The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday fielded Milind Narvekar, a close aide of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, in the biennial elections to 11 seats from the legislative council, taking the number of candidates in the fray to 12.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday did not attend the public meeting addressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra's Sangli district, where the latter also unveiled the statue of late Maharashtra minister Patangrao Kadam.
Two days after being sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as an MLA along with deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi boycotted the ceremony alleging EVM misuse.
The Nationalist Congress Party has claimed all the 28 Congress corporators in Malegaon city in Maharashtra's Nashik district, including the mayor, crossed over to the party on Thursday.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Jitendra Awhad arrived in handcuffs at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Mumbai on the first day of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session on Monday to highlight 'growing attack' on freedom of expression and protest the deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States.
Union Minister Raksha Khadse on Sunday lodged a police complaint regarding the harassment of her daughter and some of her friends by a group of boys at an event in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district.
The commencement of negotiations is close on the heels of the recent decision taken by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party high commands, to continue alliance during the state assembly election.
Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that there is no need for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to declare a chief ministerial face ahead of the state assembly elections.
"The Congress is on cloud nine after a little success of the United Progressive Alliance government. It was achieved not on its own but with the help of its alliance partners. As a result, they are trying to create a leadership like Indira Gandhi with all the powers centred around one person," said an editorial in Marathi 'Congresscha Nakli Atmavishwas aani Agami Nivadnuka' (The fake confidence of Congress and the forthcoming elections) in NCP's mouthpiece Rashtrawadi.
The cabinet expansion of the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government is likely to take place by December 14, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said on Wednesday.
The stand-off between Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party came to an end on Wednesday with the decision to set up a Coordination Committee to address the grievance of the United Progressive Alliance ally from Maharashtra about not having a proper say in the functioning of the government.
Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh was seriously injured after stones were hurled at his car in Nagpur district on Monday night. The incident occurred as Deshmukh was returning to Katol after attending a meeting in Narkhed village. Police are investigating the attack, which occurred on the last day of campaigning for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
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.
Leaders of the Maharashtra NDA alliance, including the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, are set to meet with the BJP's national leadership on Thursday to finalize the composition of the new state government. The meeting is expected to confirm the formula of one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, with the BJP likely to hold the chief ministerial post and its allies Shiv Sena and NCP sharing the deputy chief minister positions. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in the recent state assembly elections, securing 230 seats in the 288-member House.
Friendly fights, however, are more complicated for the MVA, especially since smaller parties who are part of the INDIA bloc are also in the mix.
It asked the Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction to issue a public notice in newspapers in English, Hindi and Marathi saying that the 'clock' symbol is sub-judice and its use is subject to adjudication.
Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was shot dead in Mumbai, was a popular figure in Bollywood circles and had earned praise for supplying life-saving medicines to patients during the Covid pandemic.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
"The chief minister will be of Shiv Sena. People want Uddhav Thackeray to be the chief minister," said Raut.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra will retain power with full majority and a decision on who will be the chief minister will be taken by the alliance partners after the state polls.
Supriya Sule and her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar file their nominations for the Baramati Lok Sabha seat.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and senior leader Jairam Ramesh were among the 10 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday from Karnataka, Rajasthan and Haryana, while counting was underway in Maharashtra after an eight-hour delay due to wrangling by rival parties over alleged breach of voting rules.
A total of 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, a poll official said.
State BJP minister Chandrakant Patil last week said Harshvardhan Patil will regret his decision to join the Pawar-led party.
Three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have threatened to contest as Independents from Jalna in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls after the seat went to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as part of the Mahayuti's seat-sharing arrangement.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has strongly criticized its ally, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, for felicitating Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at an event in Delhi. The party's spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, views the felicitation as an endorsement of BJP leader Amit Shah, who was instrumental in Shinde's split from the Shiv Sena. While Pawar's party maintains that the event focused on literature, BJP interprets it as an acknowledgment of Shinde's leadership. The incident has sparked a political controversy in Maharashtra, with both sides engaging in verbal sparring.
Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has appealed against an interim order by a magistrate directing him to pay maintenance to a woman who claims to be his first wife. Munde, a leader of the NCP, maintains he was never married to Karuna Munde, who filed the case. The appeal argues the magistrate's order was erroneous and that the relationship between Munde and Karuna was personal, not marital. The court adjourned the matter to March 21, and Karuna Munde has agreed not to apply for execution of the interim maintenance order until then.
Pawar said, "The state will have one chief minister from BJP and two deputies from other two parties of Mahayuti. Tentatively, the oath taking ceremony will take place on December 5. We have decided to move ahead with a strong vision."
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has alleged that leaders of the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were involved in a "conspiracy" against his cabinet colleague Jaykumar Gore in a case involving a woman. Fadnavis said there was proof of communication between NCP leaders Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar, and one of the accused in the case where three persons, including the woman, have been arrested for trying to extort money from Gore. He also pointed to Gore's acquittal more than five years ago in a case involving the woman's allegations of harassment. Fadnavis emphasized that opposition and ruling parties are political opponents and not enemies. The CM also criticized the behavior of some opposition members in the state assembly, accusing them of insulting the House and pressuring ministers.
"We (Congress and NCP leaders) discussed the nitty gritty of a (possible) common minimum programme to ensure the government functions smoothly," Pawar said.
AICC functionary Satyavrat Chaturvedi attacks UPA ally NCP and holds Sharad Pawar responsible for the current problems facing the country.
Miffed over the Congress central leadership nominating poet-politician Imran Pratapgarhi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, as its candidate from Maharashtra for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, party functionary Ashish Deshmukh on Tuesday resigned from the post of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary.
Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said the three ruling allies in the state will retain their existing constituencies while deciding a seat-sharing formula for the coming assembly elections.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday faced a major setback as over 600 party workers and officials from the Pune city unit resigned.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday sought to downplay the controversy that kicked up after "mischievous" remarks were made about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the NCP-supported magazine Rashtravadi.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has launched a veiled attack on party president Ajit Pawar, claiming that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in favor of his induction in the cabinet. Bhujbal expressed his disappointment and humiliation over his exclusion, alleging that he was treated like a "toy" by the party leadership. He also alleged that Ajit Pawar makes decisions for the NCP like Fadnavis does for the BJP and Eknath Shinde does for the Shiv Sena.
The Congress on Wednesday night denounced as "most mischievous, highly motivated and perverse" the editorial in the Nationalist Congress Party mouthpiece calling Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi arrogant.
The Maharashtra government is set to expand its cabinet on December 15 with 30-32 ministers taking the oath of office at a ceremony in Nagpur. The week-long winter session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin in Nagpur on December 16. The BJP-led government, which came to power after the November 20 assembly polls, has seen its fair share of twists and turns in the cabinet formation process. The BJP is likely to get 20-21 ministerial berths, followed by 11-12 for the Sena and 9-10 for the NCP.
Pawar urged people not to fall prey to the Opposition's "fake campaigns", highlighting government schemes for the youth, women, Warkaris (followers of Lord Vithoba) and others.