Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday cancelled the dinner he was hosting for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Parliament session following a request from Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj in the wake of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray's death.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar told reporters that his nephew Ajit deliberately made those remarks to avoid media.
A Mumbai court on Wednesday cancelled the warrant issued against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray after he appeared in a case registered against him for violence during Railway Recruitment Board examinations at a college in suburban Bandra in October 2008.
It said in a parliamentary democracy, the speaker is an officer of the assembly and performs the function of presiding over the House proceedings and representing the House for all intents and purposes.
The editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' also said those who used to blame Jawaharlal Nehru for defeat in the 1962 Sino-India war should now introspect.
The Shiv Sena has particularly been upset with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has repeatedly attacked him.
The Shah Rukh starrer has opened to enthusiastic crowds in 119 theatres across the US and Canada.
Shiv Sainiks climbed atop the stage at an open air theatre and shouted slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Pakistan Murdabad' and disrupted the show for about 5-10 minutes.
The development came after Gaikwad apparently booked a seat from Hyderabad to Delhi on Flight AI 551 for Wednesday, which was cancelled by the national carrier.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Bombay high court verdict cancelling the caste certificate of Amravati MP and BJP leader Navneet Kaur Rana.
The Bharatiya Janata Party prefers to simply overlook the Shiv Sena's swipe and this has sent the latter into a sulk.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said he would work for his party till he is alive and scotched speculation that he and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the ruling BJP.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who has been banned from flying by several airlines after he assaulted an Air India staffer on March 23, reached Delhi on Wednesday via a chartered flight, according to sources.
The Shiv Sena on Monday refused to call off the protest against the book launch of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in Mumbai.
The time for filing of nomination for the post of Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker was on Tuesday extended after the Shiv Sena disrupted proceedings and demanded that the notification of schedule for the speaker's election be cancelled as all members had not taken oath.
After Shiv Sena's protest at BCCI office, Kasuri book release function and Ghulam Ali concerts, films starring Pakistan artistes have become latest target of the political outfit.
Air India said it has also written to the Shiv Sena communicating the decision to cancel the ticket. Shiv Sena Secretary Anil Desai said that he has asked Gaikwad to change his travel plans as the party doesn't want the tensions to escalate.
'We want to send a notice to the BJP that Rajputs are no longer their slaves.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut by a special court in a money laundering case could not be heard by the Bombay high court on Thursday due to paucity of time.
The poster also reads, 'People who are pretending and conning others shouldn't forget the day they bowed their heads in front of Balasaheb.'
Fadnavis said there is no situation where Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the BJP have to part ways.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president C P Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at its state headquarters in Jaipur.
"Kissing" Pakistani soil "soaked" in Indian blood will prove "costly", Shiv Sena said as it reminded PM Modi that trying to get "too close" to that country led to the BJP's decline.
Pawar said there is not an iota of truth in reports about any rift in the NCP and his joining hands with the BJP.
About 200 Hindu pilgrims cancelled a proposed visit to a temple in Pakistan on Saturday after they were asked by the authorities to go to the trouble-torn country at their own risk.
Normal life was hit on Monday in several parts of Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai where stone-pelting BJP and Shiv Sena activists tried to disrupt road and rail traffic during the 12-hour bandh called by the opposition to protest price rise.
The much-anticipated talks between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Shashank Manohar and his Pakistan counterpart Shahryar Khan will not take place, on Monday, after Shiv Sena, a right-wing political party,
Modi has shown huge tolerance by shaking hands with Sharif. Even if the other (party) raises hand, we should fold ours. This is our tolerance and Modi has displayed it," an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.
Speculation about Ajit Pawar's next political move started swirling last week when he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen as being soft on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp.
A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday granted bail to Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut in a money laundering case pertaining to the Patra Chawl redevelopment project.
Rediff.com presents few other instances when the Sena created a furore through its protests.
A day after the Uddhav Thackeray faction submitted a plea before Deputy Speaker Narhari Jhirwal to disqualify the rebel MLAs, the Ekanth Shinde faction on Friday gave a notice of no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker.
The Shiv Sena also demanded that those who allowed the concert to take place should be booked for anti-national activities.
After five decades of existence, the Shiv Sena's support base seems to be shifting towards the rural electorate but there it has to contend with the network of Sharad Pawar and the BJP.
Raut's statement comes a day after Pawar, during an interview with a media house in Pune, responded to a query on his chief ministerial ambitions by saying "yes, I would 100 per cent like to be (CM)".
A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre also permitted the ED to amend its application as the order of the special court that granted bail to Sanjay Raut was not available on Wednesday when the application was filed.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar played down the buzz saying that he is not able to attend the NCP meeting as he has to remain present for some other programmes happening at the same time.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday attacked the coalition partner on issues like Pakistan, beef, Ram temple and inflation but ruled out walking out of the Maharashtra government any time soon.
Jayant Naiknavare, who took over as the Nashik commissioner of police last week, has cancelled the order given by his predecessor Deepak Pandey over loudspeakers.
