Maytas was awarded the Rs 4.8 billion contract for commissioning of sub-stations, transmission and distribution lines in the Ahmadnagar, Beed and Latur districts in September last year. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said, "After the fraud committed by Raju came to light and the connection between Satyam and Maytas became evident, I have ordered Mahavitaran to cancel the contract and start bidding process afresh."
Accusing the chief minister of watering down the Cabinet decision taken on Wednesday to make local language clause mandatory for 4000 new taxi permits to be issued by the state, Thackaray said: "More than the welfare of the people Congress CMs are more concerned about what 'Madam' (Sonia Gandhi) would think. Our CM should do a part time job with CMs from southern states to practise how to know to remain steadfast in their decisions.'
Maharashtra's beleaguered Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Saturday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi after his name cropped up in a controversy surrounding the Adarsh housing society in Mumbai. Earlier, Sonia met Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, political secretary to the Congress president Ahmed Patel, All India Congress Committee general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi and Union minister Prithviraj Chavan over the issue.
Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in Mumbai on Saturday to lodge a formal protest over the attack on the offices of TV channel IBN-Lokmat. Sardesai will meet Chavan in his capacity as the president of the Editors Guild, along with several senior journalists, and discuss the issue with the chief minister. Journalists will also stage a demonstration at Hutatma Chowk at 1 pm on Saturday to condemn the attack, he said.
Going for status quo, the Congress named Ashok Chavan and Bhupinder Singh Hooda as leaders of its legislature parties in Maharashtra and Haryana, clearing the decks for their return as chief ministers even as Arunachal strongman Dorjee Khandu was on Sunday sworn in for a second consecutive term in the state's top post.
The Shiv Sena on Monday slammed diplomat Devyani Khobragade's father Uttam Khobragade, a former Indian Administrative Service officer, for calling Marathi media casteist after being confronted with a query about her flat in the controversial Adarsh housing society.
As far as calling names goes, campaigning for the October 13 Maharashtra Assembly elections seems to have reached a new low, with key players in state political arena calling rivals names, including those of animals.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said he was hopeful of speedy clearance to the Navi Mumbai airport project but Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh feared it would destroy large swathe of mangroves at the proposed site.
Describing the 'Marathi versus non-Marathi' issue as the narrow political agenda of a few politicians, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Monday said a placement agency owned by one such leader had recruited 150 non-Maharashtrians."Their party's public stand says something and the leaders act otherwise. I am not complaining," Chavan said without naming any party, during his reply to the motion of thanks to the governor.
Chavan's helplessness could be seen when he indirectly also appealed to the Sainiks by saying that such acts of 'threats and vandalism' were not in the interests of the state. In a bid to show that the state has not been a mute spectator, Chavan reeled out figures to say that more than a 1000 Sena activists have been booked and arrested for the violence and the state is stringently opposing their bail.
Chavan told television channel CNN-IBN that the state government would pull out all stops to ensure the film's release on February 12. "We have told them that we'll withdraw security of all those people who are involved in those activities. I have already withdrawn the security of all Shiv Sena leaders, and if required, I will also withdraw the security of Uddhav Thackeray," he said.
Shinde attended the state cabinet meeting earlier this week. He is the 13th state minister to be infected by the disease.
Leader of Opposition in the assembly Ajit Pawar (NCP) and fellow NCP leader Dilip Walse- Patil, who was home minister in the previous MVA government, too have been given 'Y-plus-escort' cover.
Chavan, along with Deputy Chief Minister Chagan Bhujbal, met the prime minister at his Parliament House office to discuss in detail the security scenario in Maharashtra.
"The copy given to me by the Opposition has no relation with the four copies we have. No photo copy of the original report went out," Chavan informed the Legislative Council, replying to the issue raised by the Opposition leaders.
Ashok Chavan was sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister at the head of 26-member Congress-Nationalist Congress Party ministry in Mumbai on Saturday evening, two weeks after the assembly elections results were declared.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Friday said the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine stands a good chance of returning to power after the October 13 assembly elections as the Opposition in the state was in a state of complete disarray. "We are going to people again on our performance. But, at the same time, we will also benefit because the opposition camp is in disarray," Chavan said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday said his ministerial colleague Sunil Deshmukh would face disciplinary action by the party if he contests against Rajendrasingh Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil, in the October 13 assembly elections.
While Narvekar represents Colaba assembly constituency in Mumbai, Salvi is the MLA from Rajapur segment in Ratnagiri district.
Completing a full term as chief minister of Maharashtra has always eluded the incumbent leader due to various reasons from controversies to factionalism in the ruling party.
Approximately 80 leaders from more than 26 political parties are expected to attend the third meeting of the INDIA alliance in the country's financial capital, they said.
Maharashtra's special security force of commandos, created to combat terror attacks, is expected to be ready in the next 60 days, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said on Monday. The Force one, to be drawn from the state police, is expected to be on the lines of the elite National Security Guards and will be equipped with sophisticated weapons to tackle terror attacks like the recent Mumbai terror strikes.
When citizens realise that things won't change, the lose faith in the system. That is the most dangerous thing to happen to a country, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
"Sharad Pawar's presence has extraordinary importance when a new battle for freedom is going on in the country to save the Constitution and democracy, and in such a situation, Pawar should not step aside," he said.
Francis Gomes, accused of confining his wife and two daughters for seven years at their house in Mumbai's suburban Vasai, has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, demanding that he be allowed to meet his family. Gomes, who is suffering from schizophrenia, has written a ten-page letter to Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, requesting that he should be reunited with his wife and daughters.
The central government has approved the Maharashtra government's proposal of importing modern arms worth Rs 125 crore, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said. Chavan said on Sunday night that he has also received a letter from Union Home Minister giving instructions on various security issues. According to the instructions a high level home department meeting was held, he said.
The countdown has begun for the inauguration of the much awaited Bandra Worli sea link -- an ambitious, eight lane, twin carriageway -- built over the Mahim creek of the Arabian Sea.
Preliminary information suggests that this "seems to be some sort of a blast," Chavan said. Forensic experts have reached the spot, he said. The Pune police commissioner has said that till the entire place is searched, it won't be all right to comment, he added
Congress leaders A R Antulay, Vasantdada Patil, Shivajirao Nilangekar-Patil, Shankarrao Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan are among the leaders who were not members of any of the state legislature Houses when they occupied the top post.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's recent attempts to fashion himself as an anti-corruption crusader were blown apart on Wednesday.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's recent attempts to fashion himself as an anti-corruption crusader were blown apart on Wednesday.
With about 1,000 acres of land already identified on the outskirts of the city, work on setting up the regional centre of National Security Guards in Mumbai will start in two to three months, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said."The work on setting up the regional centre of NSG would begin in two to three months as about 1,000 acres of land on the outskirts of the city has already been identified," Chavan said. The State Security Guards would also be set up in three months.
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Assembly seats in which the victory margin was less than 1.5 per cent in the 2009 elections.
The condition of Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, undergoing treatment for serious liver ailment at a hospital in Chennai, was stated to be stable on Friday.
Congress candidate Ashok Chavan, BJP's Gopinath Munde, NCP's Padmasinh Patil and All India Youth Congress chief Rajeev Satav cash in on their charisma and image. Sanjay Jog
The Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute dominated political space in New Delhi on Saturday with Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa pledging not to compromise on the security of the "linguistic minority" of the Marathi-speaking people in Belgaum region even as Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan led a Congress delegation to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister to complain about repression and police atrocities to these people in the disputed areas.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's announcement -- that his government may grant second capital status to Belgaum -- has evoked sharp reactions from political parties in Maharashtra. Maharashtra has been demanding that Marathi speaking areas of Karnataka, including Belgaum, be merged with the state. Leaders of Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP flayed the statement. Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan said Yeddyurappa had spoken out of turn.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya on Saturday released documents obtained under the Right To Information Act which contradict the claims of politicians that the land on which Adarsh cooperative housing society was built was never intended for defence personnel. Congress Member of Legislative Council Kanhaiyalal Gidwani and former chief minister Ashok Chavan had previously refuted the allegations of any irregularity in the development of the plot.
