What India needs more than one simultaneous election is better governance both at the central and state level. Yes, we need reforms, but our priority should be to make elections less expensive, make it more democratic, do away with freebies which are actually bribes before elections, allow only those who are educated to contest, and bring in a bill to make it impossible for criminals to contest, advocates Ramesh Menon.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday alleged that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had ordered to file a case of abetment to suicide in MP Mohan Delkar's death who was found dead in Mumbai on February 22 this year.
Uddhav Thackeray, who played the bold gambit of taking on the ally Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 and forged an unlikely alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, was on Saturday left struggling to make sense of his party's rout in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, which outraged the nation, joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Jalna ahead of assembly polls.
A 21-year-old woman was allegedly raped by three persons on the outskirts of Pune, while her male was assaulted, police said on Friday.
The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi supporters gheraoed Vinod Tawde and raised slogans.
Except for shooting, a major Olympic sport, most of the top stars in other disciplines will give the National Games a miss.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve has claimed that 70 women/girls go missing from the state every day and has asked the government to take steps for the safety and security of women.
People from different walks of life gathered outside the residence of Ratan Tata in south Mumbai on Thursday morning to pay their respects to the veteran industrialist, who died in a hospital in Mumbai.
The rout of Sharad Pawar-led faction has raised questions over his political future with a potential risk of a further slide in the party flock in future.
Daljit Singh, one of the 116 illegal Indian immigrants deported from the US on Saturday night, has claimed that they were handcuffed with their legs chained during the journey. Singh, who traveled via the 'donkey route', an illegal and risky pathway used by migrants to enter the US, said that he was deceived by a travel agent who promised him a direct flight to the US. The C-17 aircraft that landed at the Amritsar airport on Saturday was the second batch of Indians to be deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants. A third plane carrying 157 deportees is expected to land at the Amritsar airport on Sunday.
But if the reports are found to be wrong, those who made these allegations against him should quit politics, he challenged the leaders from the Opposition parties, as he alleged that efforts were on to defame him.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has opted not to grant tickets to eight MLAs, followed by Congress which replaced five MLAs.
Ajit Pawar's NCP, a constituent of Mahayuti, was winning or leading in 41 of the 59 seats it contested as per the latest figures released by the Election Commission.
The two parties are caught in a stalemate over the chief minister's post, with the Sena demanding an equal division of the top post's tenure and the BJP rejecting it.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Patole asserted there are no disagreements within the MVA, adding that discussions on seat-sharing were underway and would conclude soon.
Pawar had said he would quit politics if the reports about his Delhi visit before the NCP forged an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2023 were proven, and if not, those raising such allegations should quit politics.
Deshmukh denied the allegations raised against him by Singh during questioning and told the officers that they were an attempt to malign the image of the state government, sources said.
A family court in Mumbai has ordered NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde to pay interim maintenance of Rs 2 lakh per month to his estranged wife Karuna and their daughter. The court denied maintenance for their son, considering him an adult. Munde's lawyer clarified that the court has not reached a final conclusion in the domestic violence case, and the interim maintenance order is based on financial considerations. Karuna Sharma, Munde's estranged wife, plans to challenge the order in the high court as she believes the amount is insufficient.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray will not participate in the all-party meeting called by the state government to resolve the loudspeaker dispute, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said on Monday.
"Being a government officer, there are restrictions on travelling abroad. You can't leave the country without the government permission. Still if he has left, it is not good," Walse Patil added.
Singh asserted that Deshmukh set a staggering collection target of Rs 100 crore for his officers, specifically from Mumbai, while also discussing plans to target key opposition figures, including former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday staked claim to form the next government in Haryana, hours after he was unanimously elected as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party in the state.
A carpenter who had worked at Saif Ali Khan's apartment days before the stabbing incident was questioned by police, but no arrests have been made. Police are investigating the robbery motive behind the attack. The actor is recovering well after undergoing surgery for multiple stab wounds.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday claimed that the protest at Badlapur in Thane district over the alleged sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls was politically motivated and aimed at maligning the state government.
The MNS joining the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra could help it with a 'Thackeray versus Thackeray' narrative, fielding Raj Thackeray, an articulate speaker, to take on his cousin Uddhav Thackeray.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah held a brainstorming session on Tuesday with key party leaders tasked with boosting its prospects in 144 Lok Sabha seats, considered difficult for it, in the 2024 polls.
The Opposition had promised to scrap the Dharavi redevelopment project if it came to power. With the Mahayuti's massive mandate in the Maharashtra assembly election, that prospect has been laid to rest.
The man, Avinash Waghmare, was drunk and made the call on Saturday to "teach a lesson" to the owner of the hotel for allegedly overcharging him for a bottle of water, a senior police officer said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took oath as member of the 18th Lok Sabha.
'We wouldn't have had to face all this had our national leaders taken care to select a place for Sindhis and sent us there, instead of sending us all over to settle in places where the locals didn't want us.' 'They could have partitioned Sindh and given us a Sindhi state from its two Hindu-majority districts.' 'Wasn't that the logic of Partition?'
Bawankule said that the BJP has always respected Matoshri (Uddhav Thackeray's home) and its legacy.
The IAS officer said that most of the names mentioned in the 'unofficial list' used to figure in the final transfer order as well.
The bill was passed without discussion as the Opposition had staged a walkout over the alleged scam in the Teachers' Eligibility Test.
'The BJP is using administrative machinery to fight elections'
Nearly three months after his arrest, the Maharashtra government suspended Sanjeev Palande, an additional collector-rank officer, who was personal secretary to former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, in connection with a corruption case.
Maharashtra Home Minister Jayant Patil on Thursday showered praise on the Mumbai Crime Branch, which is investigating the 26/11 terrorist attacks, and claimed that the investigation done by it compelled Pakistan to finally admit that Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was a Pakistani.Patil told reporters that the Mumbai Crime Branch investigated the case properly and collected evidences systematically, which forced Pakistan to admit that Kasab was its national.
