A senior Maharashtra government official has been removed from his post following allegations of irregularities in granting minority status to 75 educational institutions after the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the matter.
Shiv Sena Minister Bharat Gogawale's son, Vikas Gogawale, surrendered to police in connection with the Mahad poll violence case after the Bombay High Court criticized the Maharashtra government's inaction.
The Bombay High Court questioned the rule of law in Maharashtra, criticizing the Chief Minister's silence regarding a minister's son who is absconding after being named in a criminal case. The court was hearing a pre-arrest bail application related to a violent clash during municipal elections.
The BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance secured a majority in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, winning 118 out of 227 seats and ending the Thackeray family's long-standing control.
Twelve newly-elected councillors in the Ambernath Municipal Council, suspended by the Congress for joining a post-poll front led by the BJP, have formally joined the saffron party. The Congress criticized the BJP, highlighting the hypocrisy of welcoming defectors despite the Chief Minister's disapproval of the alliance.
The Congress party stated that Rahul Gandhi's lawyer raised the issue of a threat to his life without his consent and will withdraw the statement in court. The lawyer filed an application stating Gandhi could face harm from followers of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Nathuram Godse's ideology.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's lawyer on Thursday withdrew from a Pune court the plea claiming apprehension of threat to the parliamentarian from followers of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pleaded not guilty in a Pune court in a defamation case pertaining to his comments on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar. The case was filed by Satyaki Savarkar, a grandnephew of V D Savarkar, accusing Gandhi of making false allegations against the Hindutva ideologue during his address in London in March 2023.
The Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has nominated Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora from Worli for the upcoming assembly elections.
'Raj Thackeray is working at the behest of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.'
A special court in Pune on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
Senior Congress leader Milind Deora on Saturday dismissed as 'rumours' the speculation that he was on his way out and would join the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Additional sessions judge SB Salunke acquitted 20 persons, including Desai, for want of evidence, the HRS leader's lawyer Milind Pawar said.
Speculation is rife in political circles over the past few days that he is likely to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
As the verdict for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections is out, here is how some of the big faces fared in the contest.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Ziauddin Siddique, popularly known as Baba Siddique, on Thursday said he had resigned from the party and will be joining the Ajit Pawar led-Nationalist Congress Party.
With all the evasions, one assertion made by the Pune (Rural) police stood out: They had found no connection of the Elgar Parishad with the violent incidents of January 1, 2018. Yet, the case against the 'Bhima Koregaon 16', which is based on exactly this alleged connection, continues, and seven of the accused continue to be behind bars under the UAPA, explains Jyoti Punwani.
The Samajwadi Party announced on Saturday that it would walk out of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi after Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide hailed the demolition of Babri mosque and a related newspaper advertisement.
For four days, the officer avoided giving any straight answers, becoming the first witness in the 48 witnesses that have appeared so far, to have achieved this feat.
Milind Narvekar, the close aide of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad are also contesting the election and have filed their nominations from the panel formed by Pawar and Shelar.
The election campaign was one of the most vitriolic in the state, but you would not have guessed it from the smiles and selfies from the politicians.
Shivaji Pawar made a startling revelation: Though the subject matter of his investigation was the January 1 violence, he had not examined any of the witnesses to that violence.
The article had criticised the BJP for forming an alliance with the NCP.
A total of 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, a poll official said.
The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to its ally Sena (UBT)'s nominee Narvekar, party sources said. Eventually, Satav got 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, which meant at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has shifted its focus back to Hindutva after suffering significant losses in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections. The party has been vocal about attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and has taken a stance to "protect" a Hanuman Temple in Mumbai. Observers say this move is an attempt to regain its core voter base and counter the BJP's narrative on Hindutva, ahead of the upcoming civic polls. Analysts believe the party's "secular" stand may not be effective in the BMC elections and that its return to Hindutva is a sign of frustration from electoral setbacks.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday fielded Milind Narvekar, a close aide of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, in the biennial elections to 11 seats from the legislative council, taking the number of candidates in the fray to 12.
Shinde had retained most of the sitting MLAs, who chose to be with him when he led the rebellion two years ago. They delivered for him on Saturday when votes for the state polls were counted.
Naxal activities are not limited to only remote areas of eastern Maharashtra but `urban naxalisation' is being seen in big cities of the state, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar claimed on Thursday.
Manish Tewari's public expression of regret for his outburst against Anna Hazare has failed to cut much ice with the anti-corruption crusader, who Thursday sent a legal notice to the Congress spokesman seeking a written apology for calling him corrupt from "head to toe".
Even as Congress spokesman Manish Tewari on Thursday expressed regret over his remarks against Anna Hazare, the Gandhian's lawyer said a case of defamation would be filed against the Lok Sabha MP in a court in Pune next week.
Apart from Sharad Pawar, the commission will also record the evidence of the then superintendent of police (Pune Rural) Suvez Haq, then additional SP, Sandip Pakhale and the then additional commissioner, Pune, Ravindra Sengaonkar, between February 21 and February 25.
Despite Sharad Pawar's categorical stand, the Maharashtra government has done nothing to ease the suffering of the Bhima Koregaon 16, who have been denied their basic rights to health and to communication with their families while in jail.
Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will be held on June 4.
A court in Pune has discharged social activist Anna Hazare in a case of alleged misappropriation of funds in the Hind Swaraj Trust, headed by him.
Kumar also hinted that the Maharashtra elections could be held after Diwali.
Pawar recorded his testimony before the commission in Mumbai in connection with the January 2018 violence at the Koregaon Bhima war memorial in Pune district of Maharashtra.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
There is a growing unease among Lok Sabha ticket aspirants in the Shiv Sena amid its decision to drop three sitting MPs and the ongoing seat-sharing talks between the Mahayuti partners, party sources said.
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