'The people who were assigned the role to look after the affairs of the Congress in Maharashtra have failed.'
'ow can Aurangzeb be our leader? Our king is only one and that is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj'
Reacting to Patole's suggestion that he was under watch, the NCP, which handles the home department, on Monday said his claim was based on incomplete information, while the Shiv Sena asserted that all was well in the ruling alliance.
NCP sources also added that the smaller parties which had allied with the Congress-NCP coalition are also on board to having a tie-up with the Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said the Election Commission's order recognising Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena was "dangerous for democracy", and he would challenge it in the Supreme Court.
A day after the split in the saffron alliance, Shiv Sena on Friday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party, calling it the "enemy of Maharashtra", signaling a return to its original pro-Marathi agenda for next month's assembly polls.
Thackeray would be taking over as chief minister more than a month after results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections were declared on October 24.
While the BJP and ally Shiv Sena are yet to announce the seat-sharing pact for the polls, scheduled on October 21, the Amit Shah-led party believes it will be back to power with a thumping majority.
Thackeray also took a dig at governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over imposition of the President's Rule in the state.
With an eye on upcoming assembly elections after the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government will take a decision next week on the Rane committee's recommendation for 20 per cent quota for Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions.
The Congress-led grouping has some reasons to feel emboldened over recent political developments.
Senior NCP leader R R Patil or 'Aaba', was a quintessential grass root politician
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Gopinath Munde on Thursday said rebellion in the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance might work in favour of the saffron combine.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
The NCP is in talks with its ally Congress for a possible alliance with the Shiv Sena, after the Sena's alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party fell apart over the chief minister's post.
The Democratic Front, in its manifesto, also sought to tap rural voters by promising at least 200 days of job under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
"We had taken signatures from MLAs for attendance, it was misused as a basis for the oath," said the senior NCP leader.
Fadnavis claimed the BJP was "beyond running behind anyone" as the people of India were with the party and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'We will do whatever is necessary when the day and moment arrives.' 'As a party which has ruled Maharashtra for most of its existence, we also have our base and turf to protect.'
Vidarbha region has gained notoriety for a high number of farmers' suicides and the multi-crore irrigation scam. Sanjay Jog reports
According to political analysts, the results of these bypolls, which saw a high-voltage campaign by senior leaders from various parties, will set the tone for the forthcoming elections in the state, including of the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies.
'When Fadnavis takes our help, it was sabka saath.' 'But when we support his rival, the latter is branded as appeasing Muslims.'
Regarding alliance with the Congress, the Sena's political rival till recently, Raut said leaders of the country's oldest party have contributed to freedom struggle as well as development of Maharashtra.
The poll of polls brought out by the NDA gave the BJP and the Congress 66 and 14 seats respectively in Haryana, and 211 and 64 for the saffron alliance and the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra.
The tepid economy has hit most sectors, from automobile and pharmaceutical industries in the district to its tourist footfall, reports Archis Mohan
"First you tell me what is the meaning of secular. What does secular mean?" he asked the media.
Justifying his party's demand for autonomy for states, as spelled out in its 'blue-print' for Maharashtra's development, Raj Thackeray on Monday said the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena would not be contesting the Lok Sabha elections henceforth.
According to the predictions made by National Congress Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, the newly formed Republican Left Democratic Front will threaten the prospects of Congress-NCP in the October 13-poll to the Maharashtra Assembly.
A meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee is being held on Thursday against the backdrop of the political crisis in Maharashtra that has seen cracks widen in the ruling Congress-NCP coalition in the state.
In his characteristic 56-inch chest kind of bravado, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in their family stronghold of Western Maharashtra's Baramati. The family has never lost an election ever since senior Pawar began his political career. Reportage: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com. Photographs: Sanjay Sawant/Rediff.com
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's much-awaited entry into the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Republican Party of India combine to forge a grand alliance in Maharashtra won't be a reality.
Even as the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation is currently facing a survival crisis due to a rebellion by Sena minister Eknath Shinde, the departments -- mostly controlled by ruling allies Nationalist Congress Party and Congress -- have issued government orders for the release of funds for various development-related works worth thousands of crores in the last four days.
The dramatic swearing-in of BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy was preceded by days of talks between key party leaders and the junior Pawar, who was facing probe in corruption cases being investigated by central agencies.
'People are questioning these highways and expressways in UP because ultimately, they want to get bread and butter first.'
The recent migration of marquee investments from Maharashtra to Gujarat seems to have rekindled the Marathi manoos sentiment.
It's been over two months since the flood waters receded, and it would seem with it so has anger against either the state government or the BJP-Sena candidates, reports Archis Mohan.
The two parties have maintained right from the day of assembly poll results (October 24) that they will sit in opposition.
Terming the opposition parties as "shameless", the PM also slammed them for objecting to the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir being raised during campaigning by BJP leaders for the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Pravin Gaikwad, the state coordinator of Maratha Kranti Morcha, has two rare qualities: he has an unparalleled connect with people from his community and, at the same time, underpins his ideology on a strong analytical base.
Nationalist Congress Party leader and Baramati Member of Parliament Supriya Sule on Friday said the Congress-NCP coalition in Maharashtra must pull its socks up and bury the differences ahead of the coming assembly elections, conceding that "all is not well".
