Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday said the Maharashtra party leadership has been asked to ensure all rebels withdraw nominations and asserted there will be no friendly fights among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies in the state assembly polls.
He also said Shastri should share his views on the fight and struggle of the women wrestlers who are seeking justice against a Lok Sabha member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan. Brij Bhushan has been accused of sexual harassment of several women wrestlers.
An first information report (FIR) was registered on Tuesday against Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell head Amit Malviya and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami for allegedly running false information, police said.
Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane, a BJP leader, has sparked controversy by stating that supporters of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and other opposition parties will not receive development funds for their areas. He urged opposition party members to join the BJP if they wanted development in their constituencies. His remarks drew strong criticism from opposition leaders, who questioned his adherence to his oath of office.
As a fallout of the dissolution of the administrative board of Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank by the Reserve Bank of India, the Nationalist Congress Party is eager to teach its ally, Congress, a lesson.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchanra Pawar president Sharad Pawar on Sunday had a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the murder of a sarpanch in Beed and the death of a man following violence in Parbhani.
Upping the ante, sulking Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday warned the Congress that if its demands like a coordination committee for the United Progressive Alliance coalition and better treatment of allies were not resolved by Wednesday, it would pull out from the government.
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.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Rohit Pawar's mother Sunanda has emphasised the need for party factions led by veteran politician Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to come together as voices for unity emerged from both rival camps.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in Maharashtra has successfully passed a trust vote in the state assembly, securing a commanding majority of 230 seats in the 288-member house. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' coalition, with a majority mark of 144, had a comfortable win with the support of smaller parties and independent MLAs. The trust motion was tabled by Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant and others, and was passed by a voice vote. The 15th legislative assembly began its tenure on December 7, and the floor test was considered a mere formality. Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister for the third time on December 5, with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as deputy chief ministers.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly.
The strains are telling as old friends and new enemies face each other in the battlefield.
Once the two parties finalise the common minimum programme, it would then be shared with the Shiv Sena which is then expected to add issues that are close to its heart, reports Prasanna D Zore.
NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule has criticized the Maharashtra government's decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in schools, stating that it will not tolerate any undermining of the Marathi language. Sule also criticized the state's implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, expressing concerns about its potential impact on students and teachers. She also questioned the appointment of a retired bureaucrat as the chief economic advisor to the chief minister and criticized the state's performance in areas like fiscal deficit management and the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel on Friday said the Congress was delaying seat-sharing talks with his party in Maharashtra.
Of the 288 seats in the state, BJP had won 105 in 2019 state polls, while the undivided NCP had bagged 54 seats.
Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ashish Shelar attacked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi ahead of his upcoming visit to Maharashtra and sought an apology for his remarks on 'reservation ' and 'Veer Savarkar'.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who took oath as Deputy Chief Minister in the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government on Sunday, has the support of more than 40 MLAs and over six MLCs of his party, sources claimed citing a letter submitted to Raj Bhavan.
The assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has stated that his party wants to go solo in the upcoming local body elections to strengthen its base. This statement has raised questions about the unity of the opposition INDIA bloc and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP). Raut clarified that the party has not called for the dissolution of either bloc and that the local body elections are an opportunity to empower party workers at the grassroots level. He also criticized Congress leaders for reacting to his comments without hearing the full context.
Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar can solve the issue when they meet next week, according to sources.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
Thapar had strong reservations about Project Cheetah, India's initiative to reintroduce African cheetahs into the wild. He argued that India does not have the necessary habitat or prey base to support free-ranging cheetahs and that the authorities lacked experience in managing spotted felines in the wild.
The Nationalist Congress Party would not ally with the Congress in the north-east for the Lok Sabha polls, its senior leader Purno Agitok Sangma said in Shillong on Monday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said no one will be spared in the Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case even as he defended his party and cabinet colleague Dhananjay Munde.
'If we want to defeat the anti-secular forces, then all of us should put aside our differences to form a compact alliance,' the Congress chief said.
Given the dismal show of the Congress in the recently concluded assembly polls and the JMM eating into its vote bank, the possibility of Congress MLAs switching sides is not bleak, reports R Krishna Das.
The opposition has raised questions regarding Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden resignation as the vice president, with concerns about the reasons behind his decision and its timing.
A petition filed by murdered sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh's brother in the Bombay high court, seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government to remove Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde from the cabinet, has been withdrawn.
Some of the Congressmen, though, are opposing such a alliance saying that the party would waste seats if they have pre-poll alliance with the NCP.
A day after the Nationalist Congress Party demanded 50 per cent share of the seats in Maharashtra and a national alliance with the party, the Congress said it would sit together with its alliance partner to find a solution."Let me assure you that nothing is going to change the basic fact that we are fully capable of sitting together and finding an amicable solution," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.Singhvi said the party's relationship with NCP was long standing.
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Ministers will not be allowed to hold official meetings and meet visitors in the legislature complex during the session. They will have to conduct their official briefings and meetings in Mantralaya, the state secretariat, he said.
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.
Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra, according to a senior BJP leader.
Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant hit out at the actress for leaving Mumbai for her home state Himachal Pradesh without giving information about drugs to government agencies.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday asserted that West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee should be allowed to lead the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
The woman, identified as Fatima Khan, who has done B.Sc in Information Technology, resided in Ulhasnagar area of neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra with her family members.
An undated audio clip, allegedly featuring Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, has surfaced online. In the audio, Karad is purportedly heard telling a man not to worry as "influential people" were sitting in Beed. Karad is an accused in an extortion case linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. This comes after a video clip of Karad, along with other accused, walking with a suspended police officer emerged on social media last week. The audio clip has sparked further controversy surrounding the case.
