Chavan said the Mahayuti and BJP's policy was Viksit Bharat and Viksit Maharashtra, as spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
If Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil drops a hint of supporting or opposing a particular coalition on the eve of polling on November 20, things may change overnight.
Now, with the INDIA bloc putting up an impressive show in the Lok Sabha polls and managing to stop the BJP juggernaut, opposition leaders will be looking at the senior Pawar for guidance in navigating the political space against the saffron party post-elections.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said the decision to field his wife for Rajya Sabha bypoll was taken by his Nationalist Congress Party's apex body and denied reports that senior colleague Chhagan Bhujbal was upset over the move.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dismissed speculation about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's successor, asserting that Modi would continue to lead the country for many more years.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from the controversial comments of some of its leaders on the Pahalgam terror attack, saying that only the recent CWC resolution and the views expressed by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and authorised AICC office-bearers represent its position. The opposition party's assertion comes in the wake of remarks by leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Hameed Karra and Saifuddin Soz that have triggered a row, with the BJP alleging that some from the opposition party were speaking "Pakistan's language".
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
L Murugan, 44, is the only newly-sworn minister who is not a member of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha.
"I feel no one can reject the contribution of Maharashtra and Marathi people in the history and present of the country. If someone is rejecting it, then I feel it is wrong," Fadnavis said.
The Sena (UBT) chief and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday met with Fadnavis and assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar at Vidhan Bhavan premises in Nagpur. Aaditya said they extended good wishes to the two and talked about taking a step towards showing political maturity and working together in the interest of the people.
The Bombay high court on Friday constituted a three-judge special bench to hear the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the law providing Maratha reservation following a Supreme Court directive.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday declared the candidature of Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, from Baramati Lok Sabha seat, pitting her against sister-in-law and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule from the home turf of Pawars.
'If the BJP had its way, it would sideline him in favour of someone else. But that's not feasible. There is no vote catcher in Bihar for the BJP.'
The BJP has again fielded Prataprao Patil Chikhalikar who humbled Ashok Chavan in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by over 40,000 votes.
The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a 'kursi bachao budget' driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to 'appease' Bharatiya Janata Party's allies.
'Chavan's political clout began declining since his Lok Sabha defeat in 2019.'
The Uddhav faction was shocked to see Pawar felicitate Shinde with an award.
The Raj Thackeray-led MNS senses an opportunity after the Shiv Sena-UBT candidate's lead fell to less than 7,000 votes in the Worli assembly segment during the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Controversial phrases like 'vote jihad' used by some political parties during the election campaign in the recently-held Maharashtra assembly polls are under the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s scanner, an official said on Wednesday.
Five months after a couple of Pawars jousted in an electoral battle in Baramati, two other Pawars will take on each other at the hustings on November 20, 2024.
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Eleven states and Union territories -- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand -- had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
'Earlier, Congress used to contest five seats in Mumbai, leaving only Mumbai North-East to the undivided Nationalist Congress Party. So we were demanding equal seat-sharing this time'
The BJP's surprise announcement of a caste census in the next census has sparked political debate, particularly in Bihar where the issue of backward empowerment holds significant electoral weight. The move is seen as a strategic maneuver by the ruling party to counter opposition efforts to mobilize support among disadvantaged sections of society. The decision is also viewed as a recognition of the growing influence of OBC politics in India.
Movie star-Minister Suresh Gopi visited Thane over the weekend to campaign for the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra.
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 Maharashtra minister alleged that Muslim voters were convinced that Uddhav Thackeray had "forsaken" Hindutva ideologies and the ideals of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray which led to them coming together to help the Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT candidates.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, veteran leader Sharad Pawar led faction moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking that both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) be given new poll symbols.
Raj Thackeray listed out his expectations from the PM in his third term in office.
The poll aspirants who feel threatened are seeking to garner sympathy from their voters by meeting influential leaders like Jarange in the Marathwada region
The BJP has also not declared the candidate for Mumbai North Central, which was won by Poonam Mahajan, daughter of late Pramod Mahajan, in 2014 and 2019 on the party ticket.
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
The list also includes the names of Mumbai BJP president Ashish Selar, fielded from the Vandre West seat, and senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane's son Nitesh Rane, fielded from Kankavli, a seat he currently represents in the assembly.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said all the party rebels contesting against the official candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have been suspended for six years.
The BJP and Shiv Sena, which along with Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party comprise the ruling Mahayuti, for some time now have been courting Thackeray, who founded the MNS in 2006.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate Amit Thackeray and his Shiv Sena rival Sada Sarvankar on Wednesday came face-to-face outside the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai where both of them shook hands.
Does voter deletion controversy expose critical gaps in ECI verification procedures and safeguards protecting electoral roll integrity?
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.
