'It was like an 'agni pariksha' for me. I had to go through a test by fire twice'
Former Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday claimed nearly '50 people', including 'some middlemen' and personal assistants, will be part of the delegation that will travel with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
'We were sure our appeal would succeed. We knew we could break down the evidence and show it was hollow.'
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on Tuesday refused bail to advocate Surendra Gadling in connection with a 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case, noting that prima facie the accusations against him are true.
Truck drivers protesting against a provision in the new penal law on hit-and-run road accidents, called off their strike in Nashik district of Maharashtra on Tuesday after the local authorities assured to look into their demands.
'We don't believe in the BJP. But the Congress has no main leader who is credible.'
The Bombay high court on Tuesday set aside the life sentence of Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing a substantial portion with 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar 10 seats.
He was the mastermind in laying many an ambush, triggering bomb blasts and other subversive activities.
The buzz about the "health" of Shinde, who was at his native village in Satara, grew louder after his supporter and MLA Sanjay Shirsat recently claimed the CM has fallen sick as he works for 24 hours.
Pawar, who joined the Shinde government earlier this month, was allocated the same portfolio once again, raising questions as to how the Sena MLAs react.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will embark on a fresh padayatra (foot march) from Gujarat to Meghalaya and during that period leaders and workers of the party's Maharashtra unit would criss-cross the state, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said on Tuesday.
Heavy rains over a span of few hours flooded many parts of Nagpur city, following which more than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech and hearing-impaired, were rescued, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday.
The court asked National Investigation Agency to file its reply on Anand's plea on December 1.
This is not the first time the Nagpur Jail authorities are being accused of negligence towards their inmates.
The state intelligence department on Saturday evening received specific input about the threat to the life of CM Shinde, the official said.
The Naxalites carrying sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 rifles, targeted the two unarmed cops when they had just reported for duty at the mobile check-post on the inter-state border, an area that has witnessed a Maoist attack after a long time, they said.
'Those giving voice to the voiceless should be welcomed, not punished.' 'Yes, I paid a price -- 10 years in jail -- but it wasn't only me who did so. There are many paying the price.'
Naxal activities are not limited to only remote areas of eastern Maharashtra but `urban naxalisation' is being seen in big cities of the state, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar claimed on Thursday.
Gadchiroli, located over 900 km from Mumbai in the state's Vidarbha region and having a population of around 12 lakh, has not reported a single COVID-19 case yet. The authorities are mindful that if at all any COVID-19 case comes to light in the district, it will come from outside and hence, they have enhanced efforts and are closely monitoring migrant workers entering the territory.
Thirteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and three of the State Disaster Response Force were deployed in vulnerable districts of the state, a disaster management department report said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that some leaders often seen at agitations are a part of the Barsu refinery protests and they have inputs that a group trying to create disruptions in the state is also playing a role there to defame the state government.
The man, Avinash Waghmare, was drunk and made the call on Saturday to "teach a lesson" to the owner of the hotel for allegedly overcharging him for a bottle of water, a senior police officer said on Sunday.
A special NIA court here on Wednesday denied interim bail to activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to visit his nonagenarian mother in wake of the death of his brother Milind Teltumbde, a top Naxal leader, in an encounter with security forces last month.
Saying that prison inmates do not cease to be human beings and can't be deprived of the fundamental right to life, the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to transfer alleged Maoist leader Nirmala Uppuganti from jail to a hospice for palliative care on account of her terminal cancer.
'The BJP should not treat Shinde saheb as a lightweight.'
While arithmetic political stability is a reality, the end result of politics in Maharashtra is hard to predict.
The move has come days after the state government announced to form a special investigation team to probe into the death of Disha Salian, the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The four districts selected under the Centre's programme for expeditious socio-economic development are Gadchiroli, Osmanabad, Washim and Nandurbar. They collectively comprise 14 assembly segments of the total 288 in the state.
A village sarpanch was shot dead by a group of armed Naxals in Sironcha taluqa, the police said on Wednesday.
His spine, his heart, his pancreas -- one by one, all his organs have weakened, given the lack of medical treatment in jail, where he is kept in the notorious Anda cell. Continuous pain, frequent fainting spells, urinary problems, have all become part of his life.
The lockdown-like restrictions, imposed in April this year when the second wave of the pandemic intensified, would be lifted in 18 districts where the positivity rate is 5 per cent or less and the occupancy of oxygen beds in hospitals is less than 25 per cent, he said.
'He did not do anything wrong. There was no crime and no evidence'
The SC, however, rejected NIA's request for immediate stay to the order.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said it will not interfere with the high court order granting bail to Teltumbde.
Saibaba is wheelchair-bound with 90 per cent physical disabilities.
In a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi-backed candidates clinched two of the five legislative council seats which were up for grabs in biennial elections from teachers and graduates segments, and appeared poised to bag a third seat also.
An exchange of fire took place between Central Reserve Police Force jawans of the 191 battalion and the Maoists in the afternoon, in the jungles of Phulgondi village near Bedgaon police.
'After exiting jail, I thought some of my IIM-A classmates would contact me. None did.' 'The case indeed scared people, which perhaps was the objective of the State.'
