Amid the race for mayoral posts across civic bodies in Maharashtra, a new political equation emerged in the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation on Wednesday with five corporators of Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena offering support to Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, which is in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Shiv Sena secured a narrow victory over its ally BJP in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections. With no party securing a clear majority, negotiations and strategic discussions are expected.
In a surprising turn, rival Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have joined forces with NCP factions to contest local elections in Maharashtra's Barshi taluka, setting aside political differences.
According to the final tally, the BJP won 1,425 out of a total 2,869 seats, Shiv Sena 399, Congress 324, NCP 167, Shiv Sena-UBT 155, NCP-SP 36, MNS 13, BSP 6, parties registered with the SEC 129, unrecognised parties 196, and 19 independents.
How does the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation's budget compare with the budget of other Indian cities?
Amid speculation in political circles over Shiv Sena's stand vis-a-vis the next mayor of Mumbai, party leader and minister Uday Samant said the civic body polls were contested as the Mahayuti alliance.
The Shiv Sena has shifted its 29 members to a hotel in Mumbai, ostensibly for an orientation workshop to make them aware of the functioning of the country's richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan criticized Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's allegations of corruption in the Pimpri Chinchwad civic body, suggesting they are politically motivated ahead of upcoming elections.
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission on Friday announced that Thursday, January 15, will be a public holiday in areas falling under the 29 municipal corporations where polling for civic elections will be held, an official said.
Counting of votes has begun in the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections, with a focus on the Mumbai battle between the BJP-led alliance and the Thackeray factions.
Elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and 28 other civic bodies in the state were held on January 15.
Shinde also emphasised that Mumbai will have a Mahayuti mayor, dismissing reports of new political equations after the results of the civic polls were declared last week.
The tactical alliance between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may not have aided the Thackeray cousins to win the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but the pact helped them keep intact their traditional strongholds.
Campaigning for the elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra has ended, with the battle for Mumbai's BMC taking center stage. Key political players are vying for control, with a focus on Marathi and Hindu voters.
Parties in Maharashtra are engaged in intense negotiations to finalize seat sharing arrangements for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections scheduled for January 15.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
Maharashtra heads to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, with Mumbai's BMC election taking center stage as the BJP-led Mahayuti faces off against the Thackeray front. Key issues include promises for women, pollution control, and the city's financial health.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged victorious in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also vanquished the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in the Pune civic body.
The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls scheduled for January 15, even as the Opposition parties alleged the ruling combine used threats and money to force candidates to withdraw from the fray.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are expected to announce an alliance for the upcoming Mumbai civic elections. The announcement is expected to be made at a press conference on Wednesday.
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
'When a grassroots worker has laboured day and night for the organisation, does the party not have a responsibility to recognise and uplift such workers?'
Most Shiv Sena ministers in Maharashtra's BJP-led government were absent from a cabinet meeting, signaling tensions over defections between the parties. Only Deputy CM Eknath Shinde attended. Sena ministers later met with the Chief Minister to express their displeasure.
'The stamina and junoon you see in him, for acting, singing, dancing, working out, just about everything, makes age just a number as far as Salman Khan is concerned.'
The mobile app enables commuters to book a single QR-based digital ticket usable across Metro, Monorail, buses and local trains in the city and surrounding regions.
'Nawaz's character was created around Vikram Betaal.' 'Betaal was a little more gimmicky, funny; he would laugh at you, tease you.' 'That's why I made Nawaz very quirky.'
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a plea against the construction of a new passenger jetty and terminal at the Gateway of India in Mumbai, upholding a Bombay High Court verdict that allowed the project to proceed. The project aims to improve passenger travel between South Mumbai and other locations.
A native of Mandangad in coastal Ratnagiri district, the Songhare family had moved to Mumbai for work and shifted to Dombivli two years ago.
The order draws sharp reactions from the Opposition NCP-SP and Shiv Sena- UBT leaders who called it an infringement of people's food choices.
Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, died in the Baisaran meadow bloodbath in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. The families of the victims bid an emotional farewell to their loved ones.
Hundreds of people, including inconsolable family members and friends, gave an emotional farewell to First Officer Clive Kunder, co-pilot of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, and flight attendant Roshni Songhare whose last rites were held on Thursday.
A major fire broke out inside the industrial area of Dombivli in Thane after a boiler exploded at the plant of a chemical company.
Before her flight to London, Air India crew member Maithili Patil had made a final, comforting promise to her father, Moreshwar Patil, that she would call him once she reached the city. But the call did not come.
'Operation Sindoor is still ongoing. The Prime Minister himself said that blood and water cannot flow together, that talks and terrorism cannot go together. So how can we have a cricket match with a country that indulges in terrorism?'
They were asked to wait for 72 hours, but the deadline passed on Sunday and the wait seems endless.
More than 30 hours have passed since the horrific crash of Air India's London-bound flight in Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad shortly after its take-off from the city airport snuffed out the lives of 265 people, including 241 passengers and 12 crew members.
A week after the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad claimed 270 lives, investigators on Thursday continued to sift for clues to ascertain the cause, while the government said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will decide where to decode the black box of the ill-fated Dreamliner.
All the 12 cabin crew members, including two pilots, on board the ill-fated London-bound Air India flight were killed in the Ahmedabad air crash on Thursday.
Addressing close to 700 employees and the leadership team across the Air India headquarters and Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Chandrasekaran urged them to stay on course, terming the accident the most "heartbreaking" crisis of his career.
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