The Congress leader was Union Home Minister from 2004 to 2008 and the 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was the Governor of Punjab and also served as Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh from 2010 to 2015.
'The writing is on the wall for both Shinde and Ajit Pawar.'
'Now there is no fight between us (Thackerays); now the fight is with them.'
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
The rally is being organised to protest against alleged electoral roll manipulation in the Maharashtra assembly elections, with opposition parties alleging that there were around 96 lakh fake votes which had been added in the 2024 assembly elections.
'Marathi-speaking people of Mumbai have now emerged as a consolidated vote bank standing firmly behind the Thackerays.'
Among major engagements in 2026 is the visit of the European Union leadership, chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
Nationalist Congress Party MLA Saroj Ahir from Nasik district attended the Maharashtra state assembly's winter session in Nagpur with her new-born baby on Monday.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has barred the Maharashtra government from releasing the January instalment of the 'Ladki Bahin' scheme in advance, citing the enforcement of the model code of conduct for municipal elections. The decision follows complaints about the timing of the release, coinciding with upcoming municipal elections.
The speculation about the likely cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra strengthened on Saturday, with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule stressing that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' discretion is supreme among allies.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly on Friday passed a bill empowering local tree authorities to allow the felling of all types of trees without referring matters to the State Tree Authority.
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
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.
'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?'
The speaker said he would study the issue and also take into consideration the `parade' of Sena MLAs (supporting Uddhav) which was held before him at Vidhan Bhawan recently.\n
The Maharashtra Assembly will today initiate a debate on the Pradhan Committee Report into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Shiv Sena leader Shahajibapu Patil accuses the BJP of undermining him politically by supporting his rival in Sangola during the Maharashtra assembly elections. He claims the BJP helped PWP candidate Babasaheb Deshmukh despite his support for the BJP in the Lok Sabha election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the TMC government in West Bengal of patronizing infiltration, leading to demographic changes and riots. He reassured refugees and promised action against illegal migration if the BJP comes to power.
NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar demonstrated the preparation of a fake Aadhaar card in Donald Trump's name and its use to register bogus voters.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, his deputy Eknath Shinde and other legislators of the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena visited the memorial of RSS founder K B Hedgewar in Nagpur. NCP legislators, including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, skipped the visit.
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
Five Members of Legislative Assembly of the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance were on Monday suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for a day for creating a ruckus on the issue of allotting Indu Mill land for constructing a memorial for Dalit icon B R Ambedkar. The suspended MLAs are Chandrakant Handore and Prashant Thakur from the Congress and Nawab Malik, Jeetendra Awhad and Shashikant Shinde from the NCP.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS leader Raj Thackeray announced an alliance ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march in Kolkata against Enforcement Directorate searches linked to I-PAC, signaling a show of strength ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The march featured cultural elements and participation from party members and celebrities.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has refuted reports that indelible ink marks on voters' fingers were being wiped off during the ongoing civic polls. The BMC clarified that the Municipal Commissioner had not made any such statement.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismisses the alliance between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray's parties as a move for political survival, asserting it won't significantly impact Mumbai's political landscape. BJP leader Ashish Shelar questions the motives behind the reunion, highlighting past criticisms and the Thackerays' changing stances.
Following Raut's statement, the MNS, however, said the party's stand is decided by its chief.
In terms of MLA salaries, Odisha is followed by Telangana (about Rs 2.7 lakh), Maharashtra (Rs 2.6 lakh), Manipur (Rs 2.5 lakh), and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 2.4 lakh).
If the Thackerays don't save a Marathi school in their backyard, who will, wonders Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The ruling Mahayuti coalition in Mumbai has reached a consensus on seat distribution for the upcoming civic polls, with the BJP contesting 128 seats and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena 79.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faces a crucial test in the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra after being defeated by the BJP-led Mahayuti in recent local polls. Political observers are calling the upcoming contest for 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, a mini assembly election.
The real surprise in these results came from Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. Of the 29 Muslim candidates who got elected to the 227-strong BMC, the Congress and the AIMIM between them bagged 22.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demands cancellation of civic elections where candidates won unopposed, alleging corruption and manipulation by ruling parties. He also criticizes the Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker and the misuse of BMC funds.
A BMC spokesperson said the average voter turnout stood at 29.96 per cent till 1.30 pm in the metropolis, which has more than 1 crore eligible electors.
Developed to meet the growing transportation needs of modern India, the fully AC Vande Bharat sleeper train would offer passengers an "airline-like travel experience at economical fares," a statement issued by the PMO stated.
Throughout Parasakthi, Sivakarthikeyan mentions he is not against Hindi but the imposition of Hindi, notes A Ganesh Nadar.
Union minister Raksha Khadse of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday alleged that Shiv Sena workers were intimidating people in the Muktainagar assembly segment in her home district of Jalgaon in north Maharashtra, a claim exposing strains between the two Mahayuti allies.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were a 'blueprint for rigging democracy' and this 'match-fixing' would next happen in Bihar and 'anywhere the Bharatiya Janata Party is losing'.
Nationalist Congress Party minister Manikrao Kokate has resigned from the Maharashtra Cabinet after a court upheld his conviction and two-year jail term in a 1995 cheating and forgery case. This marks the second NCP minister to resign this year.
His remarks come after the Sindhudurg Police registered an FIR against Nilesh Rane on Friday on the charge of trespassing on a BJP supporter's house, days after the Shiv Sena MLA alleged that bags of cash meant for distribution to voters were found there during his "sting operation".
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