Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
Leaders of the Maharashtra NDA alliance, including the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, are set to meet with the BJP's national leadership on Thursday to finalize the composition of the new state government. The meeting is expected to confirm the formula of one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, with the BJP likely to hold the chief ministerial post and its allies Shiv Sena and NCP sharing the deputy chief minister positions. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in the recent state assembly elections, securing 230 seats in the 288-member House.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan has allegedly received a death threat again along with a demand of Rs 2 crore following which the Mumbai police have registered a first information report (FIR) against an unidentified person, an official on Wednesday.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nominated Maharashta Governor Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan as their candidate for Vice-President of India. The announcement was made by BJP President J P Nadda, highlighting Radhakrishnan's extensive public service and cross-party respect.
'Maharashtrians are facing a dual battle -- numerical battle with North Indians and financial battle with Gujaratis and Marwaris.' 'This has created anxiety about survival and ownership over Mumbai and Maharashtra.'
'If Uddhav bhau and Raj bhau come together, who can stop us?' Prasanna D Zore reports on the fervour and hope set off by the Thackeray cousins coming together.
The incident occurred between Diva and Kopar railway stations when the overcrowded train was going towards Kasara, an official said.
Before her flight to London, Air India crew member Maithili Patil had made a final, comforting promise to her father, Moreshwar Patil, that she would call him once she reached the city. But the call did not come.
"I feel no one can reject the contribution of Maharashtra and Marathi people in the history and present of the country. If someone is rejecting it, then I feel it is wrong," Fadnavis said.
Against the backdrop of the end of a week long standoff with the Congress, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday met Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party unit chief Madhukar Pichad and other party leaders separately to discuss the political situation.
Former Maharashtra MLA and NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique has received a death threat via email, demanding Rs 10 crore and threatening to "kill him the same way" as his father, Baba Siddique, who was shot dead last year. The sender claimed to be a member of the D-company and warned Zeeshan not to contact police. Police have launched a probe into the death threat and extortion demand.
Rohit Sharma was honoured with a stand named after him at Mumbai's iconic Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Jitendra Awhad arrived in handcuffs at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Mumbai on the first day of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session on Monday to highlight 'growing attack' on freedom of expression and protest the deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said whatever the people of Maharashtra wish will happen, comments coming amid intense speculation over possibility of an alliance between his party and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his estranged cousin Raj.
An NCP worker from Pune wrote a letter in blood, appealing to Pawar to withdraw his decision and not make him and several other party workers "orphan".
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.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the incident of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad slapping an employee of a canteen at the MLAs' hostel in Mumbai sends out a wrong message about all legislators that they indulge in misuse of power.
Shinde was speaking in the presence of Union Home Minister Ami Shah at the inauguration ceremony of the 'Jairaj Sports and Convention Centre' built by the Shree Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj in Pune's Kondhwa.
NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule has criticized the Maharashtra government's decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in schools, stating that it will not tolerate any undermining of the Marathi language. Sule also criticized the state's implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, expressing concerns about its potential impact on students and teachers. She also questioned the appointment of a retired bureaucrat as the chief economic advisor to the chief minister and criticized the state's performance in areas like fiscal deficit management and the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Two pilots and an engineer were killed after a helicopter crashed and caught fire in Maharashtra's Pune district on Wednesday morning, police said.
Of the 288 seats in the state, BJP had won 105 in 2019 state polls, while the undivided NCP had bagged 54 seats.
As the meeting was underway, several NCP workers wearing caps with the message 'I am with saheb' demanded that NCP president Sharad Pawar reconsider his decision to step down as party chief.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar played down the buzz saying that he is not able to attend the NCP meeting as he has to remain present for some other programmes happening at the same time.
As the verdict for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections is out, here is how some of the big faces fared in the contest.
'Where would a person living in the forest for 14 years go to find vegetarian food? Is it correct or not (question to the public)? Tell me when I am telling the truth'
Bhujbal said he had an elaborate discussion with the CM on the prevailing political and social atmosphere 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.
Pankaja Munde of the BJP -- Dhananjay Munde's cousin -- has been made the guardian minister of Jalna district.
They slammed the Union and state governments for the collapse, with Uddhav Thackeray calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's apology as one "smacking of arrogance", while Sharad Pawar said the episode was an example of corruption.
Ajit Pawar-led group was the real Nationalist Congress Party when two factions emerged in the party in July 2023, Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday held.
Beleaguered Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday, days after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as the mastermind in the murder of a village sarpanch and three months after the new Mahayuti government assumed office.
NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto also claimed that the party working president Supriya Sule and state unit chief Jayant Patil are contacting all the 53 MLAs and the picture will become clearer by Monday.
'In this assembly election, Muslims here will vote for one who works, but also one who safeguards their identity.' 'Their existence is more important they feel, than a faulty light meter. So yes, a Muslim representative will make a difference.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya, who was vocal about allegations of corruption against many Nationalist Congress Party leaders, including the recently inducted ministers Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Sunil Tatkare and Hasan Mushrif, on Tuesday refrained from commenting against them.
Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
'Like me there are crores of Marathi people in the state hoping for this miracle to work.'
Ajit's remarks came at a time when Maharashtra is witnessing heated political debates over the Mahayuti government's demand to remove Mughal empire Aurangzeb's grave from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
The Maharashtra minister alleged that Muslim voters were convinced that Uddhav Thackeray had "forsaken" Hindutva ideologies and the ideals of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray which led to them coming together to help the Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT candidates.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
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