Bajirao, an unorthodox leader, faced much opposition during his lifetime from the Brahmins of Pune. In the last hundred years or so, he has been ignored due to caste politics in Maharashtra where he has become a 'non person' for having been born a Brahmin, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Having spent the better part of his political career in the Shiv Sena, Narayan Rane has come a long way, leaving two parties and forming his own outfit for a while, before joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party and becoming a Union minister.
For the first time, non-upper castes are in a majority in the board, as the party continues with its outreach to traditionally weaker and backward sections of society.
Shah said it was a matter of happiness for his party that a descendent of the Maratha king has joined it and asserted that Bhosale's presence will help it in the upcoming assembly elections.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday left the Vidhan Bhavan premises without completing his address to the joint session of the state legislature amid slogan-shouting by legislators.
'When one says Shivaji Park, it brings to mind the Shiv Sena led by Balasaheb Thackeray. And that Shiv Sena is now Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena'
'Haven't you heard of the magical EVM machines? They can negate all our votes.' 'There is no hope. Modi is India's Putin.'
'The police are busy arresting people from Delhi, but not those we saw burning our home!'
The one thing holding back the plucky youngster who has never hesitated to plunge into unknown territory, is funds
'The most important priority for the next 25 years should be to strengthen our democracy so that it is supportive of social harmony, and to not just respect but to take pride in the diversity of Indian society in terms of the variety of languages, religion and religious practices and social norms,' explains Nitin Desai.
Meena Kumari's classic film released 50 years ago, on February 4, 1972.
Replying to a debate on law and order in the Lower House, Walse Patil said Pravin Chavan has resigned as the special public prosecutor.
ACP Shivaji Pawar has been asked to file his affidavit by August 15.
The Republic Day parade, which will begin at around 1030 am, will be a unique mix of the country's military prowess and cultural diversity, depicting the country's growing indigenous capabilities, Nari Shakti and emergence of a 'New India'.
A bill to modify the list of scheduled castes in Tamil Nadu by grouping of seven castes which presently exist as separate castes, was passed by the Lok Sabha on Friday.
After being outwitted by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the ruling Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is now facing another challenge of getting all its six candidates elected to the state Legislative Council in the June 20 polls, which has once again put the spotlight on Independents and smaller parties.
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
Earlier, there were speculations that the party may nominate Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, for the MLC polls, to be held on June 20.
Regional films may have prevailed over the country, but regional leaders still have far mountains to climb to reach Delhi, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
The MLAs of the three ruling parties and the BJP have reached Mumbai ahead of the elections.
It was not a one-way ride up though for the man who now could potentially become the BJP's national president over time.
CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja said the top leadership will not attend the meeting called by the TMC chief.
World over, pluralism is in retreat. Luckily for us, Indian pluralism and its consequent tolerance of diversity is rooted in our basic values. As long as we remain faithful to these values and keep our institutions in good health, the Indian miracle of last 75 years is likely to last centuries, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Words and actions like those of R N Ravi and a vocal section of the state BJP have only added to Tamil fears and suspicions, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Shivaji was among a handful of Indian rulers to realise the importance of sea power... Not much attention is paid to his remarkable achievement: Building a modern navy and the revival of Indian maritime power.'
"Despite propagating that Rahul Gandhi is a weak leader, he is still standing and attacking the government at every opportunity he gets," it said. The Opposition will, at some point, rise from the ashes like the Phoenix," it added.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi on Friday, that put India into a select league of countries with domestic capability to build such large war ships.
A BJP source admitted that a census will inevitably reconfirm the numerical majority of the OBCs. 'That will overturn social equations and consign the upper castes to a twilight zone of marginalisation. The RSS won't accept it.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
'The margin of victory or loss would make both camps rethink their strategies for the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra.'
Thackeray was speaking virtually after the inauguration of a water taxi service, linking Navi Mumbai to south Mumbai, and the Belapur jetty in the neighbouring township.
The Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed the bill to restore the power of states and union territories to prepare and maintain their own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs).
A controversy has erupted over the portrayal of the Jat king of Bharatpur in the movie.
'The Kopardi rape/murder was the immediate cause of the unrest.' 'However, there is a feeling of isolation and anger that has been simmering within the Maratha community.' 'The protests gave Marathas a sense of belonging.' 'They felt they have a stake in the protests and the issues being raised.' 'As for the future, let us see what happens.' 'All I can say is it will not stop here.'
On such things as the meat ban and hijab ban, we are finding that elements that comprise the system are enthusiastic about denying people their rights. It says something awful about us as a society, asserts Aakar Patel.
'This Ram Navami -- the birth anniversary of Lord Ram -- presents the majority community an opportunity to shed its minority complex and offer an olive branch and discrimination- free society to the minority,' suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking review of the May 5 majority verdict which held that 102nd Constitution amendment took away the power of state governments to declare Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) for grant of quota in jobs and admissions.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday met political strategist Prashant Kishor in New Delhi and will host a meeting of leaders from several parties and eminent personalities on Tuesday to discuss the current scenario in the country, his party said and asserted that the Maratha strongman is working to unite the Opposition.
Bhide gave various references from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and attacked the current political and social system.
'If the person is silenced, then everyone else is terrorised and won't speak up.' 'See what happened to Kiran Mane, you will face the same fate.' 'They want to send this message to the world through my example.' 'We have to fight this and show that they cannot throttle everyone.'
