He says there was tension in the area even prior to January 1.
Sharad Pawar claims he is not in a position to name the organisations behind the violence at Bhima Koregaon, 'though active role of right-wing forces behind the violence cannot be ruled out.'
In Bihar, where a bandh had been called, a railway station and a police vehicle were torched, an ambulance attacked and security personnel injured in stone-pelting incidents on the fourth consecutive day of the agitation, while protesters vandalised Ludhiana railway station in Punjab and blocked roads and rail tracks in West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
The woman climbed the security barricade to the 'chauthara' (platform) where the idol is installed and offered prayers on Saturday, before disappearing in the crowd.
'Raj Thackeray's political outfit will soon fold up in Maharashtra.'
'This shows how casually these officials approached a dispute simmering for years which finally erupted into violence.'
Prasanna D Zore discovered an electrifying atmosphere as the Yatra passed through Balapur in Maharashtra's Akola district.
Hazare appreciated farmers' protests at the borders of Delhi saying no violence has taken place in the last 10 days of the agitation.
'The Elgar Parishad turned out to be the first rallying cry against the BJP and RSS in Maharashtra.' 'The speakers took a vow not to vote for the BJP.'
The Dalit leader alleged that the 'false' FIR is the brainchild of the RSS and the BJP.
"The government is just giving empty promises due to which I do not have any trust left (in the government)... Let's see, what action the Centre takes on my demands. They have sought time for a month, so I have given them time till January-end. If my demands are not met, I will resume my huger strike protest. This would be my last protest," the 83-year-old said.
The attack on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Delhi on Thursday sparked protests in his home state Maharashtra and invited strong condemnation from political parties.
The man, identified as Pramod Jaising Hore, had posted a message on his Facebook page and shared a message on WhatsApp on Sunday, saying he would be ending his life in support of the reservation demand, said Mukundwadi police station's Senior Inspector Natha Jadhav.
A rail track between Sonua and Lotapahar stations in West Singhbhum, under Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway (SER), was damaged past Friday night in a blast that was allegedly triggered by the Maoists.
The protesters blocked roads in several areas of Mumbai, forced shops to shut down.
'Whenever Dalits have agitated on the streets, the government has blamed Naxalites.'
The Union home ministry has received a factual report from the Maharashtra government on the prevailing situation in the state in the wake of caste-based violence there, a ministry spokesperson said.
Ambedkar told Rediff.com that he intended making an application that private witnesses not be cross-examined by the Bhima Koregaon Commission of Inquiry.
'The cases have not reduced because the prosecution has found some other way to stop people from using their right to free speech.'
Speaking to rediff.com, Sena chief spokesman Subhash Desai said: "We have time. We will take the matter to the Supreme Court."
'To all those then who talk about ending Brahminical hegemony, my advice is: Get the Brahmins on your side,' says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Former colleagues recall the veteran political leader as a visionary with strong ground connect.
Protests broke out in some states on Friday, including Delhi's Jama Masjid and stone-petling at policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur, over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by two now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.
Addressing a press conference in Patna, All India Congress Committee general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party would like the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete its inquiry in three months and favoured setting up of a special court to facilitate expeditious trial.
Petrol and diesel prices on Monday were hiked for the seventh day in a row as a rally in international oil prices took retail rates in India to new highs. Petrol price was increased by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 29 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This pushed retail rates, which differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT and freight charges, to their highest level. The hike took petrol price in Delhi to a record Rs 88.99 per litre and to a highest-ever rate of Rs 95.46 a litre in Mumbai.
The former BJP corporator was named by a villager in a police complaint made three days before the January 1, 2018 violence at Bhima Koregaon. Yet, the police did not include his name in the FIR.
Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote -- the right-wing Hindu activists from Maharashtra - are no strangers to controversy.
Maharashtra Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on Monday announced full support to Vidarbha statehood and agreed to join the proposed Vidarbha bandh call on January 20.
Representatives of the Maratha community attributed the stepping up of pressure by the community to the "arrogance and lies" told to its members by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, and the "uncontrolled anger" among its youth over the delay in getting reservations.
Tension brewed in parts of Mumbai and adjoining Thane districts on Wednesday following Tuesday's incident of stone pelting on Raj Thackeray's convoy by alleged Nationalist Congress Party workers in Ahmednagar district, with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supporters attacking NCP office in Ambernath and calling a bandh.
The apex court had directed the RSS and the BJP to deposit exemplary damages within a week.
With Pawar backing farmers' protest against the contentious agri reforms, government sources on Sunday pointed out that as the agriculture minister in the UPA dispensation he had asked chief ministers to amend the APMC Act in their states to allow the private sector to play an important role in the field.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit stating what action it proposes to take against the police officials who arrested two girls from nearby Palghar district for posting comments on Facebook.
A two-day strike by wholesalers and retailers across Maharastra to protest against the imposition of Local Body Tax (LBT) began on Monday, bringing trading activity to a grinding halt.
Munde, whose party is a key ally in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, has made the demand in a letter written to Thackeray on Monday.
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
Maharashtra Industry Minister Narayan Rane on Monday blamed the Shiv Sena for instigating people at Jaitapur against the proposed nuclear power plant, which led to a violent protest killing one.
A district hospital was ransacked and a few buses were torched on Tuesday in violence during the Shiv Sena bandh in Ratnagiri against police firing that claimed the life of one of the locals protesting the controversial Jaitapur nuclear power project.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said that the violence witnessed during the farmers' protest in Maval taluka of Pune district on Tuesday was "pre-planned".
