'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
Indicating a shift in stand, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said his party is open to consider quitting Maharashtra's ruling alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) if the rebel MLAs camping in Assam return and discuss their grievances with CM Uddhav Thackeray, while coalition allies Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress vowed support to the beleaguered governing bloc and asserted its majority can only be determined in the assembly and not outside.
NCP spokesperson and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said that AICC general secretary H K Patil was told about this scheduled meeting when he and other Congress leaders met Pawar in Mumbai recently.
A faction of Congress believes that that decision of the NCP benefitted the BJP which won 122 seats and staked a claim for power.
The chief minister, accompanied by his wife and sons Aaditya Thackeray and Tejas Thackeray, visited the Shiv Sena founder's 'smritisthal' (makeshift memorial) at the Shivaji Park in Dadar area in Mumbai.
Activists and leaders of the opposition -- Congress and Nationalist Congress Party on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's order restraining authorities from cutting anymore trees in Aarey Colony in Mumbai to make way for a Metro car shed.
His son Sunil lighted the pyre and a police contingent gave the departed leader a gun salute.
The Group has decided to withdraw the Rs 5,000-crore civil defamation suits against Congress leaders and National Herald newspaper over their statements and an article on the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal.
As his one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew intense interest in political circles, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said there was nothing wrong in having such interaction, adding snarkily that he had not gone to meet Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif.
Munde, a Nationalist Congress Party leader, had attended a state cabinet meeting earlier this week and taken part in the Nationalist Congress Party's foundation day event two days ago in Mumbai.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party's attempt to form a government with his nephew and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar had one benefit, as it ended President's rule in Maharashtra in 2019.
The 36 new ministers included 10 cabinet and four ministers of state (MoS) of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of the Sena, and eight Cabinet and two MoS of the Congress.
Union Minister Milind Deora on Tuesday disagreed with Maharashtra government's rejection of the judicial commission of inquiry report on Adarsh Housing scam which indicted several politicians including three former chief ministers for "blatant violations".
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the All India Congress Committee president's election.
'How can we tolerate if a Constitutionally-appointed governor acts in violation of the Constitution?'
Thackeray and Pawar held parleys at a suburban hotel ahead of the 7.30 pm deadline set by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for the Sena to stake claim for government formation.
He had uploaded a video on social media in which he demanded that the Maharashtra government make travel arrangements for migrants, who are stranded due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown and want to go back to their native places.
The Election Commission on Tuesday deliberated on holding the assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir before or after Dussera.
Addressing the Sena workers in Mumbai for the second consecutive day, he also said that doors of the state and party are closed for the rebels MLAs.
"We want to see Aaditya Thackeray as the next chief minister. But Uddhav ji will take the final decision," said Pratap Sarnaik, MLA from neighbouring Thane city.
Here's how the heavyweights are faring.
Maharashtra and Haryana voted in assembly elections on Monday. Several prominent personalities also exercised their franchise.
'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.'
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday began a 15-km day-long padyatra in Amravati district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, during which he is meeting the families of farmers who committed suicide.
The Congress has a feeling that the state leadership is being left out.
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
The Congress on Friday termed the National Investigation Agecy's decision to drop all charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was a vindication of the disclosure made by former special public prosecutor.
As Mumbai almost came to a halt after overnight rains, netizens and Mumbaikars took a dig at the Shiv Sena for the plight of their beloved city.
Seeking to blunt Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to 'appropriate' legacy of Ambedkar, Sonia said, "Congress had given Dr Ambedkar his dues by appointing him as chairman of the Draft Committee of Constitution."
Senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
NCP MLA Anil Patil has expressed faith in the leadership of Sharad Pawar, indicating his return to the party fold.
Thackeray held talks with Thorat, former state chief minister Ashok Chavan and senior Congress leader Manikrao Thakare at a suburban hotel.
Aaditya claimed that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari refused to grant more time to the Sena to muster numbers.
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.
Though Sena is part of the ruling BJP-led coalition in Maharashtra and at th centre, it has been critical of its ally on a number of issues.
Faced with a dilemma over handing tickets to leaders facing allegations of corruption, Congress on Wednesday gave indications that while former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal could be re-nominated from Chandigarh, Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi may not be fielded in the upcoming polls.
NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leaders and former chief ministers Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj and former speakers Dilip Walse Patil (NCP) and Haribhau Bagade of the Bharatiya Janata Party were among the members to take oath early.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also decided to convene a 'Chintan Shivir', a brainstorming session from May 13-15 in Udaipur.
Biju Janata Dal termed the Budget, which was presented in Parliament by Rail Minister Sadananda Gowda, 'quite shocking' and 'illogical' as it complained that no emphasis had been made in it for the areas that generated more revenue from freight.
A NCP source said his party is claiming Aurangabad, Pune, Yavatmal from the Congress quota since it was "better placed to win".
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