Shiv Sena and NCP form an alliance with an independent member to stake claim to rule the Ambernath Municipal Council, keeping the BJP away from power.
The Rajya Sabha elections saw several candidates elected unopposed, including Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, while Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana prepare for contested elections.
Activist Anjali Damania used AI to analyse call data records of a self-styled godman, claiming potential links to political figures and unusual financial activity.
The press conference of the Mahayuti allies in Mumbai after they staked claim to form government in Maharashtra witnessed some banter thanks to Ajit Pawar, a 'veteran' deputy chief minister.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said future decisions on COVID-19 SOPs will be taken in consultation with the Union Health Ministry and the state Task Force, amid a difference between the Centre and the state over guidelines for international travellers in the wake of the new variant of SARS-CoV2.
The Maratha community should get reservation, but it should be done without disturbing the existing quota of other communities, the senior Nationalist Congress Party leader said.
The BJP and Shiv Sena are leading in the early trends of the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls in Maharashtra. Counting began on Monday morning for elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are set to be a defining moment for several regional heavyweights, including Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, and deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The two Pawars, Shinde, and Thackeray are engaged in a fierce battle for political dominance, with the outcome potentially deciding the fate of their respective parties. The BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the opposition alliance, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and the NCP (SP) 86. The election is also marked by intense factional fights, with the two claimants of Shiv Sena's legacy competing in over 50 seats and the two Pawars facing each other in nearly 37 constituencies.
He furnished an undertaking before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan pursuant to a March 14 order by the apex court.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday resigned following allegations of an irrigation scam when he was state's water resource minister and said he was prepared for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday dared Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar to intimidate his party without the help of the state apparatus, saying stones can come from "our side" too in an escalating war of words between the two leaders from Maharashtra.
Taking potshots at his cousins and family members who are currently opposing him and siding with Sharad Pawar, the deputy CM said in none of his elections his cousins campaigned for him.
"Ajit's brother Shriniwas was asked to maintain dialogue with him....My wife Pratibha and Ajit share a strong bond. Pratibha never gets into political developments, but Ajit's case was related to the family," Pawar said in his book.
He also said the party workers and citizens need not worry about his health and that he will be back among all after a brief period of rest.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was on Friday re-inducted as Maharashtra deputy chief minister after a government white paper on irrigation gave him a clean chit even as the Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party boycotted his swearing-in ceremony, terming his comeback as a "farce."
Maharashtra's former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and top Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal could be in for trouble after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave a go ahead for probe against them in an alleged corruption case.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar head Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday separately visited the memorial of the state's first chief minister Y B Chavan in Karad and paid tributes to him on his death anniversary.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also triumphed in Pune, where it made mincemeat of the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar.
He also said that it had been decided to give the houses to the MLAs at a certain price and not free of cost.
Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate was stripped of his portfolios after being convicted in a 1995 cheating and forgery case. His ministries have been reassigned to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Kokate has been admitted to Lilavati Hospital after complaining of chest pain.
Such meetings are routine, the former state home minister added.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has assured the public that the government's flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, will continue. This scheme, which is believed to have been a significant factor in the ruling Mahayuti's victory in the state polls last year, provides women with Rs 1,500 every month. Pawar, who is also the state's finance minister, clarified that there is no question of scrapping the scheme and that budgetary allocation has been made for its implementation. Earlier, state Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare also clarified that there has been no change in the amount of assistance provided under the scheme. The only adjustment made is that women already receiving Rs 1,000 under another scheme are being paid the difference of Rs 500, ensuring that they receive the full Rs 1,500. Tatkare addressed media reports claiming the aid under the scheme had been reduced, stating that this was not the case and that no eligible woman had been excluded from the scheme.
The Congress party has announced its support for Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra.
The Leader of Opposition in the assembly also told an interviewer that he will "100 per cent" like to be chief minister of Maharashtra.
"We cut short the Assembly session recently. So far, over 10 ministers and over 20 MLAs have tested positive for coronavirus. Everybody wants to be part of the celebrations of New Year, birthdays and other occasions. Keep in mind that the new variant (Omicron) spreads fast and hence caution is needed," he said.
Ajit Pawar was seen as an heir-apparent in the NCP, but his dalliances with the Bharatiya Janata Party, including an early morning swearing-in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2019, had not been received well by the party.
'We have given riot-free Maharashtra in our 18-month rule.'
He expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, NCP (Sharad Pawar group) and Congress will come to power in Maharashtra after the 2024 elections.
Hours after asserting that there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is its leader, party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday claimed that he did not make any such statement.
By resigning, the former deputy CM has struck pre-emptively against Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and used the opportunity to demonstrate that it is he who calls the shots in the state unit of the Nationalist Congress Party, says Neerja Chowdhury.
In an apparent dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said that at times those at the helm should see beyond their own "image" and not hesitate in "bypassing" rules in the interest of the common man.
"However, some members were ready to face the inquiry. (Ex-home minister) Anil Deshmukh was in jail for 14 months. Even Deshmukh was asked to change his role (loyalty) but he stood firm on his decision (to not quit NCP)," Pawar said.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who had resigned from the Cabinet in September following charges of corruption in irrigation projects, is set to make a comeback on Friday as Maharashtra deputy chief minister.
Surrounded by party workers, including 32 of Nationalist Congress Party's 53 MLAs, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday reminded his 83-year-old uncle Sharad Pawar that it was time for him to retire.
Only 19 out of 41 ministers in the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra have vacated their official bungalows so far, whereas names of NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane figure in the list of squatters, an RTI query has revealed.
Hitting back at Patole, senior NCP leader Pawar wondered whether the Bharatiya Janata Party, too, should accuse the former of backstabbing it as he had quit the saffron party to join the Congress in 2018.
Ajit Pawar's decision to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party in an act of overnight rebellion bears a striking resemblance to his uncle Sharad Pawar's coup against a government formed by two Congress factions to become the state's youngest chief minister 41 years ago.
While the deputy CM led a massive nomination rally and waved to the crowds from an open vehicle, the process for Yugendra Pawar was low-key, with just NCP-SP supremo Sharad Pawar and Baramati MP Supriya Sule for company apart from a few supporters.
Two men allegedly threatened a judge in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, after being sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder conviction. Security for the judge has been enhanced following the threat.
