The Thackeray faction on Tuesday claimed that voters were being paid to choose None Of The Above or NOTA option.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar might have discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the delay in the appointment of 12 members to the state Legislative Council from the Governor's quota, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday.
The Shiv Sena is leading a coalition government in Maharashtra with the Nationlaist Congress Party and the Congress.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that Koshyari had sworn in Shinde without even asking him which party he and the other legislators supporting him belonged to.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the suggestion of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena to decide the disqualification proceedings pending against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and MLAs belonging to his camp, saying it cannot assume the role of the speaker as doing so will have "serious ramifications".
Independent MLAs might approach Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari very soon.
A public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay high court on Monday against Eknath Shinde, who is leading the group of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra, for causing a "political turmoil" in the state and instigating an internal disorder in the state government.
Most of the 40 MLAs in the Shinde camp don't have enough legislative experience to conduct business in the House and so the first ministry expansion needed induction of veterans.
'The BJP has ordered the AIMIM to defame the Shiv Sena, to raise questions on Shiv Sena's Hindutva'
The Sena also said this issue has now become a "matter of prestige" for the party-led government, a day after Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party ruled out resignation of Deshmukh.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday suggested the Opposition needs to come together and strengthen the alliance.
The Nationalist Congress Party has claimed all the 28 Congress corporators in Malegaon city in Maharashtra's Nashik district, including the mayor, crossed over to the party on Thursday.
Union minister Narayan Rane on Friday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party will form a government in Maharashtra in March 2022.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose Bharatiya Janata Party-backed government is facing attacks and legal challenges from a faction led by Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, has said that 'they are not doing anything illegal' and have followed all constitutional steps for the formation of new government in the state.
Senior Congress leader Rajani Patil is set to be declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra after the opposition BJP on Monday withdrew its candidate from the next month's bypoll.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has moved the Supreme Court against the proceedings of the Election Commission on the plea of the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led group for recognition as the real Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the rebels have chosen their way and there would be no hindrance from the party in the path of the dissidents to associate with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Sena will play the role of constructive opposition to the new government.
The Bombay high court on Thursday termed as "politically induced litigation" a PIL filed by seven citizens seeking action against dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and other rebel MLAs of the party, and said it would hear the plea if the petitioners deposit Rs 1 lakh as security.
Miffed over the Congress central leadership nominating poet-politician Imran Pratapgarhi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, as its candidate from Maharashtra for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, party functionary Ashish Deshmukh on Tuesday resigned from the post of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary.
Luxury hotel Radisson Blu Guwahati, where dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde is camping along with other MLAs from Maharashtra, has stopped all new bookings till June 30.
'Who else will solve these issues if not the chief minister?' 'Who else shall we take our complaints to?'
Battling the political crisis faced by the party-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for 'not attending' legislative party meeting held on Wednesday.
Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj, who is facing first information reports (FIRs) in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for allegedly using derogatory words against Mahatma Gandhi, remained defiant and said he does not have any remorse for his utterances.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has written a letter to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, claiming he was approached by "certain people' who asked him to assist in toppling the MVA government in Maharashtra so that the state could be forced into mid-term elections.
A faction of Congress believes that that decision of the NCP benefitted the BJP which won 122 seats and staked a claim for power.
Somaiya had on Sunday claimed he was barred from entering Kolhapur with the district authorities citing law and order as well as security concerns following his allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif.
'The margin of victory or loss would make both camps rethink their strategies for the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra.'
The counting was scheduled to start at 5 pm Friday, but it could not be taken up as the Bharatiya Janata Party approached the Election Commission alleging violation of rules by three MLAs of the state's ruling alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Thackeray spoke to Modi on phone and told him that attempts were being made to create political instability in the state, sources told PTI. "Political instability in a huge state like Maharashtra when it is facing the COVID-19 crisis is not right and Thackeray urged the PM to look into it," they said.
'Shouldn't our investigation agencies be fiercely independent and conduct fair investigations, show some spine and say no to such witch hunting?' 'That they will not be cowed down by what the Centre wants them to do.'
'We are the real Shiv Sena and we will remain in the Sena.'
In an important decision, the new government in Maharashtra on Thursday announced lifting of the stay on the construction of Mumbai Metro-3 car shed at the controversial site in the Aarey Colony, a green belt in the city's western suburbs.
Launching a scathing attack on Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik on Thursday dubbed the officer as 'bogus' and asserted that once 'proof' against him is out, he can not remain in government service for even one day.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, he claimed that his decision to not contest the election was aimed at preventing 'horse-trading', and accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray of breaking his promise on providing Shiv Sena's support for his second term in the Upper House of Parliament.
While guests who had arrived earlier are leaving one by one, sources revealed that the hotel, situated on Dumas Road of the diamond city, has stopped accepting new bookings for an indefinite period.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Friday said that the party does not share the same stand with Shiv Sena, its alliance partner in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, over the demand for India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna to Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Fadnavis said that with this win in the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP has started its victory march, which he said would continue till the next polls.
The counting of votes for the Rajya Sabha elections was delayed on Friday in Maharashtra and Haryana over alleged violation of rules, officials said.
