Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday allocated portfolios to the twenty-member council of ministers, including 10 of the Shiv Sena, who were inducted into his expanded cabinet.
Pravin Gaikwad, the state coordinator of Maratha Kranti Morcha, has two rare qualities: he has an unparalleled connect with people from his community and, at the same time, underpins his ideology on a strong analytical base.
'The message the BJP is sending is that they are in no way responsible for Uddhav's downfall and it was only Shinde who is to be blamed.'
'Even the late Balasaheb Thackeray had once stressed on the arrangement between Shiv Sena-BJP that the party having more number of elected legislators will have a claim on the post of chief minister'
The government is functioning 'very well' and all the alliance partners are firmly supporting Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment at Delhi's AIIMS, the BJP leader asserted.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
'I had digested all the humiliation that Fadnavisji had heaped on me, but I had never seen somebody stooping so low to prove one's dominance in any political party.'
The agency, which placed the senior Nationalist Congress Party leader under arrest last night after a marathon grilling session on Monday, will seek his custody for further interrogation.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad today dared the Bharatiya Janata Partyto declare its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
'Whatever happens, we have decided to go alone.' 'This is the Shiv Sena's word and we will never go back on it.'
Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, said his party was firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power sharing, including rotating CM's post for 2.5 years.
It is clear to any observer that the BJP risks its demolition drive boomeranging on itself. Except for one unpredictable factor in the works -- Rahul Gandhi himself, observes Shyam G Menon.
A bench of Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government on a petition filed by the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine against the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear in Fadnavis as chief minister.
The 13-day Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra government won the Trust vote in the Maharashtra assembly.
It's been over two months since the flood waters receded, and it would seem with it so has anger against either the state government or the BJP-Sena candidates, reports Archis Mohan.
It is a fight for survival for the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, which has been its citadel. In an interview party President Sharad Pawar speaks on the NCP's prospects and how the Bharatiya Janata Party is exploiting Narendra Modi's popularity in the state assembly elections.
The development comes at a time when Parrikar, 62, is undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
The AAP has announced that it will hold a parallel hackathon of its own.
'Who else will solve these issues if not the chief minister?' 'Who else shall we take our complaints to?'
JD-S leaders have already dropped enough hints about the party being open to such a possibility.
In potentially controversial remarks, Union minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday asked his party workers to take advantage of the multi-phase polling in the state by voting twice, first at their hometowns and then at their places of work.
BJP claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties appeared to have voted for Kovind.
On its own or with allies the Congress has a strong presence in states that account for a total of 253 LS seats, or 20 short of the magic figure of 272 required to form a government at the Centre. So what is Mamata Banerjee talking about, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Following are the possible contenders for the post of Maharashtra chief minister. We request our readers to take the poll at the end of this list.
He is now the first non-Congress chief minister to win a second term in office in the state, seen as a Congress bastion until just five years ago.
BJP made inroads into the Congress and NCP strongholds, winning 851 seats. Shiv Sena won 514, NCP 638, Congress 643, MNS 16, BSP 9, unrecognised parties 119, local coalitions 384, CPM 12 and Independents 324 seats.
The Congress-led grouping has some reasons to feel emboldened over recent political developments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he would not a utter a word against estranged Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena during the campaign for the October 15 Maharashtra polls as a mark of respect to Bal Thackeray.
"The arrogance of buying any politician and form a government will no longer work in this state. The bubble of being invincible has burst," Raut said.
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena leaders who were sworn in today during the expansion of Devendra Fadnavis ministry include some who have been ministers in the past and some new faces.
Maharashtra registered over 64 per cent voter turnout while a record 76 pc polling in Haryana, which witnessed stray incidents of violence, in the first eight hours of polling on Wednesday in the riveting contest to elect assemblies in the two states.
As back channel talks continued between Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to explore the possibility of a coalition government in Maharashtra, there were strong indications on Saturday that the latter may form a government on its own with the Nationalist Congress Party's outside support in keeping with the "sentiment" in the party.
Describing Shiv Sena as a "natural ally", BJP dropped hints that it would prefer the estranged saffron party to be a partner in its government in Maharashtra even while Nationalist Congress Party's unconditional support continues to be on offer.
Maharashtra politics is at crossroads. Anything can happen in this dynamic situation. Uddhav will have to prove he is a worthy inheritor of his father's legacy and keep his cadre and leaders in the party stable. Fadnavis will have to prove that manoeuvrings on floor of the house was an inevitable political necessity to change the destiny of Maharashtra eventually. Modi and Shah will have to show that they can and will are resist use of 'the system' in the pursuit of power. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com analyses the situation.
Amid noisy scenes, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 for discussion and passage, but pandemonium broke out in the Upper House with the opposition creating an uproar and the BJP countering it vociferously.
5 states that contribute just under a fifth of the Lok Sabha's seats will go to the polls early this year.
Party insiders say the high command could consider replacing state chief Manikrao Thakre, reports Sanjay Jog.
Veteran Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away in New Delhi on Wednesday. He was 92.
