Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday came to the Y B Chavan Centre to meet NCP functionaries for the second consecutive day after announcing his decision to step down as the party chief.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, Pangarkar joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Friday in the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar.
'Karyakartas felt we should have fought independently'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday held a meeting of Nationalist Congress Party MLAs following his party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Walmik Karad, an aide to Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde, was on Tuesday charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in an extortion case allegedly linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
Siddique was unconscious when he was brought to the Lilavati Hospital on Saturday night after being shot at.
'Ajit Pawar is trying to sideline us; he is trying to be in the BJP's good books at our cost.'
In doing so, it further cemented the community's determination to support the opposition. But at the same time, it consolidated its Hindu vote bank like never before.
Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Jayant Patil appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai on Monday in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the now bankrupt financial services firm Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), an official said.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Wednesday announced to contest 85 seats each in Maharashtra assembly elections even as deliberations to seal a final seat-sharing pact are still underway.
The Centre on Wednesday accorded Z plus -- the highest category of armed VIP security cover -- to Pawar, official sources had said.
The Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has nominated Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora from Worli for the upcoming assembly elections.
The 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Maharashtra broke up on Thursday with the regional party deciding to contest next month's assembly polls on its own and pulling out of the government, setting the stage for its fall.
The BJP can win two Rajya Sabha seats with the number of MLAs it has, while the ruling allies Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP in Maharashtra can win a seat each.
Fissures have emerged in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti over the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' with a Shiv Sena minister raising objection against ally Nationalist Congress Party and its president Ajit Pawar for 'omitting' Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's name from advertisements and promotional material of the scheme.
But the atmosphere is now conducive for the Mahayuti to continue in power in Maharashtra thanks to the government's people-centric schemes, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is giving promises that it cannot execute, he said.
Khadse had blamed Fadnavis for "trying to destroy his life" and political career, over three decades of it spent in strengthening the BJP in Maharashtra.
Malik used to criticise the BJP-led Central government and the then opposition leader in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, when he was a cabinet minister in the erstwhile MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Maharashtra government's Ladki Bahin scheme, introduced to provide financial assistance to women, could affect the timely payment of subsidies in other sectors.
Former MLA Zeeshan Siddique has named several builders and politicians in his statement to police, alleging their involvement in the murder of his father and NCP leader Baba Siddique. Zeeshan claims that developers were in frequent contact with his father regarding redevelopment projects and that one builder used abusive language towards his father during a meeting. He also alleges a false case was registered against him for opposing a redevelopment project. This information is part of a 4,500-page chargesheet filed by police in connection with Baba Siddique's murder.
Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra, according to a senior BJP leader.
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.
The meeting was convened in the backdrop of the ruling Mahayuti's below par performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The 61-year-old MLA from Islampur seat of Maharashtra has been asked to depose before the federal agency in Mumbai on Friday, they said. Patil, a former minister of home and finance, is also the Maharashtra president of the NCP and is a seven-term legislator.
Devendra Fadnavis, BJP legislature party leader, will be sworn-in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening at a grand ceremony in Mumbai. NCP head Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde are also expected to take oath as deputy chief ministers. This is for the third time that Fadnavis will be sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, where elaborate security arrangements have been made. The formation of the government under Fadnavis comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls. Fadnavis, joined by Shinde and Pawar, met with state Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally stake claim to form the government. Following this meeting, the governor extended an invitation for Fadnavis to lead the new government. The swearing-in ceremony will be a grand affair with nearly 42,000 attendees, including PM Modi, several Union ministers, and chief ministers and deputy CMs of various states.
While the ruling combine faces strong anti-incumbency factor, opposition Shiv Sena-BJP needs to strive to win majority. Sanjay Jog reports
Hours after Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies can not demand that a Leader of Opposition must be appointed as they do not have the required numbers, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Bhaskar Jadhav on Saturday claimed there is no provision in the law which talks about the appointment of the LoP in legislature merely on the strength of the party.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as new chief minister of Maharashtra while allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy CMs at a grand ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday evening.
Pawar also said it is the moral responsibility of the major Opposition parties in Maharashtra to protect in the state assembly polls the interests of smaller allies, which were part of the coalition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to a police official, they have come across a viral post on social media in the name of an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility for Baba Siddique's murder.
Shiv Sena MLA Narendra Bhondekar has resigned from all party posts after expressing disappointment at not being included in the Maharashtra cabinet. Bhondekar, who was the Shiv Sena's deputy leader and co-ordinator for eastern Vidarbha districts, claimed his party head and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had promised him a cabinet berth. He said he intended to secure a cabinet post to become the guardian minister of Bhandara district, but he will now serve as an ordinary party worker.
Baba Siddique murder: Pune scrap shop owner held
Apart from recruiting 18,000 women in state's police force, Thackeray said all female police stations will also be established in Maharashtra.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Shinde met NCP leader and Public Works Department Minister Vijay Singh Mohite Patil at his official residence in Mumbai. He was welcomed with tilgul, a traditional Maharashtrian sweet, and a bouquet.
However, induction in the NCP-SP will come with riders, asserted the former Union minister.
Following the outcome of the Gujarat poll, the NCP is keen that secular forces unite and engage communal elements in a straight contest.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has claimed that the poll trends are in favor of the Mahayuti, crediting his flagship initiative, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. He expressed gratitude to the people of the state for their support and asserted that the outcome increases their responsibility. Shinde clarified that the alliance doesn't have a definitive formula for the chief minister's post, with a decision to be made by senior leaders from the three parties.
'If you are going to make undeserving MLAs as ministers, then why should sincere and hard-working people like us continue?'
Pawar said after Anil Deshmukh resigned as home minister in April last year, he once again asked the party to give him the home ministry, but he did not get the portfolio.
