The ministry-making exercise took so long because many factors needed to be balanced. But now that it is in place, not everyone is happy with the resultant equation.
With Narayan Rane, the BJP looks to expand its footprint in Mumbai and Konkan. But a perceived self-goal by him may have galvanised the restive Shiv Sena cadre and voters to coalesce around their party. Dhaval Kulkarni reports
The opposition is likely to put up a joint candidate for the July 18 presidential election despite not having numbers on its side, and consultations in this regard have already begun.
'Can we slip through the cracks in the alliance and use the situation to our advantage?'
While the BJP and ally Shiv Sena are yet to announce the seat-sharing pact for the polls, scheduled on October 21, the Amit Shah-led party believes it will be back to power with a thumping majority.
Firing a fresh salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party which had accused the Shiv Sena of paying only lip service to the cause of Hindutva, the latter's member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed that the Sena was the first party in the country to contest an election on the Hindutva plank.
Amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said there are no detention centres in the state and Muslim citizens need not worry under his regime.
Fadnavis and his entourage, which included several senior BJP leaders, moved on without reacting to the jeers.
On Friday, Ajit caused a flutter in the party when he sent his resignation as the MLA from Baramati segment to Legislative Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade, which has been accepted.
Thackeray and BJP legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis lauded Patole's work as legislator and farmers' leader.
Thackeray's statement comes in the backdrop of rebel group leader Eknath Shinde daring the party to disclose the names of some of the MLAs camping in Guwahati who were reportedly in touch with the party leadership.
The alliance won 41 of the 48 seats leaving the Congress-NCP combine with just 5 seats.
The Sena witnessed the first major jolt in 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal, the Other Backward Class face of the party who was also credited with expanding the organisation's base in rural parts of Maharashtra, decided to leave the party.
'Look at the impropriety of the Anti-Corruption Bureau giving Ajit Pawar a clean chit!'
Thackeray, 59, became the third Sena leader after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane to occupy the top post.
He also demanded mid-term elections in Maharashtra, saying that people should be allowed to take a stand on toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by him.
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
Failure to get elected by May 28, ie within six months of taking oath as CM, would have resulted into a Constitutional crisis for the Thackeray-led government, which was averted after the Election Commission announced elections to the nine seats in the Council.
Shelar also claimed that the MVA govt was obstructing the Centre's strong actions to tackle the drug menace in the country.
Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday agreed to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra chief minister after a last-minute call from BJP President Amit Shah inviting him to the event.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray on Sunday got married to his fiancee and fashion designer Mitali Borude at a hotel in Mumbai's central area of Lower Parel.
This is the third minister in the Vijayan cabinet to resign after the LDF government came to power in May 2016.
'Badle ki bhavna (revengeful politics) was never seen in Maharashtra and Indian politics, but now we are witnessing all that today.'
'When it is an open ballot, the division taking place in the open house will be for all to see.' 'As they say sunlight is the best disinfectant, this (aspect of the order) brings in transparency and it's in keeping with the best democratic principles.'
'He deliberately encouraged my rivals to diminish my influence in the party.'
Except for the Devendra Fadnavis- led government during 2014-19, Anil Deshmukh has managed to find a berth in the state ministry irrespective of which party came to power in the last over two decades.
The NCP leader defeated his cousin Pankaja Munde of the BJP in the just-concluded assembly elections from Parli in Beed district of central Maharashtra.
While Ahmed Patel staved off the challenge to his Rajya Sabha membership, it leaves the scene wide open for the Gujarat assembly election this winter.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
Thackeray said not a single tree leaf will be cut till further developments.
Among MLAs with criminal cases, 33 have declared serious cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery etc.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
Even as the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress were burning the candle at both ends to hammer out a deal over forming the government in Maharashtra, the Amit Shah-led BJP was quietly planning its moves.
State minister Nawab Malik said the Centre has written to the Maharashtra chief secretary, saying the proposed Metro-3 car shed land in suburban Kanjurmarg belongs to it, as he accused the opposition BJP of conspiring to stall the project through the Union government.
In her three recent tweets posted on November 28, she congratulated Maharashtra's new Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray but not the government formed by the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's 'rashtrapatni' remark snowballed into a major political row on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the opposition party of insulting President Droupadi Murmu and demanding that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation.
In a tweet, Ranaut had recently asked "why is Mumbai feeling like Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir?" and tagged a report where Raut had purportedly said she should not come back to Mumbai if she was afraid of the city police.
Eknath Shinde has been made chief minister to crush the Shiv Sena totally, completely, wholly, point out Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'If we have to join the government we will have to first decide upon the CMP.' 'Nothing can be decided without having a CMP first.'
Raut said it looks like some "bootlickers" have published the book to appease the prime minister.
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