Mumbai has not seen scenes like what it witnessed on Sunday when Balasaheb Thackeray's cortege made its way to Shivaji Park. Will Uddhav Thackeray, Balasaheb's political heir, use this huge surge of support to revive his party's electoral fortunes, wonders Abhishek Mande.
If the alliance is sealed, the MNS may be given one seat to contest from Mumbai, the Maharashtra capital where his cousin Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction enjoys some influence.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday did not attend the public meeting addressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra's Sangli district, where the latter also unveiled the statue of late Maharashtra minister Patangrao Kadam.
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Uddhav Thackeray and his followers have the option to stop riding a tiger and commence work around a more meaningful and enduring political ideology. It is an option Eknath Shinde's side may not have, supported as they were by the BJP, to maintain continuity of the old Sena, argues Shyam G Menon.
Shinde also said a party grows when leaders reach out to the grassroot worker rather than sitting at home.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut praised Rahul Gandhi saying there has been a substantial change in him over the last three years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was proud of the manner in which the multi-party delegations presented India's views in various countries on the need to eradicate the menace of terrorism following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
Keeping in mind the bitter backdrop in which the two Sena factions are likely to come face-to-face with each other on October 5, the Mumbai police, along with the Maharashtra administration, are leaving nothing to chance.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Chandrakant Khaire on Monday said the Congress cannot stake claim to the Aurangabad constituency in Maharashtra for the next Lok Sabha polls as Shiv Sena (undivided) had won this seat multiple times in the past.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead during a Facebook live by local social activist Mauris Noronha in Mumbai on Thursday, police said.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
Is a sulking Eknath Shinde on the way out as Shiv Sena chief?
Hundreds of party workers started assembling at Shiv Sena Bhavan as news of Shinde's rebellion broke in the morning, with the numbers swelling by the hour, most of them irate over the challenge thrown at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
'Crores of rupees have been spent on paper but nothing has actually happened on the ground.'
In an apparent snub to the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, the Shiv Sena has not invited its ally for its 50th anniversary celebrations on Sunday.
The Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday posted a video on X showing checking of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' bags, and said merely holding the Constitution for 'show' is not enough and one must also follow the constitutional system.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly.
Following a defeat in the Bihar elections, opposition parties in India are calling for introspection and course correction, with some criticizing the concentration of power within their ranks.
"The 40 MLAs betrayed Uddhav. How can they remain true to the people and the state?" Aaditya asked.
The GR says that shops and commercial establishments may remain open on all days of the week, provided that every employee is allowed a continuous rest period of at least 24 hours in a week.
The speaker had, in an order on January 10, declared the Shiv Sena bloc led by Shinde as the 'real political party' after its split in June 2022.
It will be the first major electoral contest in the state after Shinde's rebellion brought down the previous Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this year.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi tells Rediff.com's Savera R Someshwar he is shocked that the Marathi Manoos, for whom Balasaheb Thackeray did so much, are raising objections to a samadhi to the Shiv Sena patriarch at Mumbai's Shivaji Park.
Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents -- the Congress, the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar -- are still struggling to resolve internal differences over certain seats and fix an agreeable formula for the assembly polls even though the deadline for filing nominations is closing on October 29.
Leaders of 16 opposition parties demanded a special session of Parliament on Operation Sindoor in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties held a meeting on the issue in the national capital on Tuesday.
It will be the first assembly byelection after the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra in June, making it a litmus test of his faction's hold over the Sena's vote bank in Mumbai.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government while raising doubts on its longevity, saying that he has doubts in his mind about whether the Union government will survive after 2026 or not.
The government has moved to increase the strength of the joint committee of Parliament that will scrutinise the two bills proposing simultaneous elections from 31 MPs to 39, giving representation to more parties.
Satish Salian, the father of Disha Salian, former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh probe into her death in 2020. The petition alleges that Disha Salian was brutally raped and murdered and that there was a politically-orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons. The petition names Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and calls for the probe to be transferred to the CBI. The petition also claims that the Mumbai police hastily closed the case as a suicide or accidental death without considering forensic evidence. Salian's death occurred on June 8, 2020, after she fell from the 14th floor of a residential building. The city police had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case at the time. The case has drawn renewed attention after Rajput's death on June 14, 2020, which was also initially ruled a suicide but was later handed over to the CBI. The petition has sparked reactions from various political figures, with some calling for Thackeray to resign and face the investigation.
There is a growing unease among Lok Sabha ticket aspirants in the Shiv Sena amid its decision to drop three sitting MPs and the ongoing seat-sharing talks between the Mahayuti partners, party sources said.
On the video posted on X MNS members can be seen slapping the shopkeeper, warning him to not disrespect Marathi.
Shinde said MLAs are keen on continuing the Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray.
Even as the two parties appeared confident that they have reached out to every voter and publicised their new symbols, experts suggested varying impact of the split and the symbols on the vote bank.
Without naming the BJP, Raut said those who want to grab power can do so but the future will belong to Shiv Sena.
As news of Bal Thackeray's health turning critical emerged, Rediff.com's Abhishek Mande witnessed contrasting scenes outside Matoshree, the residence of the Shiv Sena chief, and the Shiv Sena Bhavan.
According to insiders, "talks are on" between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena at "an exploratory level".
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Monday said it will be easier for them to get permission for their annual Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai, after the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde got nod to hold a rally in the Bandra Kurla Complex.
I was lucky to be born to the family of Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav said.
He targeted the BJP, saying it gave the option to Opposition to either join them or go to jail.
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