Interestingly, Kanal's crossover to Sena came on a day Aaditya Thackeray led a morcha against alleged scams and corruption in the Mumbai civic body.
'Eknath Shinde's credibility will not grow beyond Thane, Uddhav's credibility will rise across Maharashtra and perhaps in the rest of the country'
Maharashtra heads to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, with Mumbai's BMC election taking center stage as the BJP-led Mahayuti faces off against the Thackeray front. Key issues include promises for women, pollution control, and the city's financial health.
Chandrakant Patil also took a swipe at Uddhav for accusing Eknath Shinde of stealing the legacy of Bal Thackeray.
With Narayan Rane, the BJP looks to expand its footprint in Mumbai and Konkan. But a perceived self-goal by him may have galvanised the restive Shiv Sena cadre and voters to coalesce around their party. Dhaval Kulkarni reports
Azmi has slammed the Maharashtra government for atrocities against minorities.
Eknath Sambhaji Shinde, who on Thursday became the 20th chief minister of Maharashtra, once drove an auto-rickshaw to earn a living before rising as a formidable Shiv Sena leader.
We want to make a non-BJP political front in this country, Raut said.
Pangarkar had contested as an Independent candidate from electoral ward No. 13. He defeated his nearest rival, Raosaheb Dhoble of the BJP.
Somaiya had on Sunday claimed he was barred from entering Kolhapur with the district authorities citing law and order as well as security concerns following his allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif.
An irate woman confronted Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan during a BJP demonstration in Mumbai, blaming him for the traffic chaos caused by the protest over the women's reservation bill. The incident, captured on video, has sparked criticism of the BJP's protest tactics.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are expected to announce an alliance for the upcoming Mumbai civic elections. The announcement is expected to be made at a press conference on Wednesday.
The advertisement carries Sena's bow-and-arrow symbol and images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Shinde. It has no image or photo of Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray, a noticeable departure going by its earlier publicity materials.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT) are struggling to finalize seat sharing arrangements for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, particularly in areas where both parties have strong local influence.
The Shiv Sena-UBT is openly questioning the Congress party's leadership within the INDIA bloc.
The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Thursday said the state cabinet's expansion and allocation of portfolios are most likely to happen on July 14, but the rival faction of the party said it doubts the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde-led camp would be accommodated in the new ministry.
The rebel Shiv Sena group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party will contest the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections in alliance, a rebel faction functionary said on Thursday.
The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls scheduled for January 15, even as the Opposition parties alleged the ruling combine used threats and money to force candidates to withdraw from the fray.
While the Shinde-led Shiv Sena will organise its event at NESCO ground in Goregaon in northwest Mumbai, the Shiv Sena-UBT will hold its event in Shanmukhanand Hall at Sion in central Mumbai.
Bollywood actor and former Congress Lok Sabha MP Govinda on Thursday joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.
Shinde welcomed the former Rajasthan minister to the Shiv Sena and said Gudha left the ministerial position for the cause of people.
While the BJP and Shiv Sena have announced a seat-sharing pact, another constituent of Mahayuti, the NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls separately.
Courts cannot be the only hope for those fighting hate speech. Countering its effects on the ground takes more effort. With our political parties unwilling to put in that amount of effort, it's left to citizens to do so, points out Jyoti Punwani.
The Congress party has suspended 12 newly-elected councillors in Maharashtra's Ambernath Municipal Council and its block president for forming an alliance with the BJP after recent civic polls. The BJP, along with the Congress and NCP, secured a majority in the council, despite Shiv Sena being the single largest party.
Both the Shiv Senas - one of Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde and the other of Uddhav Thackeray - marked their foundation day on Monday, with attack on each other.
'The Shiv Sena as a party was going nowhere.' 'Now Uddhav Thackeray has shown his partymen that he can take the BJP head on.'
NCP chief Sharad Pawar also ruled out any alliance with the Sena.
Two members of the Pawar family, Sharad Pawar and his grandnephew Parth, are contesting Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra, marking a potential first where both serve simultaneously in Parliament.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party is falling short of a majority in the municipal corporations of Sangli and Akola in Maharashtra and needs the support of other parties or elected members, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar has emerged as one of the decisive factors with three seats in its kitty in each civic body.
Shiv Sena is confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won't join hands with a "Naturally Corrupt Party". Prasanna D Zore reports
'I don't think there will be many problems after the assembly election results.'
After former Shiv Sena MP Pradeep Jaiswal, ex-MLA of BJP from Latur, Shivaji Patil Kavekar, has resigned from the party with his supporters. Similar revolts had been reported from Nanded, Beed and Hingoli districts also.
Large hoardings praising Fadnavis' leadership appeared across the city, reflecting a celebratory mood within the BJP camp following its strong performance in the country's richest civic body.
The central government, in its typical sledgehammer style, has unleashed the might of its investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate against NCP and Shiv Sena leaders.
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra appeared before the Maharashtra legislative council's privileges committee regarding alleged remarks against Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The hearing was rescheduled to March 10 due to the absence of the main complainant.
The tactical alliance between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may not have aided the Thackeray cousins to win the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but the pact helped them keep intact their traditional strongholds.
The strategic move will also bolster the BJP's push to decimate Uddhav Thakceray-led party by depriving it of its pet Hindutva and ethnic sub-nationalism plank.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction on Tuesday claimed the Bharatiya Jantea Party candidate Murji Patel withdrew from the Andheri East Assembly bypoll contest after realising that his defeat was imminent.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has accused the BJP leadership of being the mastermind behind Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, alleging that certain NCP leaders also desire to prevent the unification of the two NCP factions.
'We formed the government without the Shiv Sena and it will remain stable.'