A teenager was detained for questioning on Wednesday at Palghar in Thane district for posting 'vulgar' comments against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and the people of Maharashtra on Facebook, said the police.
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray has extended an olive branch to his cousin Raj Thackeray, who went on to form the Maharashtra Narvnirman Sena in 2006.
Raj Thackeray had also said if such a step was not taken, loudspeakers would be installed outside mosques to play Hanuman Chalisa at a higher volume.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackrey on Monday 1came under all round fire for threatening to throw out Biharis from Maharashtra even as a case was filed against him in Nalanda for his hate speech.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday charged the Centre and Maharashtra government with failing to rein in Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for his threat to throw Biharis out of Maharashtra.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has conveyed his concern to Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh over the security of Biharis and other Hindi-speaking people living there. Kumar also sought effective steps for the safety and security of these people, a spokesman for the chief minister's office said. Deshmukh assured the Bihar chief minister of providing security to the lives and property of the Hindi-speaking population in Maharashtra.
Thackeray also slammed the "Owaisi brothers" (AIMIM leaders) for allegedly ridiculing the names of Hindu gods.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday alleged the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of collusion with Raj Thackeray and sought to remind the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president that Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan had made immense contribution to Maharashtra.
Accepting its defeat in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the Congress had benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. "The Congress has benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. In Maharashtra, it is clear that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a factor. Similarly, in Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Janhit Congress divided the opposition votes.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has stressed the need for overall change in Maharashtra as since the state's formation development was halted.
The Mumbai police on Monday resorted to lathicharge to disperse agitating supporters of Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Azmi in suburban Govandi, protesting the assault on the Samajwadi Party leader in Maharashtra assembly by members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Congress in Maharashtra had made efforts to woo the Raj Thackeray-led party to back UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for the presidential poll.
With the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation elections throwing up a hung verdict, all eyes are now on the next moves of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.
It seems the Bharatiya Janata Party proposes but the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena disposes.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday visited Shiv Sena president Bal Thackeray, undergoing treatment at Lilavati Hospital in suburban Bandra, hospital sources said.
Thackeray on Sunday said he had deferred his visit to Ayodhya in UP as there was ploy to "trap" his party workers into legal issues.
"My brand of politics will work", thundered Raj Thackeray after his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena romped home with an impressive 13 seats in the first Assembly polls the party contested.
They are political rivals, but when it comes to celebrating Bihar Diwas in Mumbai, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has backed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and has urged him to ignore Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's threat. The impending visit on April 15 has become controversial in Maharashtra.
After Nitish Kumar's statement that nobody can stop him from visiting Mumbai to attend Bihar's centenary celebrations here rubbed Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena the wrong way, the organisers on Thursday clarified the event is purely socio-cultural and has no political overtones.
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly was continuing in brisk pace in Mumbai on Tuesday. 20 per cent polling had already been completed in the state till noon.
Tinsel town beauties added glamour to the ongoing Navratri festivities doing what they do best -- dance.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday announced formation of two labour unions in the railways and aviation sector.
A Delhi court on Thursday issued summons against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for his alleged hate speeches against north Indians and instigating violence against them on various occasions.Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Yaduvanshi directed that a summons be issued against Raj Thackeray for September 28.
Raj was dubbed as 'Dhanajirao' -- a euphemism for one who is wealthy or hankers after money -- by his uncle and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday asked Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to mend ways and desist from the smear campaign against the Nationalist Congress Parry or face a "befitting reply".
Defying Maharashtra government's order asking him not to make provocative speeches, Raj, addressing a rally in Thane, spewed venom against North Indians justified his agitation against them who he said encroached on job prospects of locals in Maharashtra. He said it would not be possible for him to abide by the government's gag order and he cannot be a 'mute spectator when interests of Maharashtra are at stake'.
"We have granted conditional permission to hold a meeting. The permission refrains the party from making any provocative statements that harm peace in the city and violate Indian Penal Code," Tukaram Chavan, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Thane, told PTI.
Nitish Kumar requested Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to deal with such divisive elements with an iron fist. "I expect the Maharashtra government to act tough and protect our students," Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Monday morning.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
Terming north-Indians as the life-line of Mumbai, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said that anti-people forces like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Shiv Sena were trying to divide the nation."Maharashtra has 57 per cent of north Indians who are toiling for the progress of the state and nation. MNS and Bal Thackeray would face a severe repercussion of their drive, to separate people, on the basis of region or language," said Paswan.
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi asked Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on what grounds it planned to revoke the suspension of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLAs who disrupted Azmi's oath taking.
In a blow to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's apparent attempt to score brownie points over its arch rival Shiv Sena, the Bombay high court on Friday refused to grant permission to the Raj Thackeray-led party to hold a public meeting at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.
In a huge embarrassment to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, the United Progressive Alliance has lost the Khadakwasla assembly seat which had witnessed a by-election on October 13.
According to Raj, north India has always looked down with contempt upon Maharashtra and if the draft notification of CMZ is implemented, development of Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular would be adversely affected.
A Mumbai court on Wednesday cancelled the warrant issued against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray after he appeared in a case registered against him for violence during Railway Recruitment Board examinations at a college in suburban Bandra in October 2008.
Seeking to downplay speculation that it was reviewing its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the bond between the two parties was "strong" and there was need for worry.
In the backdrop of Wednesday's serial blasts, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday blamed "hordes of migrants" coming to Mumbai for spurt in crime rate in the state.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena would not participate in Thane bandh on Thursday, called to protest the civic administration's demolition drive against illegal and dilapidated structures, party chief Raj Thackeray said on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday defended actor Salman Khan, who came under fire for claiming that the 26/11 attacks were hyped because the 'elite' were targeted by the terrorists.
Accusing the chief minister of watering down the Cabinet decision taken on Wednesday to make local language clause mandatory for 4000 new taxi permits to be issued by the state, Thackaray said: "More than the welfare of the people Congress CMs are more concerned about what 'Madam' (Sonia Gandhi) would think. Our CM should do a part time job with CMs from southern states to practise how to know to remain steadfast in their decisions.'