Racing against time to become a member of the Maharashtra legislature, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has decided to contest the state legislative council elections.
'Though no formal decision on a lockdown has arrived at the all-party meeting, the chief minister appears to be in favour of a strict lockdown'
After a revolt in the Shiv Sena, party president Uddhav Thackeray was ready to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra if the dissidents dumped rebel leader Eknath Shinde, a proposal that was unacceptable to rebel MLAs and the national saffron outfit, legislator Deepak Kesarkar claimed on Friday.
Two passengers travelling on the same United States-bound Air India aircraft from Mumbai as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have come out in his support, saying he did not delay the flight even as he has threatened legal action once he returns to India.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was given the finance and planning portfolio on Friday, nearly two weeks after he broke away from the original party and took oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister.
Maharashtra Chief Minster Ashok Chavan on Thursday condemned Uddhav and Raj Thackeray for 'touching a new low' in politics with their comments on All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi. "Nowhere in Indian politics has such a low level of personal allegations been witnessed. I condemn their (Uddhav and Raj Thackeray) utterances," said Chavan.
Under attack from his own party members, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi but parried questions on leadership change over issues like "non-performance". After meeting Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chavan told reporters, "I cannot comment on what they feel. I cannot comment on (the fate of) party leadership or government leadership in the state".
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, under attack from ally Nationalist Congress Party, on Saturday cancelled his visit to Delhi.
Chavan's meeting with Gandhi came a day after the conclusion of the budget session of the state legislature and close on the heels of reports that the Congress high command has told him to quickly get his act together or else it would be forced to look for a replacement.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
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 farmer, at whom Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had poked fun with crass remarks for his hunger strike over water scarcity, on Tuesday tried to barge into the official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in Mumbai but was prevented by the police.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday told the Maharashtra assembly that he, as Union Minister of State for Personnel and Training, was unaware of any negative vigilance report or pending criminal case against P J Thomas before the latter's appointment as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
Despite United Progressive Alliance ally Nationalist Congress Party targetting him, the Congress on Saturday ruled out removal of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Nationalist Congress Party leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar tells Sanjay Jog the allegation of corruption against his party is a political conspiracy. Edited excerpts:
Eighteen patients have died in the last 24 hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane, civic commissioner Abhijit Bangar said on Sunday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday urged the non-Bharatiya Janata Party entities to unite and defeat in the Rajya Sabha the bill related to the Centre's ordinance on control of services in the national capital.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the violence in Mumbai following protests against Assam riots. Chavan met the prime minister at his office in Parliament to explain the steps taken by his government to control the violence that broke out in Mumbai after a rally on Saturday to protest the killings of Muslims in Assam.
'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.'
When India kicks off its World Cup campaign with a match against Bangladesh later on Saturday, Prithviraj Chavan will complete 100 days as the chief minister of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has said that searching for tourists/pilgrims at various shrines in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand was one of the most complex jobs ever undertaken by his team.
Describing the 'Marathi versus non-Marathi' issue as the narrow political agenda of a few politicians, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Monday said a placement agency owned by one such leader had recruited 150 non-Maharashtrians."Their party's public stand says something and the leaders act otherwise. I am not complaining," Chavan said without naming any party, during his reply to the motion of thanks to the governor.
Chavan told television channel CNN-IBN that the state government would pull out all stops to ensure the film's release on February 12. "We have told them that we'll withdraw security of all those people who are involved in those activities. I have already withdrawn the security of all Shiv Sena leaders, and if required, I will also withdraw the security of Uddhav Thackeray," he said.
With anger against Maharashtra sweeping across Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has cancelled his visit to Sri Satya Sai Baba's Ashram in Puttaparthi slated for Wednesday.
Slamming Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for asking the Centre to give green nod to the first phase of the controversial Lavasa project, Anna Hazare has accused him of violating his oath of office.
Now, the 65-year-old leader completes a year in office. It's another matter, which he has yet to settle several administrative and political problems.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday called on Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, who underwent an angioplasty procedure on Friday.
"Come to India, invest in India and let India emerge as a stronger nation," was Chavan's message to all the overseas Indians who attended the chief ministers' conclave on the concluding day of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2010. Chavan's statement was well received by all overseas Indians present at the venue.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan visited late additional collector Yashwant Sonawane's family to offer his condolences.Talking to reporters after meeting the family, Sonawane said, "We have arrested the accused in this case and the investigations are going on. This cannot happen in Maharashtra, we will stop this." Chavan had earlier announced a compensation of Rs.25 lakh for the Sonawane family.
Ruling out any sabotage angle in the June 21 Mantralaya inferno, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan lashed out at the Opposition for fuelling such speculations.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan on Monday sought powers of requisitioning aircraft in case of emergency situations for its anti-terror "Force One" created in the aftermath of 26/11 attacks.
Conceding defeat of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Mumbai civic body polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said the result was "surprising."
The deputy chief minister's post may go to Ajit Pawar, sources said.
Equating the Congress party to Moghul kings who have invaded Maharashtra, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Friday heaped scorn on Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, calling him "inept". In a strong-worded editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray ridiculed Chavan, who has been claiming that the Sena will become "inconsequential" after the Mumbai civic polls on February 16.
Apart from leopards, a wide range of species of flora and fauna is found in the Aarey forest, an 1,800 acre area termed as the city's 'green lung', located in suburban Goregaon and adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Reacting to Patole's suggestion that he was under watch, the NCP, which handles the home department, on Monday said his claim was based on incomplete information, while the Shiv Sena asserted that all was well in the ruling alliance.
After threatening to withdraw Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's security, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said the Sena- Shah Rukh Khan controversy should be resolved by 'mutual understanding'. On reports that the advance booking for 'My Name is Khan' is being closed my multiplex owners apparently due to Sena threats, Chavan said the police are taking care of their security concerns.
Chavan's helplessness could be seen when he indirectly also appealed to the Sainiks by saying that such acts of 'threats and vandalism' were not in the interests of the state. In a bid to show that the state has not been a mute spectator, Chavan reeled out figures to say that more than a 1000 Sena activists have been booked and arrested for the violence and the state is stringently opposing their bail.
Condemning the killing of a senior journalist in Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday said that police will conduct an in-depth inquiry into the incident to nab the culprits and ensure that they get stringent punishment. "Media plays an important role in democracy and efforts to terrorise the media will be foiled," Chavan said after senior investigative journalist Jyoti Dey was shot dead by motorcycle-borne killers in broad daylight in Mumbai.
Officials of the state urban development ministry confirmed the development to Business Standard on Monday after a meeting between Chavan, City and Industrial Development Corporation Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Bhatia and other government officials.
