Thackeray held talks with Thorat, former state chief minister Ashok Chavan and senior Congress leader Manikrao Thakare at a suburban hotel.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday charged the Maharashtra government with raking up the Belgaum boundary issue to 'cover up' political differences between the ruling alliance partners Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party in the neighbouring state. "The Maharashtra government is raking up the boundary issue to cover up the differences between Congress, NCP in the state and divert the public attention," Yeddyurappa alleged.
Prithviraj Chavan's statement has created another controversy for the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.
Prasad dismissed accusations that BJP was committing "murder of democracy" by entering into an alliance with a group of NCP and referred to Shiv Sena joining hands with the Congress.
Amid the ongoing tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sena over sharing of power in the next state government, Fadnavis also asserted that he will be the chief minister for another five years.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena on Monday took a swipe at Narendra Modi, saying the "wave" seen during the campaign lost its force even before reaching the shores and expressed doubts over survival of the state amid a hung House.
With the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation elections throwing up a hung verdict, all eyes are now on the next moves of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.
As the stand-off between Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra government continues ahead of Friday's release of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'My Name is Khan', the Sena on Thursday claimed the state government prevented a meeting between party chief Bal Thackeray and the actor.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought a decisive mandate for BJP in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, saying the 15-year-rule of Congress and NCP have "destroyed" the state.
The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine was leading in 39 constituencies and Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party in 31, according to trends from 90 seats in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena was leading in seven seats while the Third Front was leading in five seats. Those leading include Industry Minister Narayan Rane (Kudal), Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti (Solapur) and Omraje Nimbalkar (Osmanabad.
Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday ruled out seeking support from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray to form government in Maharashtra.
The Congress-NCP Government in Maharashtra is trying its best to ensure that the Shiv Sena activists do not disrupt the screening of the movie.
Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai, a confidant of Uddhav Thackeray, said the party is now looking to implement the 50:50 formula with its ally the BJP.
'Demand for a JPC is nothing new. Whenever a big issue comes out, the Opposition demands a JPC on the argument that it will be a fair, unbiased probe involving all political parties. I was a part of the JPC on cold drinks issue. But, whether the JPC will be able to get into the depth of this issue is a different question. Can the parliamentarians understand the financial complexities involved in IPL? I don't know.'
The ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra clarified on Sunday that it had received no proposal from the Congress for a merger nor did it have any such plan in the run-up to the election to the 288-member state assembly slated for September-October.
Barely hours after the Bandra-Worli sea link was named 'Rajiv Gandhi Setu', the move drew criticism from Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, which favoured it being named after Swatantrayaveer Savarkar.
'The consolidation of the Congress and NCP alliance does not provide any space for such splits,' feels Dr Rajeshwari Deshpande, a scholar on Maharashtra politics.
However, incumbent Chief Minster Ashok Chavan said the Congress-NCP alliance will be looking at the Republican Party of India for possible outside support if it fell short of the majority mark.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Thursday said the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance will secure the 'magic figure' to form the state government. "We will get the magic figure to form the government. There may be a difference of two-three seats, but with 21 rebels leading in the state, it's not difficult to achieve the majority," Bhujbal told reporters.
The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced that they have reached a seat-sharing agreement for the October 13 Maharashtra assembly elections.
Chief Minister designate Ashok Chavan on Friday met Governor S C Jamir and staked claim to form the next government, 15 days after the Congress-NCP haggled over the portfolio issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena opposition in Maharashtra will seek imposition of President's rule in the state if the new government is not in place by November 3, when the tenure of the present assembly expires, a senior BJP leader said on Sunday.
"If it is a defeat, it has to be accepted by everybody," Shiv Sena leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi said when asked if the party conceded defeat in the elections.
In the overcrowded local trains, auto-rickshaw stands, BEST buses and long queues at the Bandra-Worli sea link toll plaza, the staple language of Mumbai is Hindi, unlike most of the other cities of Maharashtra, where Marathi still dominates the public conversation domain.
Urmila, who unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election in April from Mumbai, said she was quitting owing to "petty in-house politics" in the party.
A delegation of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leaders met Maharashtra Governor S C Jamir on Monday, requesting him to restore 'Z' category security of MNS chief Raj Thackeray.
Various Maratha organisations had held massive 'silent marches' across the state last year for various demands, including reservation.
Fadnavis rules out holding special session of legislature and instead assures of relief measures, says Sanjay Jog
'I hope that by seeing us in such huge numbers the government will get scared and agree to our demands.'
Former Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, whose suspension from Congress was revoked recently, was today inducted into the over two-month-old Ashok Chavan led Congress-NCP ministry.
The advertisement highlights NCP chief Sharad Pawar's accomplishments as Union agriculture minister and thanks the UPA government for its support. While the Congress said it was unaware of the advertisement, the NCP claimed it was not issued by the party.
Political watchers believe that there is little denying the loss of face the party has suffered in its bid to rule India's richest state.
Coastal road will decongest the traffic of Mumbai and will create 91 hectares of green space.
NCP MLA Anil Patil has expressed faith in the leadership of Sharad Pawar, indicating his return to the party fold.
Now, irrespective of who supports whom, only a floor test in the assembly will decide if this government can continue or not.
These MLAs were present when BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP's Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister at Raj Bhavan. Both the MLAs said they were with the Nationalist Congress Party and expressed solidarity with its president.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said his party would contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in alliance with the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Lok Janashakti Party, but ruled out conceding more than 13 seats given to the United Progressive Alliance allies in 2004 elections.
The Congress questioned the Maharashtra governor for the "arbitrary" allotment of time to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove support for government formation.
The Parli assembly seat in Beed district will again see his daughter Pankaja Munde and nephew Dhananjay Munde lock horns for supremacy.
