While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
Shinde said his new deputy Ajit Pawar has chosen the path of development and expressed his faith in the leadership of Modi.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said he does not see any other strong leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level today.
The two oldest NDA allies insisted they did not want the alliance to come apart.
Pawar said, "I will meet PM Narendra Modi on July 18. During the meeting, I will take up various issues related to farmers with him. (NCP leader) Praful Patel and I will attend the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting."
The tit for tat actions came a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers.
With neither the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the Shiv Sena willing to yield ground on the number of Assembly seats they want to contest, the alliance between them seems to be on the brink.
Vidarbha had given as many as 44 seats to the BJP in 2014. The Congress and NCP, plus independents and smaller parties, snatched 19 seats from the BJP, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
He dubbed the rumours of 'alternate formulae' being worked out to form the state government as 'entertainment'.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will announce the quantum of seat sharing, Patil told reporters.
Shetti said the SSS had committed a "grave mistake" by extending support to the NDA.
The petition claimed that the voters had given a clear mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena alliance, and it cannot change now.
'I would like to express my anger at the way party affairs have been handled by some people.'
Notwithstanding initial signs of a rapprochement, BJP-Shiv Sena-led 'Mahayuti' on Tuesday night failed to resolve its differences over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls with smaller parties expressing disagreement over the meagre share offered to them.
He also said that the BJP and Shiv Sena will go by what was "pre-decided" between them on sharing of power.
Fadnavis, the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister of the state, filed his papers from the Nagpur South-West constituency.
Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India on Wednesday gave an "ultimatum" till Thursday afternoon to Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party to allocate at least 18 seats to smaller constituents of 'Mahayuti', saying the party will have a rethink on its continuation in the rainbow alliance should the saffron partners failed to oblige to their demand.
Mungantiwar expressed confidence that the formation of a new government will take place soon.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has denied allegations it was trying to wean away MLAs from other parties.
Reiterating the Shiv Sena's demand for sharing the chief minister's post, Raut said the state's CM will be from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party only.
The impasse over government formation continued in Maharashtra on Friday, eight days after the state assembly poll results were announced, even as the Congress targeted the BJP for "cheating" the Sena.
The state has total 8,98,39,600 voters, including 1,06,76,013 in the age group of 18 to 25 years. A total of 6.5 lakh polling personnel have been deployed at 96,661 polling booths across the state.
Launching a scathing attack on its former ally, Shiv Sena on Friday dubbed those who broke the 25-year-old alliance as "enemies of Maharashtra".
Bharatiya Janata President Amit Shah's visit to Mumbai on Wednesday has been cancelled, a party spokesperson said in Mumbai.
'Matoshree', the residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra, saw a flurry of activity throughout the day with the party leadership meeting district unit chiefs and local leaders to finalise the list of candidates for October 15 Assembly elections.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign as the term of the existing assembly is ending (on November 9), the Sena spokesman said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance looked set to return to power in Maharashtra while Haryana could be a cliffhanger with no clear majority for the BJP or the Congress, Election Commission trends indicated.
Sena President Uddhav Thackeray who is said to be upset over the recent meeting between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday ruled out the possible inclusion of any new players in the 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) even as he took a dig at the former BJP chief by calling him an "apt businessman".
Reacting to the meeting of former Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Gadkari with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said if a senior leader from BJP supports Raj or Sharad Pawar, it can affect the alliance.
After being checkmated by the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Janata Dal-United-Congress alliance in the Bihar bypoll, Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the 'Mahayuti' needs to pull up its socks and refrain from gloating over the 'Modi wave' to fight the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
The Congress and the NCP are not comfortable with the name Maha Shiv Aghadi (a grand alliance comprising the Shiv Sena)
Amid demands from his partymen for him to be declared as chief ministerial candidate, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said he respects their sentiments but has not given a thought to the issue.
With an eye on upcoming assembly elections after the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government will take a decision next week on the Rane committee's recommendation for 20 per cent quota for Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions.
Fadnavis's resignation came a day before the expiry of the 13th Legislative Assembly of the state.
Former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari on Monday met Raj Thackeray in Mumbai, triggering speculation that the saffron party is trying to win over the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief into the National Democratic Alliance for the upcoming elections even as he said there is no reason for Shiv Sena to be annoyed by his meeting with Raj.
If the BJP goes ahead with the idea of forming a minority government without the Shiv Sena like in 2014, the NCP is less likely to support the BJP in any way.
They have already prepared a draft common minimum programme (CMP).
Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, said his party was firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power sharing, including rotating CM's post for 2.5 years.
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