A meeting of leaders of the two parties witnessed claims and counter-claims for a fair share in the two urban regions where the number of assembly constituencies has increased after the delimitation exercise.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed on Wednesday that Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar was willing to form an alliance with the BJP in 2019, but with a rider that Devendra Fadnavis should not be made chief minister.
Maharashtra Minister of State for Transport and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Gulabrao Deokar was on Monday arrested for alleged involvement in a 1997 housing scam related to the construction of 11,000 low-cost houses in Jalgaon, north Maharashtra. Deokar, who was a member of the Jalgaon Municipal Council between 1995 and 2000, was summoned to the Zilla Peth police station at Jalgaon and arrested, police sources said.
"Sharad Pawar's presence has extraordinary importance when a new battle for freedom is going on in the country to save the Constitution and democracy, and in such a situation, Pawar should not step aside," he said.
Speculation is rife in political circles over the past few days that he is likely to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has appealed against an interim order by a magistrate directing him to pay maintenance to a woman who claims to be his first wife. Munde, a leader of the NCP, maintains he was never married to Karuna Munde, who filed the case. The appeal argues the magistrate's order was erroneous and that the relationship between Munde and Karuna was personal, not marital. The court adjourned the matter to March 21, and Karuna Munde has agreed not to apply for execution of the interim maintenance order until then.
Sule said the intra-family duel in the Lok Sabha polls will not waver her respect for Sunetra Pawar as she is her "elder brother's wife and like a mother".
"Ajit dada has resigned and he is with us. Uddhav Thackeray will be the chief minister of Maharashtra for five years," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.
Notwithstanding the party's gag order, Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said Congress should go it alone in the assembly elections in Maharashtra.
'The name Shiv Sena was given by my grandfather, how can the EC change the name?'
The senior BJP leader said voters have always rejected coalition politics as the political parties forming such an alliance don't have any policy or leadership.
The ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra has garnered 37.38 per cent of the total votes polled in the just concluded assembly polls.
The elections will determine the fate of the Sena in Konkan.
Congress party in Maharashtra has its hopes pinned on a 'newly recharged' vice-president Rahul Gandhi for its revival.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil came down heavily upon the Congress on Sunday and said the party has become "a pain" for the NCP.
The delay in finalising a seat allocation agreement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections has ignited concerns among smaller constituents as the nomination process commenced on Tuesday.
Notably, when asked by reporters if he would take legal recourse after Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday, Sharad Pawar had said he would not get into all this but will go among people.
Maharashtra Forest Minister and BJP leader Ganesh Naik will hold a 'janata darbar' in Thane, a stronghold of Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde, amid speculation of unease within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The event, which will be held near the collector's office in Thane city, is being seen by some political circles as a direct challenge to the Shiv Sena's influence in the area. The BJP and Shiv Sena have been experiencing tensions in their relationship for the past few weeks, which came to the forefront with Shinde's recent warning to not take him lightly. The rivalry between Naik and Shinde goes back several years, with both competing to increase their influence in Thane. The event has been downplayed by Shiv Sena leaders, who emphasize that it is simply a public hearing to address grievances. However, the timing of the event and the recent tensions between the BJP and Shiv Sena have fueled speculation about its political significance.
Maharashtra government was contemplating a ban on gutka and pan masala products, Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar said in Mumbai on Sunday.
Hitting out at Ajit Pawar for his dig at Sharad Pawar's age, Nationalist Congress Party working president Supriya Sule, in a stern response on Wednesday, asked the Maharashtra deputy CM not to disrespect her father.
The Congress on Sunday demanded a thorough probe into Siddique's murder and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who holds home portfolio, should take moral responsibility for law and order "failure" and resign.
Maharashtra has "no future" under the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition government as it is controlled by corrupt politicians, Anna Hazare said on Friday.
The Thackerays called on Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, after he arrived in Mumbai from New Delhi in the evening.
Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents -- the Congress, the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar -- are still struggling to resolve internal differences over certain seats and fix an agreeable formula for the assembly polls even though the deadline for filing nominations is closing on October 29.
"Our family has around 120 to 125 members, including small kids, and in such a big family, if one person puts forth a different opinion, it does not signify a split," Sule told reporters in Pune on Wednesday.
The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Thursday said the state cabinet's expansion and allocation of portfolios are most likely to happen on July 14, but the rival faction of the party said it doubts the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde-led camp would be accommodated in the new ministry.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar is undeterred by the split in his party and can start afresh.
"Who are they to tell me to retire? I can still work," Pawar said in an interview
Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil on Tuesday became the new Home Minister of Maharashtra.Dilip Valse Patil, also of NCP, has been given Finance Ministry, sources said.The Home portfolio was earlier held by NCP's R R Patil, who along with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, resigned following the terror attacks in the city.
While the Congress camp has many contenders for the Maharashtra chief minister's post, its ally -- Sharad Pawar's NCP -- on Tuesday mooted a new proposal to share the CM's chair in Maharashtra. Chhagan Bhujbal, senior NCP leader and deputy chief minister in the outgoing Maharashtra government, said if the alliance was voted back to power, the two partners should get equal opportunity to share the top post.The Congress leadership, however, doesn't see any merit in the proposal
The reshuffle of Nationalist Congress Party ministers in the Maharashtra government is expected to take place Tuesday.
Hours after Congress leadership picked up suave technocrat-politician Prithviraj Chavan as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, ally Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday replaced Chhagan Bhujbal with party chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit as his deputy.
Hours after Congress leadership picked up suave technocrat-politician Prithviraj Chavan as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, ally Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday replaced Chhagan Bhujbal with party chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit as his deputy.
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.
Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has denied any involvement in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, saying he is being targeted by the opposition and some leaders within the ruling alliance. He compared himself to Arjun from the Mahabharata, claiming he cannot be cornered like Abhimanyu. Munde also criticized the media trial and social media trolling he has faced since the murder.
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.
Central leaders and those from Maharashtra attended the meeting at Pawar's residence in Delhi.
The Congress swept away the elections for Nanded Municipal Corporation of the state by winning 41 out of the total 81 seats. The Congress, which shares power with Nationalist Congress Party at the state level, went alone in elections to the 81-member Nanded Municipal Corporation, held on Sunday.
Without naming his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday launched a scathing attack on him, stating that it must be found out who betrayed the people's mandate, Bal Thackeray's ideology and an ally of 25 years.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah stating that he would never imagine even in his dream to insult icons like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
