly bypoll.
Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap on Tuesday withdrew his plea filed in the Bombay high court for seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government to grant permission for the party's scheduled rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on December 28.
'The BJP has 106 MLAs and Eknath Shinde claims the support of 40 MLAs. So why are they both not forming the government right now in Mumbai? Why the delay?' Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf reports.
The former Maharashtra CM also said that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government was free to conduct an inquiry into the phone-tapping charges against the previous BJP-led dispensation.
"A BJP leader had told me that my phone was being tapped. I said if anybody wants to listen to what I am saying I welcome it. I am Balasaheb's chela (disciple), whatever I do, I do it openly," Raut told reporters. "In spite of the phone-tapping, we formed the government in Maharashtra," he said. Raut's remarks come a day after state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that the Fadnavis dispensation misused government machinery to tap the phones of opposition leaders, especially during the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.
'Savarkar's opponents should spend two days in the (erstwhile) Andaman Cellular Jail to understand the hardships he was put through by the British'
The newly expanded Maharashtra council of ministers has several leaders from political families.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has recognised Rahul Shewale as the Shiv Sena leader in the Lower House of Parliament.
Apart from Thackeray, Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe (Shiv Sena), four candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party -- Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil, Gopichand Padalkar, Praveen Datke and Ramesh Karad; Nationalist Congress Party's Shashikant Shinde and Amol Mitkari and Congress's Rajesh Rathod were in the fray for the nine seats, which fell vacant on April 24.
The poster came up on the eve of swearing-in of Sena president and the Aghadi nominee Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.
The Governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers if the chief minister continues to enjoy majority, but can exercise discretionary powers in ordering floor test, dissolution of house or exploring possibilities for government formation if he has doubts over the majority of the ruling dispensation, according to legal experts on Thursday.
The bullet train project has faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose lands are to be acquired.
The police also claimed that the opposition BJP and the political opponents of Thackeray were trying to create an atmosphere to project him as anti-Hindu and not sponsoring the cause of Hinduism, and that in the present regime it was difficult for Hindus to practise their religion freely and thus the feeling of hate would increase against the Muslim religion causing a rift.
Amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said there are no detention centres in the state and Muslim citizens need not worry under his regime.
Police personnel in civil clothes will be deployed. Additionally, drones and CCTV cameras will be used to monitor crowd.
Thackeray also said that while taking the decision, excise rules have not been touched and pubs and bars will close as usual at 1.30am.
Thopte's supporters attacked 'Congress Bhavan' in Pune and vandalised the property in protest against his non-inclusion in the Maharashtra ministry.
In her three recent tweets posted on November 28, she congratulated Maharashtra's new Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray but not the government formed by the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress.
It appears that the party has some kind of political death wish, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
He said the government is also trying to find those officers, who had been reportedly sent to Israel to study the snooping software then.
The perception is rapidly gaining ground that though the chief minister is from the Shiv Sena, the government is being run by the NCP.
Apart from Sardesai, the chief minister's son Aaditya Thackeray, who is an MLA from Worli in Mumbai and head of the Yuva Sena, was also present at the meeting held at the state secretariat on Monday.
'We have reached a new low.'
'As long as Rane is the point-person, the Sena will never revive its partnership with the BJP.'
"It is a serious matter. The home minister should resign, the Maharashtra government should resign and there should be a CBI inquiry into the whole issue'
Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, had served as deputy chief minister for two truncated terms when the Congress-NCP was in power before 2014.
'Badle ki bhavna (revengeful politics) was never seen in Maharashtra and Indian politics, but now we are witnessing all that today.'
'Not giving the Commission space in Mumbai is an insult to Maharashtra's Dalits who are waiting for the inquiry report.'
Non-BJP chief ministers are retaliating. If the Centre can use its agencies to threaten, intimidate and jail its rivals, so can they. The fightback will get more intense, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Speaking about his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NCP chief told NDTV that he conveyed to the PM that it would not be possible for his party to work with the BJP.
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