Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis criticized Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, stating the Mumbai civic body election is a fight for their political survival. He also defended development projects and economic growth under the current government.
Matondkar, 46, who quit the Congress in September 2019 after five months in that party, joined the Shiv Sena in presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra.
Battling the political crisis faced by the party-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for 'not attending' legislative party meeting held on Wednesday.
'The Sena is always ready for any and every eventuality.'
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in the Pune district of Maharashtra, following widespread outrage over the heinous crime.
Raut, however, didn't specify the number of seats the Sena will contest in Bengal.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party is ready for a "street fight and a legal battle", ahead of the crucial hearing in the Supreme Court against the disqualification notice issued by the Maharashtra Assembly's deputy speaker to rebel party MLAs.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday described the Election Commission's decision to recognise his faction as the real Shiv Sena victory of truth and people.
'This is only a passing phase and the Sena would rise again like a phoenix'
"Farmers' organisations in western UP have expressed their willingness to support the Shiv Sena and we may ally with smaller parties. In Goa, efforts are on to explore a formula like MVA. Let's see if we succeed," Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
The Centre on Sunday extended Y-plus security cover of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos to at least 15 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, officials said.
The seizure included the cutouts put out as the decoration display for the ten-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival which began on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced that his party, the NCP, is in discussions with the Shiv Sena regarding seat sharing for the upcoming Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls. This comes as alliances blur in the state-level elections.
Shiv Sena said that the party has no intention to change its political line of contesting all future polls independently.
From son of soil to Hindutva and from the BJP to Hardik Patel, the Shiv Sena has changed its stand time to time to reinvent itself.
The Sena-UB has fielded popular wrestler Chandrahar Patil from Sangli despite the Congress announcing Vishal Patil's name from the same seat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has entered into post-poll alliances with rivals Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in some municipal councils in Maharashtra, even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday rejected the tie-ups and warned of action against party leaders involved.
An irate woman confronted Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan during a BJP demonstration in Mumbai, blaming him for the traffic chaos caused by the protest over the women's reservation bill. The incident, captured on video, has sparked criticism of the BJP's protest tactics.
'It's better to part ways on a happy note than staying together nursing hard feelings.'
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.
While the pilot suffered injuries, the helicopter's rotor blades got damaged in the incident.
The police have arrested Shiv Sena's Pune city unit president, an office-bearer from Hingoli and four others in connection with an alleged attack on rebel MLA and former Maharashtra minister Uday Samant's car in Pune, an official said on Wednesday.
Activist Anjali Damania defends her use of AI to analyse call data records of arrested godman Ashok Kharat, amidst opposition scrutiny and allegations of illegal activity.
The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a whip to "all" its legislators to remain present full-time during the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature which began on Monday, in an apparent move to corner the faction headed by former CM Uddhav Thackeray.
Around 15 MLAs, who were lodged in a hotel in Gujarat's Surat, are being taken to Assam in a special flight.
The Congress party experienced a significant decline in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, winning a mere 15 seats out of 227. Analysts attribute the poor performance to strategic missteps, infighting, and a failure to connect with voters amidst linguistic and religious polarization.
"A BJP leader had told me that my phone was being tapped. I said if anybody wants to listen to what I am saying I welcome it. I am Balasaheb's chela (disciple), whatever I do, I do it openly," Raut told reporters. "In spite of the phone-tapping, we formed the government in Maharashtra," he said. Raut's remarks come a day after state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that the Fadnavis dispensation misused government machinery to tap the phones of opposition leaders, especially during the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said the matter is listed for hearing after advocate Amit Anand Tiwari sought urgent listing of the plea.
The Shiv Sena split last month when more than two-thirds of the party's MLAs withdrew their support from the Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray, throwing their lot with Shinde.
In a jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its candidate on Thursday lost the mayoral election in the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation as 27 party corporators cross-voted.
Maharashtra heads to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, with Mumbai's BMC election taking center stage as the BJP-led Mahayuti faces off against the Thackeray front. Key issues include promises for women, pollution control, and the city's financial health.
The BJP has emerged as the most dominant force in the recently-held municipal council and nagar panchayat elections in Maharashtra, securing the highest number of seats in five out of the state's six administrative divisions.
State industries minister Uday Samant and party leader Ramdas Kadam gave information about the resolutions passed in the meeting.
'Marathi-speaking people of Mumbai have now emerged as a consolidated vote bank standing firmly behind the Thackerays.'
"Shiv Sena is no different from Khalistan and Jammu and Kashmir militant groups, which are trying to create a rift between people along regional lines. The main aim of these forces is to split our country," Shiv Sena's North India chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal told media persons in New Delhi on Wednesday. "Bal Thackeray's role has been reduced to a mere puppet and he is acting according to his son's wishes," he said.
The Sena witnessed the first major jolt in 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal, the Other Backward Class face of the party who was also credited with expanding the organisation's base in rural parts of Maharashtra, decided to leave the party.
'The jail staff told me Kasab was served only jail food and not biryani.' 'They told me that Kasab was beaten regularly after court proceedings.' 'And they filled Kasab's bottle with urine so that whenever he felt thirsty he used to drink urine.'
A video of Sattar's visit to the Shiva temple in Rahimabad in his assembly constituency Sillod on the occasion of Mahashivratri on Sunday went viral on social media, triggering protests from the BJP and other outfits.
This is the third time in two days that Singhal, the Assam Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, has met the dissidents.
Here are the famous faces who turned up to vote.