Among the seven seats which witnessed a stiff contest between the BJP and the regional parties, the saffron party held three and the Congress two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.
Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra slammed Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's statement that a meeting between a delegation of Maharashtra MPs and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue would not make any difference to the border dispute.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
The 'flaming torch' symbol was used by the Sena in the past during civic body and assembly polls.
Friendship with Ajit Pawar and the eventual destruction of the NCP can only strengthen him and the BJP.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday met his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal at the latter's residence in New Delhi and extended 'complete support' to him in the Aam Aadmi Party government's ongoing tussle with the Centre over the control of administrative services.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the Supreme Court's ruling on the political crisis that led to the fall of the three-party Maha Vikas Aaghadi government led by him following a revolt by the Eknath Shinde faction reinstates trust in democracy.
A special court in Mumbai has said that Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut dealt with some "unaccounted money" for purchasing plots at Kihim near Alibag in Raigad district, but the same cannot be "thrown in the stock of proceeds of crime (POC) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)".
'Shinde and Fadnavis have different working styles and certainly there is a crack that has come between them.'
Amid protests against a proposed oil refinery in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, state industries minister Uday Samant on Tuesday said the current site for the mega project was suggested by then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, while the Opposition urged the government to stop soil survey work and be sensitive in handling the situation arising out of the agitation.
Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying the ruling party's 'washing machine' has resumed its operation to clean tainted leaders and it was an 'ED-facilitated power grab'.
'Hindutva doesn't teach you to stab someone in the back.'
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
Amid opposition unity talks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Trinamool Congress, alleging that it was fighting elections in Meghalaya to ensure the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in the state, drawing a sharp reaction from the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thackeray, and sought response of the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde.
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
Thackeray accused the Eknath Shinde-led government of being ideologically bankrupt.
'Their conduct is as if they have come to arrest some dacoit.' 'They behave with everyone in this manner, whether it's Manish Sisodia, Anil Deshmukh or anybody else.' 'It is as if they are ambassadors of god and we are satans.' 'This is solely due to the sections in some laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.' 'This is a cruel law. In fact, the death penalty is better.'
Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai, appointed for coordinating the state's border dispute with Karnataka, are unlikely to visit Belagavi on Tuesday as both have various meetings scheduled in Maharashtra during the day.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday the issues related to the Maharashtra political crisis, triggered by the differences in the Shiv Sena, are "tough" constitutional questions to decide as they have "very serious" ramifications for the polity.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
"A CBI probe is ongoing into transfers and postings of state police officers made during former home minister Anil Deshmukh's tenure. Then the next in line (to be probed) is the Director General of Police, who is the fulcrum, who is at the heart of the issue of transfers and postings. So having the former DGP head the investigation is like having Anil Deshmukh investigate it himself," the state's lawyer told the Bombay High Court.
Justice Sanjeev Narula said it would be in the interest of both -- the two Shiv Sena factions and the general public -- that the Election Commission's proceedings on the use of Shiv Sena's bow and arrow election symbol and name are concluded soon. It asked the poll panel to decide the issue as expeditiously as possible.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday won four seats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal retained the Mokama assembly seat in the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states.
Stating that some media reports were creating confusion in the minds of people, he said the government was easing the lockdown restrictions in phases to restart the economy. 'Some television news channels and social media platforms are speaking about lockdown being reimposed and closure of all shops. But the government has not taken any such decision,' Thackeray said in a statement.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's bypoll win in four of the six seats it contested has invigorated the party ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The Congress on Thursday secured a seat in the present Bengal assembly as its candidate Bayron Biswas won the Sagardighi bypoll, defeating the nearest rival of the Trinamool Congress by 22,980 votes.
Regional films may have prevailed over the country, but regional leaders still have far mountains to climb to reach Delhi, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
'In Maharashtra he didn't buckle under pressure.' 'We expect him to do the same as the CBI Director.'
'Uddhav has told the cops to crack down hard on the MNS agitation if MNS activists try to vitiate the communal harmony in the state.'
'The margin of victory or loss would make both camps rethink their strategies for the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra.'
'There was no fight between the Shiv Sena and her.' 'But if she is still targeting the Shiv Sena, then only she can talk about the reason behind it.'
'I came here to witness the historic message this oath-taking ceremony has sent to the nation and Maharashtra.'
'Shouldn't our investigation agencies be fiercely independent and conduct fair investigations, show some spine and say no to such witch hunting?' 'That they will not be cowed down by what the Centre wants them to do.'
Does Uddhav (and indeed the Sena) have the pizzazz and staying power to continue to be an actor in Maharashtra politics as a paler version of the NCP and an orange rather than saffron version of the BJP, asks Aditi Phadnis.
'Every man in the hot seat needs trusted cops to grind their axe with political opponents.' 'And that's what explains Waze's importance; him investigating the fake TRP scandal, his arrest of TV journalist Arnab Goswami, and heading the investigation into the Antilia bomb scare case.'
The new chief minister will be one of the most closely watched politicians in the country in these media-driven times.
The poet and professor's 'life breath is now in the hands of those sworn to uphold his Constitutional right to life.' 'Will they be true to their oath?', asks Jyoti Punwani.
'If you look at the deaths that are occurring across the state or country, I think out of these 25 not even one required ICU care. That's what we are proud of.'
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