A day after the high decibel campaign for Maharashtra assembly polls ended, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on its former ally the Bharatiya Janata Party, deeming it as "hungry for power" even as it likened the Congress party and the Nationalist Congress Party to "dead snakes".
The impasse over government formation continued in Maharashtra on Friday, eight days after the state assembly poll results were announced, even as the Congress targeted the BJP for "cheating" the Sena.
Counting of votes in the Maharashtra assembly elections will begin at 8 am on Saturday, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which is seeking to make a comeback.
Days after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party levelled allegations of corruption against some leaders of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party should not be threatened with the use of central agencies and claimed that "three and a half" leaders of BJP will be behind bars in the next few days.
The ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra has garnered 37.38 per cent of the total votes polled in the just concluded assembly polls.
Kande, in his petition filed through advocate Ajinkya Udane, said the ECI's decision discharging his vote has caused grave prejudice to his dignity and reputation, and sought that the HC quash and set aside the ECI's decision.
The priority now is to work out a comprehensive plan for government formation.
Congress's Mumbai unit president Sanjay Nirupam also told reporters that the party was planning to hold discussions with like-minded parties for a common candidate in mayor's election.
"The arrogance of buying any politician and form a government will no longer work in this state. The bubble of being invincible has burst," Raut said.
Replying to an Opposition sponsored debate on various issues facing the state on the last day of the monsoon session, the chief minister said he has been often described as a "contract CM" by his opponents.
"(Someone said) I have promised that I will make a Shiv Sena worker chief minister but then he himself became CM," Shinde said, taking a jibe at Uddhav Thackeray.
In the wake of nine Nationalist Congress Party leaders, including Ajit Pawar, joining the Eknath Shinde government, party chief Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting on July 5 in Mumbai to discuss the developments and the future course of action, its state unit chief Jayant Patil said on Sunday.
But if the reports are found to be wrong, those who made these allegations against him should quit politics, he challenged the leaders from the Opposition parties, as he alleged that efforts were on to defame him.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Amol Mitkari said, "It could be a family meeting between the two leaders".
Virtually conceding the defeat, Fadnavis stated they will introspect and recover the loss in the upcoming assembly elections.
The deputy chief minister called for the "strictest of strict" action against perpetrators of such crimes.
The joint statement was issued by senior leaders of 13 opposition parties, including interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi, the Nationalist Congress Party patriarch Sharad Pawar, and the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The strains are telling as old friends and new enemies face each other in the battlefield.
The Pune police registered a case against Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party social media coordinator Jiten Gajaria for allegedly posting objectionable comments on Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's wife and some other political leaders, an official said on Friday.
The two parties have agreed to contest 26 and 22 seats respectively.
'The NCP fires the gun from Raut's shoulders and who does the bullet hit? Not enemies of our party but loyalists like us. This is not acceptable to us'
This came after Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday stated that Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had tasked him to lead a delegation to present Pakistan's case on the recent escalations of tensions between the two nations.
Contesting the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls for the first time, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena emerged triumphant, getting 26 seats in the 107-member House which saw a fractured verdict
Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has claimed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had come to his residence and cried that he will be arrested by a central agency if he did not switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before revolting against the Sena leadership.
Interestingly, among all the six former CMs, only Fadnavis, the first BJP leader to hold the top post in the state, completed full five-year term.
Praful Patel said all the MLAs of the NCP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena voted as per the party line.
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.
Within two or three days, a Congress team would discuss seat sharing arrangements with the NCP. The task is to be finished by the end of August.
In a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi-backed candidates clinched two of the five legislative council seats which were up for grabs in biennial elections from teachers and graduates segments, and appeared poised to bag a third seat also.
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
Amid the political crisis in Maharashtra, the Congress on Thursday said it does not want to interfere in Shiv Sena's 'internal matter" but asserted confidence in Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Shinde, participating in a discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, took a jibe at the opposition coalition Indian National Develomental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) describing it as a 'destructive alliance' and said the next elections will be fought on the issue of scams of the United Progressive Alliance and schemes of the National Democratic Alliance.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said talks are on with "like-minded parties' to jointly oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in next month's assembly elections in the coastal state.
A close aide of the former chief minister said he was busy holding meetings at his residence ahead of the two-day special session of the Maharashtra legislature from July 3.
On a campaign trail in western Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi derided each other, with the Maharashtra strongman describing the saffron campaigner as the 'frontline leader of communal forces' in the country. Modi hit back, saying Pawar has been hoodwinked by the Congress on the issue of prime ministership.Pawar failed to understand the Congress' strategy to keep him out of the race, said Modi.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray will not switch to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Jayant Patil asserted on Thursday, seeking to scotch speculation about a possible crossover by his key ally.
Raut also said that his party will talk to the Bharatiya Janata Party only on the issue of the chief minister's post.
Dismissing speculation that he was about to be replaced as chief minister, Shinde said these were baseless rumours which cause him no "tension", and the "higher ups" will take appropriate decision.
In the Saamana, the party went on to state that whatever has happened is a "conspiracy to downgrade the Shiv Sena."
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances