'...that he was in talks with the SS-UBT and would return if his ministry was snatched away and given to one of the NCP ministers.'
Observing that the sanctity of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution should be maintained, the Supreme Court on Monday directed Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the cross-petitions filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs by December 31.
'Switching loyalty from one party to another is completely unfair as it devalues my vote.'
A section of Shiv Sena lawmakers had raised certain concerns after the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined the one-year-old Shinde-BJP government.
Discussions on other issues are in progress, Pawar said after the meeting, held at the Nehru Centre in Worli.
Thackeray also took a dig at governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over imposition of the President's Rule in the state.
'Shinde saheb won't let anybody (Ajit Pawar) act like they did during Uddhav Thackeray's tenure.' 'Shinde saheb knows how to deal with such people (Ajit Pawar).'
Former Member of Parliament Anna Joshi has left the Bharatiya Janata Party to join the Nationalist Congress Party and will fight the Maharashtra state assembly elections from Pune.
Says pilots ready to resume work but civil aviation minister unwilling to reinstate sacked employees
Fadnavis was sworn in on November 23 in an early morning hush hush ceremony, with the support of Ajit Pawar, who then headed the 54-member Nationalist Congress Party legislature party.
The speaker's order was pre-decided, it further claimed, adding that there was nothing to be shocked about it.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
Asked if the fear of possible defeat made him rethink of contesting from Madha, Pawar said, "I have successfully faced 14 elections. Do you think a 15th will deter me?"
"I am boring, steady and not impulsive...Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two," she said.
Patil, Patel, Bhujbal, Awhad and their colleague Dilip Walse Patil in one voice said they will not accept Pawar's decision. A few party functionaries even tendered their resignations on the spot to put pressure on the 82-year-old politician, while some workers suggested that a working president be appointed.
Goa's former Tourism Minister and controversial Nationalist Congress Party leader Fransisco 'Miccky' Pacheco on Friday resigned as a member of the legislative assembly, two months ahead of the State elections.
In a big political win for Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday held that the Shiv Sena faction led by him was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged in June 2022, and did not disqualify any MLA from the two camps, a verdict that adds another chapter in the Sena legacy war.
After snapping ties with the Congress in the run up to the October 15 Maharashtra polls, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party has decided to support Congress rebel Vilas Patil Undalkar against former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan from the Karad South assembly constituency.
'With one fell swoop he (Sharad Pawar) won the sympathies of the NCP workers at the grassroots, his own flock of MLAs and bolstered his position as the NCP chief'
NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday received a grand welcome in Baramati, which is his assembly constituency and also the pocket borough of party chief Sharad Pawar, on his first visit after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra and parting ways with his uncle.
The inexperienced Uddhav is forced to match up against 24x7 political pros Amit Shah and Narendra Modi who have the added advantage of wielding power at the Centre, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
He was accompanied by his father, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, and mother Rashmi while filing nomination papers.
NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said his party has decided to support BJP candidate.
Ahead of the assembly elections, the saffron allies may be ecstatic over the swelling, but it's a double-edged sword with many older leaders wondering what they have got after putting in years of hard work, reports Radhika Ramaseshan
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.
Pawar, who was also the deputy CM in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which was in power from November 2019 to June 2022, enjoys the image of a grassroot leader and an able administrator.
"One nation, one law can be understood. But we will never accept one nation, one party plan of the BJP", Thackeray said.
NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leaders and former chief ministers Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj and former speakers Dilip Walse Patil (NCP) and Haribhau Bagade of the Bharatiya Janata Party were among the members to take oath early.
Thopte's supporters attacked 'Congress Bhavan' in Pune and vandalised the property in protest against his non-inclusion in the Maharashtra ministry.
The Nationalist Congress Party has failed to register even a single win in Pune city with the Bharatiya Janata Party making a clean sweep, winning all 8 seats.
Fadnavis claimed the BJP was "beyond running behind anyone" as the people of India were with the party and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The former Union minister also said the people in Maharashtra are looking for a change.
Praful Patel said all the MLAs of the NCP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena voted as per the party line.
The Maharashtra police has so far registered 141 cases in connection with the violence during the Maratha quota agitations and arrested 168 persons, state Director General of Police Rajnish Seth said on Wednesday.
Gawli was held for intimidation of a political rival
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Bombay high court verdict cancelling the caste certificate of Amravati MP and BJP leader Navneet Kaur Rana.
Nationalist Congress Party legislator and former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad on Monday said he has decided to resign as member of the legislative assembly over "fake" cases registered against him by the police.
Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the brother of Thackeray's wife Rashmi, "owns and controls" Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, it said.
The convicts were later airlifted to Kerala to lodge them in the Kannur central jail, official sources said.
With uncertainty looming over the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's stability in the wake of Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde camping in Gujarat with some party MLAs, the stand of 29 legislators from smaller parties and Independents is likely to be crucial.
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