Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has sacked Sanjay Raut as the leader of its parliamentary party and appointed Lok Sabha MP Gajanan Kirtikar as his successor.
The central government, in its typical sledgehammer style, has unleashed the might of its investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate against NCP and Shiv Sena leaders.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismisses the alliance between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray's parties as a move for political survival, asserting it won't significantly impact Mumbai's political landscape. BJP leader Ashish Shelar questions the motives behind the reunion, highlighting past criticisms and the Thackerays' changing stances.
'Eknath Shinde and 40 other traitors have become slaves of Delhi (Centre) to finish off the Shiv Sena'
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
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.
Even though MLAs are required to show their ballot to respective party whips before casting their vote, all parties have ensured their MLAs are housed in five star hotels closer to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha where voting will take place on June 10.
Both the Shiv Senas - one of Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde and the other of Uddhav Thackeray - marked their foundation day on Monday, with attack on each other.
Kayande claimed she waited for a year to see if the Thackeray-led faction would introspect over why party workers were leaving Shiv Sena-UBT.
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.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab claimed a drone was spotted hovering over 'Matoshree', the Mumbai residence of party head and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, raising serious concerns about a potential breach in a high-security zone.
Large hoardings praising Fadnavis' leadership appeared across the city, reflecting a celebratory mood within the BJP camp following its strong performance in the country's richest civic body.
While the BJP and Shiv Sena have announced a seat-sharing pact, another constituent of Mahayuti, the NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls separately.
The Maharashtra assembly has passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2026, introducing strict measures to prevent religious conversions through coercion, fraud, or marriage, sparking debate over constitutional rights and religious freedom.
Talking to reporters in Pune after his expulsion, Shivtare said the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is the 'real' Shiv Sena.
Matondkar had last year resigned from the Congress party, a key ally of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
'Now there is no fight between us (Thackerays); now the fight is with them.'
'This daylight robbery of elections is happening in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai city, so you can imagine what they will do to win elections in the interiors of India.'
Campaigning for the elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra has ended, with the battle for Mumbai's BMC taking center stage. Key political players are vying for control, with a focus on Marathi and Hindu voters.
All mosques have taken permission for the use of loudspeakers, Raut said.
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.
He had resigned from his post as a deputy leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Khotkar told reporters in Jalna.
'This is purely transactional politics -- there exists no family reunion as such.'
She wrote this in reply to an article about the proceedings of Bombay high court during the hearing of the stay order plea by the actor's lawyer against the demolition drive of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation at her property.
Sharma, one of the Mumbai police officers who were famous for killing gangsters in encounters, resigned from the police force in July.
He also said that all political parties need to ask the poll watchdog the definition of a political party.
Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, cousins and leaders of rival political parties, came together at Bal Thackeray's memorial on his 13th death anniversary, fueling speculation of a possible alliance ahead of local body polls.
In a big political win for Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday held that the Shiv Sena faction led by him was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged in June 2022, and did not disqualify any MLA from the two camps, a verdict that adds another chapter in the Sena legacy war.
Civic polls in Mumbai are to take place in late March or early April.
Ahead of the Mumbai municipal election on January 15, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aditya Uddhav Thackeray launched a blistering attack on his political rivals in a hard-hitting interview with Rediff.
In a letter to Shinde, who was sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister a day earlier, Thackeray accused him of "indulging in anti-party activities".
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, his deputy Eknath Shinde and other legislators of the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena visited the memorial of RSS founder K B Hedgewar in Nagpur. NCP legislators, including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, skipped the visit.
The opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) conceded defeat in the elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats, accusing the election commission of 'facilitating' the victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
The decision comes at a time when Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is holding the executive meeting of Shiv Sena.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman deputy Chief Minister after being elected as the leader of the NCP legislature wing.
The 'flaming torch' symbol was used by the Sena in the past during civic body and assembly polls.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also triumphed in Pune, where it made mincemeat of the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar.
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