The Congress questioned the Maharashtra governor for the "arbitrary" allotment of time to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove support for government formation.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, said his party was firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power sharing, including rotating CM's post for 2.5 years.
In the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
Modi and his corporate sector supporters have identified Maharashtra as a key state where the BJP-Shiv Sena can pick up more seats. In fact, it is estimated that if the Thackeray cousins join hands, the NDA partners can improve their tally from the present 23 seats by adding another eight to 10 Lok Sabha seats, reports Anita Katyal.
'We never looked at the Common Civil Code or the Ram Mandir from a narrow electoral outlook or treated them as electoral planks.'
Vikhe Patil, who was leader of opposition in the state assembly, resigned from the Congress recently.
Vidarbha region has gained notoriety for a high number of farmers' suicides and the multi-crore irrigation scam. Sanjay Jog reports
Any move of the present government to appease the Marathas may boomerang. Eknath Shinde is a worried man with the agitation not having an easy solution, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the party will welcome the support of anyone in national interest, even as most exit polls and its own predictions give a majority to the National Democratic Alliance led by it.
'Switching loyalty from one party to another is completely unfair as it devalues my vote.'
The Congress will only survive if it can transform into something more like the BJP used to be: A coalition of strong state leaders held together by shared ideology or personal loyalty, suggests Mihir S Sharma.
Gopinath Munde came up the hard way and never forgot his roots. Just when he seemed destined for bigger things, death snatched him away.
A bench of Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government on a petition filed by the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine against the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear in Fadnavis as chief minister.
In a show of strength, Bharatiya Janata Party bulldozed the opposition - the Nationalist Congress Party, Congress and estranged ally Shiv Sena -- to wrest power in the state.
It was not very easy to leave the family which I built for 20 years but then I got a very warm welcome from the Thackeray family.
The classic Marathi movie Simhasan would be an interesting watch today as it draws a parallels to the current political turmoil in Maharashtra.
Pawar, who at 30 became the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra in 1978, will have to do a lot of heavy-lifting in the Maharashtra assembly polls, due by October, after severe setbacks in the Lok Sabha polls, reports Sunil Gatade.
'The fact that she kept her faith in the power of doing good all through the thick and thin in her life, that she worked sincerely for the upliftment of the tribals, the downtrodden and the backwards, is one of the most inspirational aspects of her life.'
From an obscure corporator to becoming the youngest Mayor of Nagpur, to the first Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis' climb up the political ladder has been steady.
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
Pankaja Munde -- who lit the funeral pyre of her father Gopinath Munde on Wednesday at his ancestral village of Parli in Maharasthra along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party general secretary Amit Shah -- will lead the the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'
After it failed the crucial May 2014 'exams' without even getting 'passing marks', its that time again for the Congress as elections for the two state assemblies of Maharashtra and Haryana taking place on October 15. Renu Mittal reports
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
Going on the offensive, the Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday gave Congress a day to revert on the issue of seat-sharing for the October 15 assembly polls in Maharashtra, saying it will "wait a day longer".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hosted a high tea for all National Democratic Alliance members of Parliament -- the first such event after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance stormed to power in May -- and utilised the occasion to ask them to be a symbol of positive political entity.
There are limitations to milking national security, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
Javadekar, along with Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan, is among the few ministers who have party as well as ministerial responsibilities.
'At the end of the day, there will largely be a single candidate against the NDA's.' 'That itself will produce a different result altogether.'
Lok Sabha elections result of 2019 tells us the Modi wave has only consolidated, instead of waning.
N Suresh on the factors that led to the rout of the ruling alliance and what lies ahead for the BJP, Shiv Sena, MNS and AAP in the state.
In 2014, young Muslims became Owaisi fans. But five years of BJP rule and a weakening Opposition have drawn older Muslims too towards the AIMIM chief. Not enough, though.
While it took the Congress nearly a half century to earn the hatred of other political outfits, the BJP appears set to reach there in around six years, says Arun Bhatnagar, former secretary to the GoI.
'To them, the day may not be far off when the state BJP starts claiming and propagating that Modi is next only to AIADMK's late boss Jayalalithaa,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
This is the fifth time that Nitish will be the chief minister of Bihar and this will be his third consecutive term.
'We will certainly perform and take India to newer heights. We will really like to see India become a world power in every sense of the term and build a strong and robust economy that is capable of employment generation on a scale required for a country like India,' BJP ideologue Vinay Sahasrabuddhe tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
As investors try to second-guess the US Fed, corporate and election results could have a bearing on market direction
'Nationalism has been defined for us. It is what the BJP and Modi bhakts decide, not me, you or Salman Khan. If you don't agree with their view, you are a Pakistani agent and an anti-national. Period. No more argument. The discussion ends there.'
Maharashtra registered over 64 per cent voter turnout while a record 76 pc polling in Haryana, which witnessed stray incidents of violence, in the first eight hours of polling on Wednesday in the riveting contest to elect assemblies in the two states.
