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.
Amidst the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict, the Maharashtra government is arranging evacuation flights to bring home 164 citizens stranded in the UAE due to airspace closures, offering a crucial lifeline and support.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
A local court in Mumbai has accepted the police's closure report in the alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam at the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB), giving a clean chit to the late deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and other accused.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleges 'vote chori' amid controversy over the quality of indelible ink used in Maharashtra civic polls. The Election Commission has launched a probe into the matter.
Multi-cornered contests, deep divisions within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, reflected in the Congress and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray fighting separately and lack of a robust plan among its rivals helped the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai polls as it looks poised to rule India's richest civic body for the first time.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
The Shiv Sena has shifted its 29 members to a hotel in Mumbai, ostensibly for an orientation workshop to make them aware of the functioning of the country's richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
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.
Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed in Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra and is set to become the state's first woman Deputy Chief Minister.
According to reports, the order was translated into Gujarati for the convenience of motorists from Gujarat and was displayed in border villages, including areas near Acchad.
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
With the Congress coming third overall and having done much better than Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP, its allies in Maha Vikas Aghadi, political analysts said it will force a rethink as far as coordination, seat-sharing and leadership are concerned ahead of the 2029 assembly polls.
Maharashtra Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar has directed the MMRDA to scrap the proposed Bollywood theme park project under a Metro rail corridor following opposition from citizens groups. The funds will be diverted to other priority development projects.
A flight attendant from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, was among those killed in a plane crash that also claimed the life of an NCP leader and three others. The news has brought deep mourning to her native village.
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.
Sunetra Pawar, widow of late Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, replacing her husband in the state cabinet. Her appointment follows a meeting of the NCP legislature wing where she is expected to be named as its leader.
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.
An article about Sanju Samson's journey to success in the T20 World Cup, highlighting the influence of his father's advice and his commitment to his roots.
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.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised doubts about the circumstances surrounding the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash and plans to provide a detailed presentation on the matter.
Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap on Tuesday withdrew his plea filed in the Bombay high court for seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government to grant permission for the party's scheduled rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on December 28.
A BMC spokesperson said the average voter turnout stood at 29.96 per cent till 1.30 pm in the metropolis, which has more than 1 crore eligible electors.
Two members of the Pawar family, Sharad Pawar and his grandnephew Parth, are contesting Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra, marking a potential first where both serve simultaneously in Parliament.
The tactical alliance between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may not have aided the Thackeray cousins to win the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but the pact helped them keep intact their traditional strongholds.
'The prime minister didn't come to Parliament.' 'But the BJP MP is charging that you wanted to assault the prime minister.' 'Only a person who has the intellect and ideology of the BJP can come up with such bizarre charges.'
The Bombay High Court granted bail to Akashdeep Karaj Singh, an accused in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique, citing insufficient evidence to link him to the organized crime syndicate allegedly involved.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has refuted reports that indelible ink marks on voters' fingers were being wiped off during the ongoing civic polls. The BMC clarified that the Municipal Commissioner had not made any such statement.
Senior NCP leader Hasan Mushrif admitted that Ajit Pawar was holding talks with NCP (SP) leaders on the merger of the two factions before his death.
Maharashtra legislative council's privileges committee has summoned comedian Kunal Kamra and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare for a hearing over alleged insulting remarks against Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The hearing has been rescheduled to February 17 after both expressed their inability to attend the initial date.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis orchestrated a significant victory for the BJP in the recent civic polls, solidifying his position as a key strategist and influential leader within the party.
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare's remarks came amid the suspense over a merger of the two NCP factions
Counting of votes has begun in the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections, with a focus on the Mumbai battle between the BJP-led alliance and the Thackeray factions.
Actress Tamannaah Bhatia has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), the makers of Mysore Sandal Soap, sparking controversy over the choice of a non-Kannada speaking actor. The government defends the decision as a business strategy to boost sales outside Karnataka.
Several ministers within Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance have voiced criticism regarding Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Deputy Chief Minister shortly after her husband, Ajit Pawar's, death, leading to disapproval from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Rohit Pawar highlighted the atmosphere of suspicion, grief, and political intrigue currently surrounding these events in Maharashtra. He mentioned an investigation into the accident, citing a book that suggests killing a person's driver is an easy way to target them.
Uddhav Thackeray asserts that his alliance with MNS chief Raj Thackeray is permanent, dismissing speculation about their unity ahead of civic elections.
The Shiv Sena has moved its newly elected corporators to a luxury hotel as the race to pick the next Mumbai mayor intensifies. The move comes amid political maneuvering and strategic positioning following recent civic poll results.
'This is purely transactional politics -- there exists no family reunion as such.'
