Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, came together at the wedding of the latter's nephew in Mumbai on Sunday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met MNS head Raj Thackeray at the latter's residence in Mumbai on Monday. The purpose of the meeting was not immediately known. BJP MLC Prasad Lad confirmed the meeting, stating that Thackeray had invited Fadnavis to his residence. The meeting comes after Thackeray had criticized the ruling BJP in the past, raising questions about their actions and the outcome of the Maharashtra assembly elections.
Stating that Mahim was his party's seat, Uddhav said there was lack of time to hold a rally in each and every constituency of the state.
The Maharashtra government has reversed its decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in schools after facing widespread opposition. The move comes after the state's language consultation committee urged the Chief Minister to revoke the decision. The government will now issue a revised order making Hindi learning voluntary. The decision had been met with criticism from various quarters, including opposition parties and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which had called for a protest against the move.
Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, estranged cousins and leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS respectively, will share a public stage after two decades to celebrate the Maharashtra government's decision to roll back the three-language policy in primary schools.
He, however, made it clear that his party candidates, as and when they contest elections, will do so only on MNS symbol 'railway engine'.
'Maharashtrians are facing a dual battle -- numerical battle with North Indians and financial battle with Gujaratis and Marwaris.' 'This has created anxiety about survival and ownership over Mumbai and Maharashtra.'
The Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has nominated Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora from Worli for the upcoming assembly elections.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday held a meeting of his party leaders from Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and other divisions regarding his visit to Ayodhya in June.
Thackeray said there was no certainty that people will vote for the ruling alliance even after schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
The BJP and Shiv Sena, which along with Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party comprise the ruling Mahayuti, for some time now have been courting Thackeray, who founded the MNS in 2006.
'Like me there are crores of Marathi people in the state hoping for this miracle to work.'
With local body elections approaching in Maharashtra, a significant portion of the Congress party is advocating for contesting independently to regain lost ground amidst the BJP's growing influence. The party is currently part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
Thackeray also condemned the collapse of a girder of an overbridge which was being constructed on a section of the Mumbai-Goa highway in Chiplun city on Monday.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray has slammed the state government's decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in schools from Classes 1 to 5, calling it an attempt to "Hindi-fy" the state. Thackeray has vowed to oppose the decision vehemently and ensure it is not implemented. The move is part of the new curriculum implementation under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which mandates a three-language formula for classes 1 to 5. Thackeray argues that Hindi is not a national language but a state language and its imposition undermines the principle of linguistic regionalization. He also questioned why Hindi is being forced on Maharashtra but not in southern states. The Opposition Congress has also criticized the move, calling it an imposition of Hindi and a threat to Marathi sentiment. The state government, however, defended its decision, stating that Hindi is a means of communication in the entire country and that Marathi is already compulsory.
Thackeray said that the MNS will contest more seats than any other party.
Their lists show that a significant number of contenders are closely related to the current ministers, legislators or MPs, including their sons or daughters, wives and brothers or sisters.
Tacitly supporting the Maharsahtra Navnirman Sena for its objection to Abu Azmi's oath taking in Hindi, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday attacked the Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly, saying he himself was responsible for the ruckus in the state assembly on the opening day."Azmi is a rich politician of Mumbai with property worth Rs 200 crore which he has earned in Maharashtra. Why cannot he learn Marathi," the party asked.
The MNS, which has one MLA, had backed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last month's elections to the Rajya Sabha as well as state Legislative Council seats.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Maharashtra government's Ladki Bahin scheme, introduced to provide financial assistance to women, could affect the timely payment of subsidies in other sectors.
A day after the MNS chief declared his unconditional support for the ruling Mahayuti alliance, Sanjay Shirsat, the spokesperson for the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, claimed the move would avoid the potential vote division in elections.
All mosques have taken permission for the use of loudspeakers, Raut said.
Raj has set May 4 as the deadline to remove loudspeakers from mosques.
The police said the miscreants were "unidentified people" and at this point and there were no clarity on who was behind it.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
Deepak Kesarkar, a Sena MLA and spokesperson for the rebel faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, sought to know what Pawar gained by causing pain to Bal Thackeray.
The Haryana victory will be a morale booster for the Bharatiya Janata Party and increase its bargaining power in the Mahayuti's seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, according to political analysts.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has appealed to his party workers to not perform 'maha aarti' on May 3, the day of Eid ul Fitr and Akshaya Tritiya.
Heavy police security was deployed in Mumbai in the wake of Thackeray's call for "silencing" loudspeakers atop mosques.
The Maharashtra government told the Supreme Court on Monday, that it has taken effective steps for protection of lives and religious faith of north Indians and non-Marathis in the wake of an alleged hate campaign launched by the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats, as the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 50 seats.
'If the Maha Vikas Aghadi thinks that they have won 30 (Lok Sabha) seats and that would translate to winning 180 assembly seats they would be living in a fool's paradise.'
If the alliance is sealed, the MNS may be given one seat to contest from Mumbai, the Maharashtra capital where his cousin Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction enjoys some influence.
The four-day old Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government will face the floor test on July 4 during the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly beginning on Mumbai Sunday.
Raj Thackeray had also said if such a step was not taken, loudspeakers would be installed outside mosques to play Hanuman Chalisa at a higher volume.
Holding placards, the protesters raised slogans against the new government's proposal to shift the Metro-3 car shed project back to Mumbai's Aarey forest, an 1,800-acre area that is often termed as the megalopolis's 'green lung'.
The Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government on Wednesday, as to whether it found any evidence of involvement of top leaders of Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Congress in incidents of political vandalism in the state in recent past.
The Sena witnessed the first major jolt in 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal, the Other Backward Class face of the party who was also credited with expanding the organisation's base in rural parts of Maharashtra, decided to leave the party.
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