Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
The Election Commission on Friday met the warring factions of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar over their claims to the party name and poll symbol.
The Maharashtra government, yielding to pressure and announcing that the Special Investigation Team will probe into the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam is a welcome step.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday claimed there was a threat to the life of party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Asim Azmi, who was assaulted by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena members in the Maharashtra assembly for taking oath in Hindi defying Raj Thackeray's diktat.
Speaking in the legislative assembly on the condolence motion, Thackeray, without taking any names, said, "Some people have gratitude towards the city where they live and earn their livelihood, but some don't."
Rana was elected from Maharashtra's Amravati Lok Sabha seat in 2019. She is an Independent MP backed by the NCP.
Even as the rescuers are braving hostile weather and difficult terrain for the third day to look for signs of life under the mound of debris at Malin village in Pune, Suresh Talekar, a Pune-based activist has charged the agriculture department officials of culpable homicide, and has filed a complaint at the Ghodegaon police station.
The Supreme Court kept in abeyance the disqualification proceedings before the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly till July 11 and sought responses to pleas by rebel MLAs questioning the legality of notices seeking their disqualification.
Describing female foeticide as a "social crime", Maharashtra Government on Thursday said it wanted a ban on stand-alone and mobile sonography units, and had urged Centre to make requisite amendments in the law in this regard.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
The former Maharashtra CM also said that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government was free to conduct an inquiry into the phone-tapping charges against the previous BJP-led dispensation.
The ruling Eknath Shinde camp in Maharashtra told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the rival side led by Uddhav Thackeray wanted the speaker of the state assembly to "usurp" the powers of the Election Commission when the ultimate test of majority in a democracy -- the floor test -- was ordered by the governor during the 2022 political crisis.
Shrikant Shinde said Maharashtra Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal had sent the disqualification notice to his father and 15 other dissident legislators under pressurer.
The Indian Medical Association rolls back their support but it is not known as yet if the resident doctors too would follow the suit.
The elections will determine the fate of the Sena in Konkan.
The Comptroller & Auditor General of India has castigated the Maharashtra government for alleged irregularities in the sale and allotment of land in the past eight years, resulting in loss to the exchequer.
Facing severe criticism from all quarters of Indian political establishment for his anti-immigrant posture, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray took his language war to Europe where he reiterated his oft-repeated views on the politically explosive language issue that helped his party win 13 legislative assembly seats in Maharashtra in October 2009.
Earlier, three Rane supporters quit their assembly seat which they had won as Sena nominees in 2004 polls, and had joined Congress.
Shinde said MLAs are keen on continuing the Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray.
Amid speculation that he has been asked to come to the national capital by the high command, he said: "I have not received any call yet. Let's see."
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed a 'deal of Rs 2,000 crore' has taken place so far to 'purchase' the Shiv Sena party name and its 'bow and arrow' symbol.
Earlier P K Sawant held the record of being the Maharashtra CM with the shortest term -- from November 25 to December 4, 1963. He was made the caretaker chief minister after the death of his predecessor Marotrao Kannamwar.
The development comes amid a close aide of Pawar saying 36 out of 53 NCP MLAs have extended support to the new deputy CM and the numbers could go to 46 in a few days time.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party is ready for a "street fight and a legal battle", ahead of the crucial hearing in the Supreme Court against the disqualification notice issued by the Maharashtra Assembly's deputy speaker to rebel party MLAs.
The doctors called off their five-day strike after Fadnavis on Friday gave an ultimatum to striking resident doctors to resume duty or face legal action.
He staked everything to ensure the BJP returned to power; and now that it has, he stands to lose a lot, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday reached out to the functionaries of his party, which is currently battling a rebellion, and sought to allay fears surrounding the survival of his political outfit and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Mungantiwar expressed confidence that the formation of a new government will take place soon.
In the first post-assembly poll shakeup, the BJP has replaced Munde with Nitin Gadkari as the state party chief.
Under fire from the Opposition for his insensitive remarks on drought and load-shedding, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday tendered an apology in both Houses of the state legislature, which witnessed uproarious scenes and repeated adjournments.
The BJP legislator from Nagpur stunned the state assembly when he showed papers, which showed how former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and a few senior NCP leaders asked officials to clear all obstacles with regard to Lavasa despite the project violating all laws.
The Nationalist Congress Party is likely to field its senior leader and former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil from Pandharpur, as his constituency Akluj in western Maharashtra has been reserved for scheduled tribes following delimitation.
There are limitations to milking national security, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi must apologise and take back all his remarks against late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar before entering Maharashtra, Bharatiya Janata Party state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said in Nagpur on Friday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party unit in Maharashtra on Thursday suspended eight rebels, including a sitting Member of Legislative Assembly, from the party for six years for contesting against official candidates in the October 13 assembly elections.
Slain Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan's daughter Poonam, who is contesting the October 13 Maharashtra assembly polls from suburban Ghatkopar, owns assets worth Rs 12 crore.
Members of the BJP and the Shinde faction staged a demonstration in the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Thursday while holding banners which read: "AU kaun hain" (who is AU).
In its first list of candidates for the assembly elections, BJP announced the names of 66 candidates of which 23 are sitting MLAs who have been given the tickets.
President Pratibha Patil's son and Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Raosaheb Shekhawat was on Tuesfay questioned by the Amravati police in connection with the seizure of Rs one crore unaccounted cash ahead of the civic polls. Accompanied by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Ganesh Patil and a battery of lawyers, Shekhawat reached the police commissioner's office in Amravati on Tuesday morning, where his statement was recorded in the case.
Two years after it was set up, the two-member commission which inquired into Adarsh Housing Society scam submitted its final report to Maharashtra government on Thursday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances