The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
Modi unveiled the statue on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day. He also participated in the celebrations at the fort.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Amol Mitkari said, "It could be a family meeting between the two leaders".
The rivalry between the local leaders of the two parties could be a cause of concern for Shinde.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Tuesday didn't discuss the issue of the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and has decided to take a 'wait and watch' approach amid political developments in the state, a senior leader said.
Discussions on other issues are in progress, Pawar said after the meeting, held at the Nehru Centre in Worli.
'Neither did I approach the BJP nor did they ask me to join them. It was a natural choice for both of us to make.' 'It was never for me to ask or for them to give.'
Thackeray also took a dig at governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over imposition of the President's Rule in the state.
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.
Shinde announced that his government is committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community.
'You know how politics is. You never know what will happen the next moment.'
Says pilots ready to resume work but civil aviation minister unwilling to reinstate sacked employees
'...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.'
The Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray has denounced in the Supreme Court the "highly improper" meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, barely three days before the deadline set by the apex court for the latter to decide cross-petitions filed by rival Sena factions seeking disqualification of several of each other's MLAs.
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.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed Thackeray had selected a candidate finalised by Congress for the Nashik Teachers' constituency without consulting coalition partners.
'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.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
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?"
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.
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.
'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).'
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.
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
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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'
Thopte's supporters attacked 'Congress Bhavan' in Pune and vandalised the property in protest against his non-inclusion in the Maharashtra ministry.
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.
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.
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.
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