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.
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.
'Switching loyalty from one party to another is completely unfair as it devalues my vote.'
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 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.
'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).'
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
The rivalry between the local leaders of the two parties could be a cause of concern for Shinde.
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.
'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.'
Modi unveiled the statue on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day. He also participated in the celebrations at the fort.
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.
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 36 new ministers included 10 cabinet and four ministers of state (MoS) of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of the Sena, and eight Cabinet and two MoS of the Congress.
"I am boring, steady and not impulsive...Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two," she said.
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.
'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'
Nationalist Congress Party in Kerala, a component of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front, has conveyed its reservations to the central leadership over the offer of support to the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in Maharashtra.
"If we had the numbers, we wouldn't have waited for anyone. The Congress and the NCP didn't cross the 100 mark...we will work as a responsible opposition," Pawar said.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed Thackeray had selected a candidate finalised by Congress for the Nashik Teachers' constituency without consulting coalition partners.
Praful Patel said all the MLAs of the NCP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena voted as per the party line.
Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the brother of Thackeray's wife Rashmi, "owns and controls" Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, it said.
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 speaker's order was pre-decided, it further claimed, adding that there was nothing to be shocked about it.
I will help, 100 per cent. Come (to me) with your parents, the MLA 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.
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.
The former Union minister also said the people in Maharashtra are looking for a change.
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.
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.
'It's better to part ways on a happy note than staying together nursing hard feelings.'
Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party on Monday announced entering into alliance for the coming Bihar assembly elections and claimed they were in talks with some other anti-BJP and anti-Congress regional parties.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned Pankaj Bhujbal, son of senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, in a money laundering case registered against him and others in connection with the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and an another case.
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.
The convicts were later airlifted to Kerala to lodge them in the Kannur central jail, official sources said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the alleged derogatory word used by his cabinet colleague and state agriculture minister Abdul Sattar was "wrong" and it cannot be defended even as protests against Sattar continued on the second consecutive day.
Against the strength of 288, the effective strength is 287, as there is one vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Patil said the rebel MLAs were not opportunist and did everything for the party and their leader when they were not even in a position to do so.
