When the Maharashtra government first announced to send a 'water train' to drought-hit Latur in 2015, one would have remotely imagined that it would reap a major political success for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Congress pocket borough.
Pankaja Munde -- who lit the funeral pyre of her father Gopinath Munde on Wednesday at his ancestral village of Parli in Maharasthra along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party general secretary Amit Shah -- will lead the the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet colleagues Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, state minister Sadabhau Khot, former Union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi were prominent among those who installed Ganpati idols at their homes.
Tens of thousands of mourning supporters and distraught family members today bid a tearful farewell to Gopinath Munde, Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party's tallest mass leader and architect of its impressive victory in the Lok Sabha elections, who was killed in a car crash on Tuesday.
Thackeray also said that corruption allegations against Pankaja Munde were "grave" but did not comment further on the issue.
Stepping up its attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra for keeping silent in the controversy involving Lalit Modi and other scandals and threatened to launch a nationwide agitation if the tainted ministers and leaders are not sacked.
A list of some prominent political families of the BJP.
In a telephonic interview with rediff.com, Dhananjay Munde squarely blames his uncle for sidelining him in the state BJP for the benefit of Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palwe, who is currently a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from Parli, the BJP leader's home town.
The party has also expanded its list of spokesperson to 23, with MP Anil Baluni being elevated as the chief spokesperson and remaining its media head.
New government will have to mobilise money to complete pending irrigation, infra projects
Do you agree with NCP leader Sharad Pawar? Cast your vote to let us know.
The NCP leader defeated his cousin Pankaja Munde of the BJP in the just-concluded assembly elections from Parli in Beed district of central Maharashtra.
Censor Board's Pankaja Thakur claims smoking should not be glamorised on screen.
A 10-member Bharatiya Janata Party ministry led by Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in at Wankhede on Friday.
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.
Cool red carpet fashion, right here.
"If the Opposition (the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party) points out, with evidence, that norms have been flouted, we are ready to conduct an inquiry into the purchases," Fadnavis told PTI.
The Samajwadi Party leader said the director's choice to have his twins via surrogacy was a joke on poor people.
Here's how the heavyweights are faring.
Maharashtra and Haryana voted in assembly elections on Monday. Several prominent personalities also exercised their franchise.
An FIR was lodged on Thursday at Babupurwa police station in Kanpur, accusing the SP general secretary and his wife of amalgamating companies for converting black money into white, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal told PTI.
There has been a lot of promise from New Delhi to build toilets for women Back in rural Maharashtra, Sangita Awhale has taken the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative forward.
'I would like to express my anger at the way party affairs have been handled by some people.'
Legislators, bureaucrats feel an impact, with works relating to their constituencies stuck at various levels.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
Vikhe Patil, who was leader of opposition in the state assembly, resigned from the Congress recently.
Following are the possible contenders for the post of Maharashtra chief minister. We request our readers to take the poll at the end of this list.
The ancient Ganga-Godavari-temple on the bank of river Godavari was later closed till next Kumbh mela to be held in 2027-28.
Amar Singh built an extensive network for the party, and was often spotted with celebrities, from the Bachchans to Anil Ambani to Subrata Roy.
The OBC face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and former deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde, who had joined the Union Cabinet for the first time a week back, was all set to spearhead the party's campaign in the upcoming assembly polls in the state to wrest power from the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
'He deliberately encouraged my rivals to diminish my influence in the party.'
The ashes of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former union minister Gopinath Munde were on Sunday immersed in the Godavari river.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah on Thursday described the upcoming assembly elections as the second leg of the party's "Congress free India movement."
The decision came on a day when Thackeray said Maharashtra government should stop water supply to the beer manufacturing units in the drought-hit Marathwada region to tackle acute shortage of drinking water.
Rediff.com takes a look at the devout flock that attends the Simhastha Kumbh Mela to take a dip into the holy waters and purify themselves.
With 8 out of Maharashtra's 10 municipal corporations under the BJP's belt, and a stunning show in 25 zilla parishads and panchayat samitis, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, says Prasanna D Zore, is all set for an encore when his party next faces the polls.
Last year, he was the BJP's darling. Today, Arnab Goswami is a hated figure for the Modi bhakts. What changed?
While the BJP is in a comfortable position to choose between the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, both have its share of drawbacks. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff. com reports
Another minister -- Vinod Tawde -- has been accused of corruption in awarding contracts.
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