Bharatiya Janata President Amit Shah's visit to Mumbai on Wednesday has been cancelled, a party spokesperson said in Mumbai.
While the responses of the candidates were predictable, depending on which side they belonged to, an interesting point slipped through when Rahul Shewale cited the Dharavi Redevelopment Project as a scheme that would add to Mumbai's importance. No big infrastructural project in Mumbai, he said, could be successful without the Centre's nod.
Sena President Uddhav Thackeray who is said to be upset over the recent meeting between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday ruled out the possible inclusion of any new players in the 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) even as he took a dig at the former BJP chief by calling him an "apt businessman".
Despite Dharavi being located in the Mumbai North Central constituency and Mahalaxmi Racecourse in South Mumbai, the issues have caught the attention of all parties and their candidates.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said he does not see any other strong leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level today.
Shinde said his new deputy Ajit Pawar has chosen the path of development and expressed his faith in the leadership of Modi.
They have already prepared a draft common minimum programme (CMP).
Attempting to break the deadlock in seat-sharing talks for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party will send a fresh proposal to the Shiv Sena even as it said it would like to contest seats its saffron ally had not won in years.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
'I would like to express my anger at the way party affairs have been handled by some people.'
The 25-year-old saffron alliance in Maharashtra is hurtling towards a break up with the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders walking out of a meeting with their Shiv Sena interlocutors that was called to discuss seat-sharing for Maharashtra assembly polls.
With neither the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the Shiv Sena willing to yield ground on the number of Assembly seats they want to contest, the alliance between them seems to be on the brink.
Pawar said, "I will meet PM Narendra Modi on July 18. During the meeting, I will take up various issues related to farmers with him. (NCP leader) Praful Patel and I will attend the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting."
The 25-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance split on Thursday amid continued deadlock over seat-sharing for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly polls.
With an eye on upcoming assembly elections after the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government will take a decision next week on the Rane committee's recommendation for 20 per cent quota for Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions.
With no clarity yet on seat sharing with old ally Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Thursday told the alliance partner to find a quick resolution to the impasse while making it clear that there will be no compromise at the cost of self-respect.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah on Thursday described the upcoming assembly elections as the second leg of the party's "Congress free India movement."
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena were on Sunday trying to make last ditch efforts to salvage their alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly polls after the Uddhav Thackeray's final offer of giving 119 seats to the coalition partner was rejected.
A day after the split in the saffron alliance, Shiv Sena on Friday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party, calling it the "enemy of Maharashtra", signaling a return to its original pro-Marathi agenda for next month's assembly polls.
With an eye on assembly elections after severe drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on Wednesday approved 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and five per cent for Muslims in government jobs and education institutions.
Vidarbha had given as many as 44 seats to the BJP in 2014. The Congress and NCP, plus independents and smaller parties, snatched 19 seats from the BJP, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
If the BJP goes ahead with the idea of forming a minority government without the Shiv Sena like in 2014, the NCP is less likely to support the BJP in any way.
Citing a recent court verdict, Shiv Sena on Saturday said, "Excessive lust leads to divorce" and asked the constituents of 'Mahayuti' alliance to exercise restraint while demanding extra share during seat allocation talks.
He dubbed the rumours of 'alternate formulae' being worked out to form the state government as 'entertainment'.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
Notwithstanding initial signs of a rapprochement, BJP-Shiv Sena-led 'Mahayuti' on Tuesday night failed to resolve its differences over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls with smaller parties expressing disagreement over the meagre share offered to them.
The OBC face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and former deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde, who had joined the Union Cabinet for the first time a week back, was all set to spearhead the party's campaign in the upcoming assembly polls in the state to wrest power from the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.
'Matoshree', the residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra, saw a flurry of activity throughout the day with the party leadership meeting district unit chiefs and local leaders to finalise the list of candidates for October 15 Assembly elections.
He also said that the BJP and Shiv Sena will go by what was "pre-decided" between them on sharing of power.
Fadnavis, the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister of the state, filed his papers from the Nagpur South-West constituency.
Daughters of the late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde are in the poll arena contesting from the Parli assembly and Beed Lok Sabha constituencies in a bid to retain their father's political legacy.
Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India on Wednesday gave an "ultimatum" till Thursday afternoon to Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party to allocate at least 18 seats to smaller constituents of 'Mahayuti', saying the party will have a rethink on its continuation in the rainbow alliance should the saffron partners failed to oblige to their demand.
Shetti said the SSS had committed a "grave mistake" by extending support to the NDA.
After being checkmated by the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Janata Dal-United-Congress alliance in the Bihar bypoll, Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the 'Mahayuti' needs to pull up its socks and refrain from gloating over the 'Modi wave' to fight the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Reiterating the Shiv Sena's demand for sharing the chief minister's post, Raut said the state's CM will be from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party only.
The impasse over government formation continued in Maharashtra on Friday, eight days after the state assembly poll results were announced, even as the Congress targeted the BJP for "cheating" the Sena.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance looked set to return to power in Maharashtra while Haryana could be a cliffhanger with no clear majority for the BJP or the Congress, Election Commission trends indicated.
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
Pankaja Munde -- who lit the funeral pyre of her father Gopinath Munde on Wednesday at his ancestral village of Parli in Maharasthra along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party general secretary Amit Shah -- will lead the the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the assembly elections scheduled for later this year.