Keeping patience is the need of the hour, Sena MP Krupal Tumane
Even before the first votes are counted in Maharashtra, fissures have emerged within the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on who will head the next government. Both camps are claiming the chief minister's post, with constituents in both camps laying claim over the chief minister's post. The MVA, consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), and the Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, have expressed confidence that their respective alliance will form the next government after votes are counted on Saturday. While a majority of exit polls have predicted that Mahayuti will retain power, a few have favored the MVA.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, on Sunday said his party decided to become part of the Eknath Shinde government for the development of the country, and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Thursday that spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had given him blessings and told him that he would succeed when he and other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs were camping in a Guwahati hotel.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that Koshyari had sworn in Shinde without even asking him which party he and the other legislators supporting him belonged to.
On Friday, Shrikant Shinde had said some leaders were trying to create hurdles in the alliance in Dombivali area (under Kalyan Lok Sabha seat) for their own selfish politics and that he was ready to leave the seat since the aim was to ensure the Narendra Modi government returns with a thumping majority in the 2024 LS polls.
Fadnavis said the talks between Shah and Raj Thackeray were positive, and the picture would be clear in the next few days.
The 10-day-old BJP-led Mahayuti alliance ministry in Maharashtra was expanded on Sunday, with 39 ministers being sworn in, taking its strength to 42. The BJP secured 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 for the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 for Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. Governor P C Radhakrishnan administered the oath to the new ministers at the ceremony held in Nagpur. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were present.
Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar will likely disqualify the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, who will then be asked to resign as chief minister. 'Once this is done, Ajit dada will be sworn in chief minister.'
The whip issued by Shinde faction of Shiv Sena had asked all the MLAs of Sena to vote for Shinde in the trust vote.
The organisation members had also tried to disturb peace in Pune, but swift police action foiled their bid, Shinde said.
Though Ajit Pawar didn't include his mum's name when taking the oath as Maharashtra's deputy CM for a record sixth time, he sought his 87-year-old mother Asha Pawar's blessings before being sworn in.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has expelled a local leader and his son after they were named in a dowry harassment and abetment to suicide case in Pune, India. The victim, Vaishnavi, allegedly hanged herself on May 16 after facing harassment from her in-laws for dowry. The police have arrested her husband, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law, while the father-in-law and brother-in-law are absconding. The case has garnered attention due to the involvement of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who attended the couple's wedding and gifted them an SUV.
"If the Union government can send probe (agency) officials to the houses of (former Jharkhand CM) Soren and (Delhi CM) Kejriwal,?"
Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said social media was used to vitiate the atmosphere, and appealed to the opposition not to politicise the matter.
Kayande claimed she waited for a year to see if the Thackeray-led faction would introspect over why party workers were leaving Shiv Sena-UBT.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to scuttle the possibility of his party's alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray ahead of civic polls.
In a veiled warning to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said there will be an 'earthquake' if he started speaking.
The massive victory of Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra indicates a tactical course correction post the Lok Sabha debacle, with factors like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's active role in the poll campaign, Ladki Bahin scheme, rise in women voting, and subtle message of Hindutva playing a crucial role.
Ruling Shiv Sena's MLA Sanjay Gaikwad allegedly slapped an employee of a canteen at the MLA's hostel in Mumbai after complaining about being served stale food.
"They (BJP) are in power at the Centre, state and have other agencies with them. Let them probe, then things will be clear," Pawar said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is trying to establish a "kingdom of criminals" in Maharashtra, he alleged.
The Shinde-led govt might even "trade Mumbai," said the editorial in "Saamana".
'Let Fadnavisji prove to the people of Maharashtra that he acts fairly against one and all.'
"The nakli Shiv Sena wants to bury me alive. They abuse me in such a way that it will be liked by their favourite vote bank," Modi said.
The last time when more than 200 MLAs were part of the state government was in 1972, but at that time all the 222 legislators belonged to Congress. Also, the strength of the House was 270 at that time, a former state legislature official said on Monday citing data.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at the function that he would request CM Shinde to rename Ahmednagar city as Ahilyanagar'.
Arguing before the entire EC, Mahesh Jethmalani, the counsel for the Shinde faction, also said the 'surreptitious and unconstitutional' change to the Shiv Sena's constitution by Uddhav Thackeray in 2018 and the ideological shift in the party, which aligned with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to form the government in Maharashtra in 2019, led to a split in the outfit.
He also said four of the eight constituencies had been contested by the Shiv Sena in 2019 and staked claim to those constituencies.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said there seems to be nothing amiss about the death.
'Shinde and Fadnavis have different working styles and certainly there is a crack that has come between them.'
He said Shinde has already made it clear his faction is not interested in staking claim to the Shiv Sena Bhavan or any property linked to the Thackeray group.
Five days after the induction of 18 ministers into his cabinet, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday allocated portfolios, keeping Urban Development and 11 other ministries with himself, while giving the crucial Home Department to Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Sudhakar Badgujar, the leader in question, denied the allegations while speaking at a news conference in Nashik.
Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar has said he does not see any hurdle in issuing an order by January 10, 2024 on the cross-petitions filed by rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs.
Shinde recently formed a national executive of his faction, claiming it to be the real Shiv Sena.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda and several other leaders and prominent personalities were present at the ceremony.
The quota and other issues of the Maratha community were discussed in the state cabinet meeting after which it was decided to hold a special session, the CMO statement said.
Some MLAs (from Shinde bloc) have been sending messages that they want to "seek forgiveness from 'Matoshree'.
The SC agreed to hear on July 11 the plea of Shiv Sena's Sunil Prabhu seeking suspension from Assembly of CM Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending.
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