Addressing a press conference in Pune, Pawar also responded to a query on Thursday's meeting between industrialist Gautam Adani and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, saying the two know each other and there is nothing wrong if two such persons meet.
The prime minister, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and BJP president J P Nadda also visited Advani's residence to greet him.
Raje however, said that "Gehlot's 'praises' is a big conspiracy" against her.
A dedicated party worker, who made his way up in the state politics from the municipality level, Patel was a surprise choice for the top post when the BJP decided to effect a regime change, replacing the entire ministry a year before the elections.
The Congress and a host of its leaders on Wednesday changed their social media display pictures to an image of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru holding the national flag.
"I will always strive to enhance democratic values of country," Dhankhar said after filing his nomination.
The BJP held a meet amid hints that the central leadership may bring in new faces at key positions in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Thursday met leaders of the party's allies in Uttar Pradesh -- Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal-S and Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad party -- at his residence in New Delhi as part of its government formation exercise.
Without naming Uddhav Thackeray, Shah, who was speaking at the launch of Marathi version of the booked 'Modi@20', also reiterated there was no agreement on sharing the chief minister's post in the run up to the 2019 assembly polls.
Modi said at a time when people are about to vote for the future of the state, "I want to offer you gratitude for your blessings and affections."
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to install a "so-called Shiv Sainik" as Maharashtra chief minister when it did not keep its 2019 promise of rotating the top post, and slammed the new government's move to relocate a Mumbai Metro car shed to green belt of Aarey Colony, reversing a key decision of the previous regime.
Sources said the BJP is expecting Sena rebels, who include 39 MLAs and have been joined by at least 10 independents in a Guwahati hotel, to make the first move by approaching Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Modi claimed teh LJP wanted more seats than what the Bharatiya Janata Party was willing to give.
Days after Jayant Chaudhary's terse 'not a coin, won't flip' response to the BJP's apparent attempt to woo him, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Rashtriya Lok Dal chief was a 'kid with little knowledge of history'.
The farmer leader said that the government's attitude in considering farmers' demands has been "positive" lately and hinted towards a positive decision in connection with the fate of the farmers' movement.
'Conrad Sangma is an interesting mix of charisma, ability and has emerged as a capable leader.' 'Neiphiu Rio is very unassuming, quiet, subtle and stands out among all Naga leaders today.'
Patel's elevation to the coveted post is being attributed to his closeness to former Gujarat chief minister and current Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel. Both have residences in the same locality in the city.
However, the RLD leader gave a terse response. 'Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me,' he tweeted in Hindi.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, and is also likely to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda during his two-day visit, sources said.
The BJP and TRS took digs at each other over the celebrations marking the annexing of the erstwhile Nizam-ruled Hyderabad state to the Union of India, with the former slamming vote bank politics behind the lack of official commemoration so far while the ruling party warned against communal forces trying to divide the society.
The Centre has decided not to give a go-ahead to the Par-Tapi-Narmada river link project following strong protests against it by tribals, Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party president C R Paatil said on Tuesday.
Labour union leader Shrirang Barge said the state government would have known Dharmadhikari has a massive following and that the event would have attracted several lakh people, so why were arrangements for water, shade etc, missing.
The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.
It was a high-stakes three-cornered fight between the BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level and asked officials to maintain coordination regarding this with the states, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the number of COVID-19 doses available in the state is insufficient to carry on vaccination and due to this, inoculation will have to be stopped in many districts on Saturday.
Celebrations broke out outside the Rajasthan BJP headquarters in Jaipur and the party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets as Murmu emerged victorious in the presidential poll.
Earlier, there were speculations that the party may nominate Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, for the MLC polls, to be held on June 20.
In his address at the 28th foundation day of the NHRC in New Delhi, the former judge also underlined that 'external forces' levelling 'false' allegations of human rights violations against India has become very common, 'which should be opposed'.
The action came after Amit Shah accused Teesta of giving baseless information to the police about the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Though largely seen as an official visit, with less than a year for elections, Shah during this trip is likely to meet senior party leaders including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran leader B S Yediyurappa among others
In a stunning electoral victory, the ruling Communist Party if India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), rode back to power in Kerala winning 99 of the 140 seats, bucking the over four decade long trend of Communists and Congress-led United Democratic Front coming to power alternatively.
Mange Ram Garg died around 7.30 am at Action Balaji Hospital in Paschim Vihar, north Delhi. He was not keeping much well due to age-related issues.
Patel has never held a ministerial post, just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was never a minister when he became Gujarat CM 20 years ago.
Denials poured in on change in the leadership in Karnataka, amid buzz over such a move by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command ahead of the assembly polls next year, as Union Minister Amit Shah was on a day-long visit to take part in various events in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
A top BJP leader said the exit poll results "did not give a correct representative picture" of the voting. "The voting continued two hours beyond the stipulated time of 6 pm while the exit poll results started coming just after that. So, how can it be representative?" he asked.
TMC sources said their leaders Derek O' Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay are unlikely to attend the interaction.
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
The pleas have also raised the issue of Election Commission's power on issuance of separate notifications for holding by-polls for casual and regular vacancies in Rajya Sabha.
Joining hands with smaller parties with a political base in different castes was a part of the BJP strategy as it won big in Uttar Pradesh in the 2017 assembly polls and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.