Raj Thackeray announced unconditional support to the ruling 'Mahayuti' alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP in the state and backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Raj also justified his support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the construction of the Ram Temple and abrogation of Article 370 among other reasons.
A total of 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, a poll official said.
'Devendra Fadnavis' brokering the deal between the MNS and the makers of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil raises questions about the chief minister's effectiveness,' says Neeta Kolhatkar.
After hijacking the Shiv Sena's Marathi agenda, MNS wants to sustain the campaign by offering free Marathi classes to the non-Marathis in the city. "Marathi is the official language of the state and non-Maharashtrians should at least know how to communicate in Marathi," MNS district president (South Mumbai) Arvind Gavade told PTI. The MNS is planning to start the classes from March. There will be three lectures per week and the number of lectures can be increased.
Members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Saturday celebrated the 40th birthday of their leader Raj Thackeray by organising blood donation camps and other social activities.However, the MNS refrained from holding a Hatt Puja programme, a take-off on the Chhat Puja performed by north Indians, which has become a bone of contention between MNS and migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Over 20,000 supporters visited the MNS chief's home at Dadar and greeted their leader.
As part of the celebrations, Govindas or Dahi Handi participants form multi-tiered human pyramids to break 'Dahi Handis' (claypots filled with curd) suspended in mid-air.
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
'Raj will have to do a lot more to win over the public and overcome the trust deficit. It is a lot of work and needs political patience, which can come with maturity and understanding. All of these seem to be lacking in the man.'
Hitting back at Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh, who recently snubbed him for extending an "unsolicited support" to Narendra Modi and "seeking votes" in his name without joining the Shiv-Sena-BJP-RPI alliance, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday taunted Singh for raising the objection, while Modi was silent on the issue.
Wielding sticks and hurling stones, hordes of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers on Tuesday vandalised a toll plaza at the iconic Bandra-Worli Sea Link, even as the state's police chief said their leader Raj Thackeray's "provocative" speech that triggered the violence was being examined.
After emerging as the single largest party but failing to secure a simple majority in the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation elections, Shiv Sena on Monday started negotiations with Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, a party source said in Mumbai.
The workers were protesting and raising slogans outside Metro Cinema in South Mumbai.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena bubble has burst in the Lok Sabha polls.
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.
According to insiders, "talks are on" between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena at "an exploratory level".
Starring Ranbir, Aishwarya, Anushka and Fawad, the film is slated to release on October 28.
At least half a dozen toll plazas were vandalised on Monday by suspected Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists in Thane after party chief Raj Thackeray asked workers not to pay toll tariff and "crush" the toll gates.
The NHRC on Thursday rapped the Maharashtra government for "failing to take timely action" to protect two migrants who were killed during an agitation by MNS against north-Indians in 2008 and directed it to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
Two days after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray announced a state-wide 'rasta roko' on Wednesday to protest against toll collection in the state, police on Tuesday served a notice to him asking the leader to refrain from any activity that would create law and order problems.
"Our party president Raj Thackeray only meant to say that some people from outside states were trying to provoke the locals and we must be vigilant and alert against such elements. We are not against north Indians at all," party spokesperson Shirish Parkar said on Monday.
MNS workers will gather at every toll booth and ensure that four, three and two-wheelers are not charged tolls, Thackeray said.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has said that he does not give importance to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, started by cousin Raj Thackeray, and neither do the people.
Maharashtra assembly witnessed scenes of pandemonium on Monday as Members of Legislative Assembly of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena tried to prevent Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi from taking oath in Hindi.The MNS MLAs, who had earlier demanded that all legislators take their oaths in Marathi, created a ruckus the moment Azmi started taking his oath.Azmi was reportedly hit by MNS MLA Ram Kadam. The House was adjourned for 20 minutes following the ruckus.
Within 10 days of being elected to the state assembly, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has already begun to make its presence felt even before entering the House.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has criticised the Maharashtra government's recent decision to grant taxi permits to only those drivers who are well versed in Marathi and have resided in the state for at least 15 years. Most taxi drivers in Mumbai are migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.Lalu alleged that the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine was 'going the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's way".
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers on Monday went on the rampage, vandalising toll plazas in different parts of the state following their leader's diktat not to pay the levy and "thrash" those who raise a voice against it.
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which won 13 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, has been recognised as a state party and will be allotted a permanent election symbol. The party contested the October 13 polls using the Railway Engine, a temporary symbol allotted to it by the commission. "As per our norms, a party, in order to be recognised as a state party, should win at least three per cent of the total number of seats in the House," said an EC official.
Stating that long-standing ties with its saffron ally have been normalised, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi have assured him that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will not be included in the 'mahayuti' (grand alliance).
The squads, to be called Atma Raksha Dal, would comprise 20 members each and protect interests of the poor people like hawkers and taxi drivers, who are normally target of MNS attacks, MPCC spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam told PTI.
The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.
Apparently eyeing a larger role in Maharashtra politics, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is now making attempts to shed its "anti-North Indian" image by reaching out to the community, which accounts for sizeable number of voters in the state.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to send back 25 lakh Biharis in the city to their home state.
'Praful Patel, Dilip Walse-Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal are not the ones who will go with Ajit Pawar'
Fuelling the language row further in Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Monday asked taxi drivers from the Hindi-speaking states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to be conversant in Marathi within 40 days or return to their native homes.
Maharashtra Navnirmkan Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday shot down the suggestion of his party joining the grand alliance of Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party- Republican Party of India to take on the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra and asserted his outfit will capture power in the state on its own strength.
An employee of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was killed in stone-pelting, allegedly by Maharashtra Navanirman Sena activists, who were protesting the arrest of their party chief Raj Thackeray in Nahsik today. The victim, who was returning home from Ojhar, died after he was hit by stones on the company bus near Adgaon, police said.
Hazare began his fast on January 30 at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues.
Raj Thackeray-led MNS said that they will not oppose film's release.
