Prakash Mahajan, younger brother of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, was on Thursday appointed chief organiser of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
In a resolution adopted at the ongoing 20th Congress of the party in Hyderabad on Tuesday, the CPI strongly condemned 'the divisive anti-national agitation started by MNS and other forces' in Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra.
Sooner or later, India will have to address the issue of regional disparity. Unfortunately the solution lies in social and political reforms in the BIMARU states. Presently there seems no sign of it.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday moved a court afresh seeking quashing of the extension of the police order prohibiting him from holding rallies, public meetings and addressing the media.
The gag order was issued on February 14 following Raj's statements against north Indian migrants that had led to violence in the metropolis and parts of Maharashtra.
"No programme like UP Day, which shows north Indians' poltical goondaism will be allowed to take place here (Mumbai). We will first request them with folded hands. If that does not work, we will face them with open hands," Thackeray said in an interview to Marathi weekly Lokprabha.
Raj said," If the Prime Minister can rake up the issue of ban on turbans for the Sikhs in France when the French President came to India, if Karunanidhi could take up the issue of problems of Tamils in Malaysia with the Malaysian government, if the Hindi channels in Mumbai spew venom against Maharashtra while supporting the people from UP and Bihar, then how come I am dubbed as a goonda when I speak about the self-respect of the state ?".
Terming the troublemakers as 'anti-national', Lalu said no one has the right to violate the fundamental rights of the people. About MNS leader Raj Thackeray, Prasad said, "He is desperate and such type of leader will never be successful in the country. The Government should take action against him and his supporters".
The rivalry between the two leaders began last year, when Raj launched an anti-north Indian campaign, demanding rights for sons-of-the-soil.
"I have said earlier also, let Balasaheb say anything against me, I will not respond, but let nobody else come between us. The minute anyone else starts to speak, I will not spare them," he said.
An FIR has been registered against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and a Marathi news channel for allegedly violating model code of conduct ahead the civic polls.
Within 10 days of being elected to the state assembly, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has already begun to make its presence felt even before entering the House.
In the overcrowded local trains, auto-rickshaw stands, BEST buses and long queues at the Bandra-Worli sea link toll plaza, the staple language of Mumbai is Hindi, unlike most of the other cities of Maharashtra, where Marathi still dominates the public conversation domain.
Karan Johar's latest production Wake Up Sid has come into trouble from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena because the film used the word Bombay.
After warning multiplex owners over screening of Marathi movies, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns at taxi and auto drivers.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission to allot a common symbol of 'Railway engine' to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for contesting the coming assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuedsay faced more flak across the political spectrum for blaming 'migrants' for malaria outbreak in Mumbai with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying the remarks were uncalled for and deplorable.
Talking to reporters in Mumbai, MNS general secretary Shirish Parkar said that the party would again raise the issue on 'World Marathi Day'. Admitting that the condition of Marathi language was bad, he quoted a couplet of veteran Marathi poet Suresh Bhat for the same. He also criticised the Central government for ignoring Maharashtra in the Railway Budget, which was presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday
Protests following the arrest of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday crippled retail businesses in and around Mumbai, the commercial capital of the country
About 10 MNS activists have been arrested from central suburban Dombivali and Kalyan so far for disrupting the exam and preventing candidates from appearing the examination, the police said.
The recent attacks on north Indians by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are a shrewd ploy of party chief Raj Thackeray to embarrass the Shiv Sena and usurp its core Marathi constituency, political observers in Mumbai say.
Observing that nobody can "hold the people to ransom", the Bombay High Court on Thursday restrained Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray and his party members from indulging in violence or making provocative speeches over Marathi signboards issue.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday held the Nehru-Gandhi family "responsible" for the lack of development in Uttar Pradesh.
Alarmed by damage made by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has chalked out a campaign strategy which would focus on making people realise that voting MNS is akin to voting for Congress-NCP.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has blamed "Bihari" migrants for the recent case of gangrape of a girl in New Delhi.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who forced filmmaker Karan Johar to apologise for calling Mumbai 'Bombay' in his film, has attracted the ire of critics for calling the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by its former name VT.The bustling terminus, designed by Frederick William Stevens, a consulting architect in 1887-1888, was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in 1996, but the abbreviation VT has stuck with most Mumbaiites and Raj proved he is no "At
Five suspected members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Tuesday smashed the entrance glass of an Airtel outlet in Mumbai to protest the private telecom major not using Marathi language prominently in a customer interactive system, police said.
Seven persons, including a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator from Dombivali have been arrested by Thane police on the charges of dacoity, police said on Tuesday. A local court has remanded them to four days of police custody.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Monday said he would approach the Election Commission seeking derecognition of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the wake of its party chief's remarks and subsequent violence in Mumbai targetting North Indians.
"Raj Thakeray is like a saitan, who has the habit of making remarks to continue being in the news by hurting people's sentiments and creating unnecessary controversy," a usually soft-spoken Nitish Kumar remarked.
The clash between SP and MNS activists in Mumbai took place before the start of the rally at Shivaji Park, where top leaders of UNPA were due to speak.
Angry mobs organised rallies against Thackeray, burnt his effigies and demanded action against the MNS supremo . Thackeray's statement, comparing the popular Chhath festival to a natak, evoked wide spread protests. Political leaders, cutting across party lines, slammed the comment made by Raj Thackeray. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan criticised Thackeray's statement.
A hoarding an MNS leader posted in Mahim, north-central Mumbai, to mark the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks, omits National Security Guard commandos Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havaldar Gajendra Singh Bisht who lost their lives battling terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel and Nariman House respectively.
Meanwhile, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a statement the reports suggesting that MNS has asked it to provide Marathi as an option on its website were erroneous.
The demonstration was staged at the Alka Talkies Square in Pune where the women lit the earthen stove fire using wood and kerosene and offered the tea without milk to the bystanders, even as party workers raised anti-government slogans denouncing the fuel price hike.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday supported cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and demanded that he be set free and the sedition charge against him be dropped.
Taking cognizance of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's attack on Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi for taking his oath in Hindi, a local court has issued notices against party chief Raj Thackeray and four suspended party Members of Legislative Assembly.Chief Judicial Magistrate R R Badodiya issued notices on Wednesday against Raj Thackeray and four other MLAs -- Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Wanjale, Vasant Gite and Ram Kadam -- and asked them to appear before the court.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning the outcome of the recent Maharashtra assembly elections and alleging hypocrisy in the BJP's stance on corruption. He also hinted at internal changes within the MNS, emphasizing the need for discipline and a renewed focus on the party's goals.
Alleging that Hindi news channels were distorting his statements, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said they should not air news without understanding issues.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Monday said he would go ahead with his protest march on Tuesday against the August 11 violence even though the police have denied permission for it.
