Senior NCP leader Hasan Mushrif admitted that Ajit Pawar was holding talks with NCP (SP) leaders on the merger of the two factions before his death.
Newly-appointed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has been allocated the portfolios of State Excise Duty, Sports and Youth Affairs and Minorities Development and Aukaf.
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, will be held with full state honors in Baramati. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to attend the funeral.
Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed in Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi assures that the Indian government is prepared to bring back Indians stranded in the Gulf region due to the Iran-Israel conflict and disruptions in Dubai, emphasizing citizen safety as the top priority.
Ritu Tawde of the BJP has been elected as the new Mumbai Mayor, marking a historic moment as the party secures the position after 44 years in the BMC.
The Opposition in Maharashtra boycotted the government's customary tea party on the eve of the Winter session, citing its failure to appoint leaders of the opposition (LoPs) in both houses of the state legislature.
On reports of the BJP opposing the NCP merger, Fadnavis asserted that his party hasn't opposed anyone.
Rohit Pawar highlighted the atmosphere of suspicion, grief, and political intrigue currently surrounding these events in Maharashtra. He mentioned an investigation into the accident, citing a book that suggests killing a person's driver is an easy way to target them.
This comes after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee hinted at foul play behind the plane crash and demanded the Supreme Court's probe into the incident.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Maharashtra unit president Shashikant Shinde on Saturday said his party chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders had no prior knowledge about the decision that Nationalist Congress Party's Sunetra Pawar would take oath as the state deputy chief minister.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra and is set to become the state's first woman Deputy Chief Minister.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has accused the BJP leadership of being the mastermind behind Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, alleging that certain NCP leaders also desire to prevent the unification of the two NCP factions.
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare's remarks came amid the suspense over a merger of the two NCP factions
Sunetra Pawar, widow of late Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, replacing her husband in the state cabinet. Her appointment follows a meeting of the NCP legislature wing where she is expected to be named as its leader.
With Ajit Pawar's passing, the 40 MLAs who remain will now have to decide whether they want to continue in Mahayuti in the company of the BJP and Shiv Sena -- or return to the Sharad Pawar fold.
In a surprising turn, rival Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have joined forces with NCP factions to contest local elections in Maharashtra's Barshi taluka, setting aside political differences.
'Because of him, we learned how to work for people, how to take responsibility, and how to stand by our decisions.'
NCP Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare reaffirms the party's commitment to the BJP-led NDA, dismissing merger speculations and emphasizing the ideology of the late Ajit Pawar.
The death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has created a leadership crisis within the NCP, raising questions about the party's future and potential reunification with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
Kakade said they will hold talks with the Congress and the Shiv Sena-UBT as well.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been appointed as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, marking a new chapter for the NCP and presenting her with the challenge of leading the party.
'In any aviation emergency, the first rule is aviate -- fly the aircraft.' 'The fact that the commander's voice is not on the recording simply means he was focused entirely on flying. It does not imply anything more than that.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday trounced the opposition including the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar by winning decisive mandates in Pune and neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad in the civic polls, retaining power in both municipal corporations.
Following a hung result in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation elections, both the Congress and BJP are claiming they will secure the Mayor's position. Congress emerged as the single largest party, but the BJP claims to have support from Congress corporators.
Nationalist Congress Party considers Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, for the position of NCP legislature leader, emphasizing the importance of family consent in the decision-making process.
With local body elections approaching in Maharashtra, a significant portion of the Congress party is advocating for contesting independently to regain lost ground amidst the BJP's growing influence. The party is currently part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party is falling short of a majority in the municipal corporations of Sangli and Akola in Maharashtra and needs the support of other parties or elected members, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar has emerged as one of the decisive factors with three seats in its kitty in each civic body.
The Congress won elections to the Latur Municipal Corporation (LMC) in central Maharashtra on Friday, bagging a clear majority with 43 seats in the 70-member body, leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party a distant second with 22 seats.
Popularly known as 'Ajit Dada', he was known to say things as they were, without couching it in any soft padding.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged victorious in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also vanquished the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in the Pune civic body.
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, will be held with full state honors in Baramati. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend.
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that the truth would not emerge through existing mechanisms and called for a probe, several opposition leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge backed her demand.
Despite their top leaders frowning upon such practices, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Congress came together in the Achalpur Municipal Council in Maharashtra's Amravati district to ensure unopposed election of various committee chairpersons.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget, focusing on investments and growth. The speech was marked by its business-like approach and lack of cultural references, while opposition members raised concerns about regional representation.
With the Congress coming third overall and having done much better than Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP, its allies in Maha Vikas Aghadi, political analysts said it will force a rethink as far as coordination, seat-sharing and leadership are concerned ahead of the 2029 assembly polls.
65 candidates from ten municipal corporations in Maharashtra were declared elected unopposed ahead of elections held on January 15, according to the State Election Commission (SEC). The BJP led with 43 unopposed candidates.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faces a crucial test in the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra after being defeated by the BJP-led Mahayuti in recent local polls. Political observers are calling the upcoming contest for 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, a mini assembly election.
The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
Ajit Pawar became a ray of hope for Muslims, the only man in power who could resolve their grievances.