The Bharatiya Janata Party has opted not to grant tickets to eight MLAs, followed by Congress which replaced five MLAs.
With key UPA allies -- the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Trinamul Congress and Nationalist Congress Party members -- clearly expressing their resentment to a new state, sources say the Congress is now looking to find a way out of the situation.
"We (Congress and NCP leaders) discussed the nitty gritty of a (possible) common minimum programme to ensure the government functions smoothly," Pawar said.
'In any aviation emergency, the first rule is aviate -- fly the aircraft.' 'The fact that the commander's voice is not on the recording simply means he was focused entirely on flying. It does not imply anything more than that.'
'Now there is no fight between us (Thackerays); now the fight is with them.'
A former NCP leader from Pune, Rajendra Hagawane, and his son Sushil were arrested on Friday for their alleged involvement in a dowry harassment and abetment to suicide case involving Hagawane's daughter-in-law. The arrests came after the duo were expelled from the NCP by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The victim, Vaishnavi, had allegedly hanged herself on May 16 at her in-laws' house. Her parents alleged that the Hagawane family had harassed her for dowry despite receiving a substantial amount of gold, silver, and an SUV at the time of her marriage.
With Nationalist Congress Party leader Chagan Bhujbal floating the idea of rotating the post of chief minister, senior Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Thursday there was no doubt about his party getting the Chief Ministership in Maharashtra.
This is to enable Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to reduce the size of his cabinet as per a Constitutional amendment.
The Congress on Monday refused to read any political overtures in the meeting between its ally Nationalist Congress Party's chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in Mumbai, saying it was to ensure the conduct of a hassle-free IPL. Asked whether Pawar's meeting with Thackeray was a snub to the Congress, party spokesperson Abhishekh Manu Singhvi said, "Pawar has met Thackeray to prevent the politics of disruption in cricketing matters."
"The decision has been taken. The ropes of retreat have been cut," Mushrif said
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar's remarks on Monday virtually declaring new entrant Harshavardhan Patil's candidature for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra has irked a section of party leaders that was eyeing ticket from the Indapur seat.
Senior congress leaders are underplaying the nationalist Congress Party-Congress face off saying all is well between the two parties and that the Pawar-Praful duo are merely positioning themselves and that there are really no real problems which need to be addressed. Renu Mittal reports.
'I not only came back, but returned after breaking two parties'
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
Amid the language controversy, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has prohibited his party members from interacting with media or posting personal reactions on social media platforms.
Congress candidates were leading over their Nationalist Congress Party rivals in two assembly constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
Senior Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge is not averse to running for the AICC president's election if party chief Sonia Gandhi asks him to contest, sources close to the veteran leader said on Wednesday.
Five months after a couple of Pawars jousted in an electoral battle in Baramati, two other Pawars will take on each other at the hustings on November 20, 2024.
Sulking ally Nationalist Congress Party on Monday kept the Congress guessing on its pullout plans from the government but made it clear that it will not rock the United Progressive Alliance boat and continue its support "till the end".
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil came down heavily upon the Congress on Sunday and said the party has become "a pain" for the NCP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coloured Maharashtra a vivid saffron on Saturday as it swept aside the Maha Vikas Aghadi for a landslide win while the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) retained Jharkhand, voters in both states giving the parties in power an emphatic thumbs up.
Mumbai police are investigating threat mails received at two police stations, threatening to blow up the car of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The IP address of the sender is being tracked and all angles are being probed.
The two parties have agreed to contest 26 and 22 seats respectively.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats, as the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 50 seats.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday refuted the allegation that the Nationalist Congress Party ditched the Congress in recent elections to the posts of Zilla Parishad chairman and vice-chairman in the state, saying it was the Congress which had failed to honour the `dharma' of coalition.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to cede housing ministry to the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra following the likely cabinet expansion in the state, sources said, adding that the BJP will retain the home ministry.
The grand old party faces the onerous task of rebuilding its moribund organisation, which is struggling to overcome a leadership crisis and regain credibility with the voters.
Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday.
Though the party has made no announcement, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister in the outgoing government, is being seen as the frontrunner for the key position.
In an apparent dig at Ajit, Pawar senior said if someone keeps saying he will take everything, people may not say anything but will disapprove of it.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday sought to make light of his meeting with Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray head and political rival Uddhav Thackeray a day ago and noted his government was stable with support from deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
Democratic Indira Congress (K) state vice president and former Kerala minister P Sankaran on Wednesday announced that he was quitting the party and returning to the Congress.
A Pune college refutes allegations of caste bias by a former student who claimed the college withheld job verification, leading to job loss. The college clarifies it sent the document and the student did not lose his job.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday alleged the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of collusion with Raj Thackeray and sought to remind the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president that Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan had made immense contribution to Maharashtra.
The next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, the Congress announced on Monday, and asserted their resolve to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party has been strengthened by the 'Mumbai operations' of the 'BJP washing machine'.
'A poor candidate was given a chance so that the concerns of ordinary, needy citizens could be represented.'
The 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Maharashtra broke up on Thursday with the regional party deciding to contest next month's assembly polls on its own and pulling out of the government, setting the stage for its fall.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray has voiced strong opposition to the cutting of trees for the construction of a 'Sadhu Gram' in Nashik ahead of the Kumbh Mela, urging the government to reconsider the decision. Actor Sayaji Shinde has also joined the protest, threatening opposition if the government proceeds with the tree removal.
