Amid a plethora of senior party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party's Devendra Fadnavis took the oath of office at a mega function organised at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
Reigning champion Pankaj Advani scored a hard-fought victory over Rupesh Shah to set up a title clash with veteran Geet Sethi in the points format of the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship in Bangalore on Thursday. In the first semi-final, Sethi staged a remarkable recovery to beat Devendra Joshi.
Pankaj Advani continued his surge in the World Billiards Championship (time format), making it to the semi-finals with a 916-665 victory over compatriot Rupesh Shah, in Leeds, on Tuesday, while Balachandra Bhaskar shocked Singapore's Peter Gilchrist.
While the ruling party alleged an "invisible hand" behind the petitions, the opposition accused it of making "false political capital" by "misinterpreting" the apex court order.
With no clarity yet on seat sharing with old ally Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Thursday told the alliance partner to find a quick resolution to the impasse while making it clear that there will be no compromise at the cost of self-respect.
'The Shiv Sena as a party was going nowhere.' 'Now Uddhav Thackeray has shown his partymen that he can take the BJP head on.'
Pankaj Advani survived a scare before beating New Zealand's Gary Oliver in a league encounter of the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship in Bangalore on Tuesday. The 23-year-old local boy prevailed over his dogged opponent 3-2 (101-151, 151-98, 117-151, 152-0, 151-107), but not before some tense moments in an edge-of-the-seat match at the Karnataka State Billiards Association hall.
Top social media posts from your favourite celebrities.
BJP's central leadership is expected to take a call next week, reports Sanjay Jog
"Be it Delhi or Maharashtra, the atmosphere should be fear-free. It is the responsibility of the rulers to create such an atmosphere that those in public life can work fearlessly. There is no objection to withdrawing the security cover when such atmosphere prevails," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
Arun Jaitley, the Union finance minister, played the doting father of the bride on Saturday and Sunday at the wedding of his daughter Sonali who tied the knot with businessman-lawyer Jaish Bakshi. Several other big names from the political circles, including President Pranab Mukherjee attended the reception on Sunday at Jaitley's bungalow.
150 BJP elected local representatives in Beed resign in protest against Pritam Munde's exclusion from the Union ministry.
Meet the richest and poorest candidates contesting the election to the richest civic body in the country.
In a statement after the apex court verdict, Thackeray said, "With folded hands, we request the prime minister and the president to take an immediate decision on Maratha quota."
'It must have stung Devendra Fadnavis to see Modi asking MPs at the BJP parliamentary party meeting to give Yediyurappa a standing ovation for his victory in the by-elections that has resulted in pulling the BJP government in Karnataka off the ventilator,' notes Aditi Phadnis.
The compulsions of the Hindutva vote bank over 25 years in Maharashtra have made the two parties the oldest ideological partners and it is unrealistic to believe the situation has changed, reports Sunil Gatade.
After Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented his fifth straight budget in the Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party members and ministers from the Cabinet reacted positively to the Budget. Here are some of the reactions.
The BJP's faces for 2019 will be Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman, Yogi Adityanath and Devendra Fadnavis, says R Rajagopalan.
Does Uddhav (and indeed the Sena) have the pizzazz and staying power to continue to be an actor in Maharashtra politics as a paler version of the NCP and an orange rather than saffron version of the BJP, asks Aditi Phadnis.
Misbah had the dubious honour of becoming the first player from his country to finish on 99 not out during their first innings of last week's seven-wicket first test victory in Jamaica.
'I don't think there will be many problems after the assembly election results.'
After sight-seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got down to work in Mumbai. He, along with his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and three kids -- daughter Ella Grace and sons Hadrien and Xavier - arrived in the country's financial capital on Monday night. Here are snapshots from Day 3 of their visit.
Following the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, reactions poured in from various leaders across the political spectrum.
A heroic and historic century from Darren Bravo put West Indies in sight of the unlikeliest win in the first Test in Dubai on Monday before Pakistan finally prevailed by 56 runs on an absorbing final day of the day-night contest.
BJP workers and mourners queued up in large numbers outside the party headquarters since morning to pay their last respects to the leader.
'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'
Two passengers travelling on the same United States-bound Air India aircraft from Mumbai as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have come out in his support, saying he did not delay the flight even as he has threatened legal action once he returns to India.
Bollywood actors support the Mumbai Police.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, said his party was firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power sharing, including rotating CM's post for 2.5 years.
It will be an all-Petroleum Sports Promotion Board affair when Devendra Joshi clashes with Dhruv Sitwala in the final of the National Billiards Championship.
The Congress engages in all sorts of conspiracies after its ruling family loses power, he alleged and added the attempt to use judiciary for political purposes was a 'new low' in Indian politics.
'Let the courts decide who is guilty and what punishment they should get.'
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.
'The timing of the current episode involving Ajit Pawar is important. The episode has elements of deceit, betrayal and falsehood intertwined'
He also sought to know if Modi, during his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, asked the latter about the 2017 Doklam standoff.
The second Test between India and Bangladesh at Kolkata's Eden Gardens will be the first day-night Test on Indian soil, making India the seventh country to host a day-night Test.
Alok Kumar stormed into the final of the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Leeds on Friday and set up a title clash with Englishman David Causier.
During the meeting, the two leaders are expected to discuss the current political situation in Maharashtra in view of the tussle between the BJP and its ally the Shiv Sena.
