Oxford University Press India has issued an apology to Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, over 'unverified statements' made about the Maratha king in a book published over two decades ago. The apology addresses content in 'Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India' by James Laine, which sparked controversy and vandalism in 2004.
Shah said it was a matter of happiness for his party that a descendent of the Maratha king has joined it and asserted that Bhosale's presence will help it in the upcoming assembly elections.
BJP's Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had sought the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has voiced his opposition to the demand for demolition of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, saying its removal will not serve any purpose. Athawale said that since Aurangzeb was buried there, his tomb should remain undisturbed. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar administration has barred Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote from entering the district from March 16 to April 5 amid calls from some outfits to remove Aurangzeb's grave. Security has been heightened around the site and visitors are being checked thoroughly.
Shah said Shivaji Maharaj defeated "Mughal shahi" (rule of Mughals).
Before the violence and rioting that erupted in Nagpur on Monday, March 17, over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb came provocative statements from various political leaders.
Senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's call to drop the Aurangzeb tomb controversy challenges decades of communal rhetoric in Maharashtra, igniting hopes for unity and a balanced historical narrative.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has held a meeting with Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah in Delhi.
Later in the afternoon, he also said that he was planning to hold a rally of the Maratha community at the protest site on October 12. "It will be attended by all the Marathas. It will show our plight and disappointment.... I will continue my protest here and will not even see the faces of my children till then," he said.
Shrirang Barne, an MP of Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, on Monday expressed disappointment over the party not getting a cabinet berth in the newly-formed Narendra Modi-led government and alleged partiality.
There is a growing unease among Lok Sabha ticket aspirants in the Shiv Sena amid its decision to drop three sitting MPs and the ongoing seat-sharing talks between the Mahayuti partners, party sources said.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi are facing multiple problems in Lok Sabha seats like Sangli, Madha and Satara in western Maharashtra due to political dynasties, old rivalries and one-upmanship, prompting a flurry of meetings before five phase polls begin in the state on April 19.
Sanjay Raut, a key leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, on Monday claimed that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has expressed the desire to quit after the Shiv Sena (UBT) gave a call for a statewide bandh to protest his "insult" to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a claim refuted by the Raj Bhavan.
Raut said it looks like some "bootlickers" have published the book to appease the prime minister.
Ahead of the elections, a lot had been spoken of the large number of leaders defecting from the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena. In fact, a month before the polls, more than two dozen Congress-NCP leaders quit and joined the BJP in hopes of riding high on the Narendra Modi wave. While for some the shift has brought in good fortune, for others it has brought loss. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com analyses how these defectors have fared.
NCP MLAs Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale (Satara), Vaibhav Pichad (Akole) and Sandeep Naik (Airoli) and Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar (Naigaon) handed over their resignation letters separately to Speaker Haribhau Bagade at the state legislature building Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai.
On the Congress and the NCP collectively fairing better than the 2014 polls in the state, Raut said the opposition also needs to be strong in a democracy.
'The rain god has blessed the NCP for the October 21 election. And with the blessings of the rain god, Satara district will create a miracle in Maharashtra'
Calling Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari an 'Amazon parcel' sent by the Centre, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday demanded his recall over his recent remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
He also said that the BJP and Shiv Sena will go by what was "pre-decided" between them on sharing of power.
"People have asked us to sit in the opposition. The thought of trying to get into power doesn't even cross our minds. We will work to expand our base," he further said.
Pawar, who founded the NCP in 1999 after walking out of the Congress, said he worked in opposition for 27 years.
The column, written by Sanjay Raut, hinted that the Sena would stay firm on its demands before government formation with the BJP.
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.
Ahead of the assembly elections, the saffron allies may be ecstatic over the swelling, but it's a double-edged sword with many older leaders wondering what they have got after putting in years of hard work, reports Radhika Ramaseshan
The leading constituent in Maharashtra's ruling coalition said it had always respected Indira Gandhi, who it said, had a towering and strong personality. Whenever there were attempts to malign her image, the Shiv Sena acted as a shield. She was a powerful leader who split Pakistan and avenged Partition, the Marathi daily said.
The 26th edition of the Pune Festival kick-started on Friday evening with a host of celebrities from Bollywood and Maharashtra politics in attendance.
'The voters of Maharashtra have taught a lesson to Modi's arrogance.'
Nationalist Congress Party legislator Shahshikant Shinde said he was witness to such a thing happening when he visited the polling booth in Navlewadi village of Koregaon tehsil in Satara district.
Union Minister Praful Patel and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is the Nationalist Congress Party's OBC face, are among 18 candidates announced by the party on Thursday for the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.
Scindia, who is now with the BJP and took oath as a member from Madhya Pradesh, greeted his bete noire before taking oath. Scindia and Singh had differences that led to Scindia quitting the Congress. Scindia also greeted Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
In an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena, which also saw a drop in its 2014 tally, said the mandate has rejected the notion that elections can be swept by engineering defections and splitting opposition parties.
How Modi retrieves the situation and how he enlists new allies in the next two years will show if the BJP is fighting fit, report Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'I will not talk to people who call me a liar. I will not tolerate this,' the Sena chief said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the Foundation for a Rs 3,600-crore grand memorial for Shivaji Maharaj off the Mumbai coast, an event that comes a few months ahead of the civic polls and amid tussle among parties to claim the legacy of the 17th century warrior king.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
Political observers feel that the outcome of the elections weighs in favour of the BJP which had won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, held earlier this year.
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