The Election Commission of India has dismissed claims by the Congress party alleging voter list irregularities during the recent Maharashtra assembly elections. In a detailed response, the EC asserted that there were no arbitrary additions or deletions of voters and that the electoral process was conducted with transparency and adherence to rules.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and questioned the need for Rane to remain part of the cabinet.
A court in Maharashtra has stayed the conviction of state minister Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, citing the potential for "huge public money" to be spent on a re-election if he were to be disqualified. The court argued that voters had reposed faith in Kokate and elected him as their legislator, and that he would face an "irreversible situation" if disqualified. Kokate, a member of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party, was convicted in February and sentenced to two years in prison for submitting fake documents to obtain government housing. The court noted that Kokate has raised several arguable points in his appeal against the conviction and that a decision on the appeal will take time.
The 40-metre-long crack was detected near Fatiyabad village on chainage 443/650, a release from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation said.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has demanded the death penalty for those involved in the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, calling the crime "heinous." Shinde said that no one involved in the case, including Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, will be spared. Deshmukh was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 after he resisted an extortion attempt targeting an energy company operating a windmill project in the area. Karad was arrested in the extortion case linked to the murder after he surrendered to police in Pune on December 31.
'The Congress cannot speak the BJP's words while targeting Kejriwal.' 'What is the difference between the two? Where is the unity of INDIA then?'
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on the premises of Vidhan Bhavan in Nagpur.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks that the Constitution of India is 'blank' because he has never read it.
He asked if DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, "who speaks of Tamil culture, such a serious allegation has been made--will DMK snap ties with Congress, for Tamil pride and the Tamil people."
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will ask NCP minister Dhananjay Munde to step down if any evidence is found linking him to sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh's murder, his cabinet colleague Chandrakant Patil has said. A comprehensive probe is being conducted into the murder of Deshmukh, BJP leader Patil told reporters in Sangli on Sunday. Walmik Karad, an associate of minister Munde, has been arrested in an extortion case linked to the sarpanch's killing. Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted, tortured and killed on December 9 for trying to stop an extortion attempt against an energy firm operating a windmill project there. Munde, the NCP MLA from Parli in Beed district, is under attack from some of the ruling alliance colleagues and the opposition over his links with Karad. The Maharashtra government has already seized properties of the accused in sarpanch Deshmukh murder case. Stringent charges have been invoked and the probe is going on, the BJP leader said. The police machinery is actively investigating the case, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been formed for a probe into it, Patil said. Additionally, a committee headed by a retired judge has been constituted to oversee the inquiry, the minister said. Steps are being taken, including invocation of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Walmik Karad and other accused, Patil pointed out. The process of seizing Karad's assets is also underway, he added.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
Shinde, participating in a discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, took a jibe at the opposition coalition Indian National Develomental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) describing it as a 'destructive alliance' and said the next elections will be fought on the issue of scams of the United Progressive Alliance and schemes of the National Democratic Alliance.
Addressing a public event in Kolhapur city on Monday evening, Fadnavis pointed out instances wherein women were tricked into inter-faith marriage and subsequently abandoned after they gave birth to children.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress's alliance in Uttar Pradesh came under scrutiny as both parties did not hold a single joint campaign for the bypolls to nine assembly seats. While both parties maintained that the alliance is strong, BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) claimed a crack in the alliance. The Congress opted out of the bypolls and announced coordination committees for all nine seats to support the SP. However, the absence of joint rallies raised questions about the alliance's strength. The SP campaign was spearheaded by its chief Akhilesh Yadav, while the Congress cited its leaders' busy schedules in Maharashtra and Jharkhand for the lack of joint campaigns. The bypoll results will be announced on November 23.
The Congress has tried to inflict capital punishment on true secularism, he claimed, asserting that the Waqf law has no place in the Constitution.
The EC reiterated that the process was transparent with the involvement of candidates or their agents at every stage.
The ceremony was organised in a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar area on Sunday morning, which was attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of Dharmadhikari who was conferred with Maharashtra's top civilian award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
'Maharashtra election result is a chamatkar of EVM.' 'There has been a sudden one percent rise in the voting percentage after the counting day.' 'This is what made the difference to the election results.' 'How did this vote percentage increase after counting day?
'Jitni umar likhi hai, utni likhi hai. Bas yahin hai.'
"The state-wide bandh will commence from 12 midnight," NCP spokesman and state minister Nawab Malik said on Sunday.
At least six people were killed and 30 injured in a stampede during a temple festival in North Goa, India. The incident occurred at the Sree Lairai Devi temple in Shirgao village, around 40 km from Panaji, as thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes to the temple for the annual festival.
Maintaining that the INDIA alliance is for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and not for assembly polls in any state, the Congress on Friday asserted that the opposition bloc of 27 parties exists and will fight together.
The PM said the Congress and its allies should not encourage the "Pakistan agenda" and speak the language of separatists.
The top court, which extended time till January 10, next year, had earlier asked the speaker to decide the disqualification pleas by December 31.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Karnataka government over actor Kamal Haasan's film "Thug Life" not being released in the state, saying mob and vigilantes cannot be allowed to take to the streets.
The Samajwadi Party announced on Saturday that it would walk out of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi after Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide hailed the demolition of Babri mosque and a related newspaper advertisement.
'Hindus have never been polarised across Maharashtra in any state election.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat of treason for his remark that India got "true independence" after the Ram temple consecration. Gandhi also criticized the Election Commission, alleging a "serious problem" with the country's election system.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that he, his deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, will work in shifts to ensure round-the-clock governance. Fadnavis will work from 12 noon to midnight, Ajit Pawar, known for his early rising habits, will be on duty in the morning, and Shinde, known for his late-night work ethic, will handle the night shift. This arrangement comes after Ajit Pawar's controversial return to the BJP-led government following a split from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP, under Sharad Pawar's leadership, is now a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). The recent assembly elections saw the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction, securing a comfortable majority.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar working president Supriya Sule has said her party, which won just 10 seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections, will introspect over the poll results and pledged to work towards a capable, inclusive and progressive state.
'The BJP has killed public anger. They have killed people's self-respect.'
Bawankule said that the BJP has always respected Matoshri (Uddhav Thackeray's home) and its legacy.
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing assembly polls in the two states.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has alleged that leaders of the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were involved in a "conspiracy" against his cabinet colleague Jaykumar Gore in a case involving a woman. Fadnavis said there was proof of communication between NCP leaders Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar, and one of the accused in the case where three persons, including the woman, have been arrested for trying to extort money from Gore. He also pointed to Gore's acquittal more than five years ago in a case involving the woman's allegations of harassment. Fadnavis emphasized that opposition and ruling parties are political opponents and not enemies. The CM also criticized the behavior of some opposition members in the state assembly, accusing them of insulting the House and pressuring ministers.
The Maharashtra Congress has convened a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday in view of the developments in the state that saw a split in the Nationalist Congress Party and Ajit Pawar being inducted as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde government.
