Raut said his party has decided to support independent candidate Shubhangi Patil from the Nashik division graduates constituency after she sought backing from former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The meeting came amid rumours that Shiv Sena is considering a patch-up with the Baratiya Janata Party, its ally of 35 years.
'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
Thackeray accused the Eknath Shinde-led government of being ideologically bankrupt.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly on Friday passed a bill empowering local tree authorities to allow the felling of all types of trees without referring matters to the State Tree Authority.
The MES and some political outfits in Maharashtra have been pressing for this demand on the ground that the district and a few other neighbouring areas of Karnataka have a substantial Marathi speaking population.
The Mumbai police on Wednesday recorded the statement of IPS officer and former state intelligence chief Rashmi Shukla for over two hours in connection with a case of alleged illegal tapping of phones, an official said.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
"Outsiders who want to form the government in the state and are restless after losing power may try but the alliance will continue. People may try to break the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP but they would not succeed," he said.
The four-day old Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government will face the floor test on July 4 during the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly beginning on Mumbai Sunday.
Jarange appealed to Shinde and his deputies to come together and resolve the issue of Maratha quota, an emotive issue which has been dominating the state's political discourse for the last few months.
The Congress on Friday won the Amravati division graduates constituency, taking the tally of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to three in elections for five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, a result which has come as a jolt to the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party-Balasahebnachi Shiv Sena alliance.
'If the Maha Vikas Aghadi thinks that they have won 30 (Lok Sabha) seats and that would translate to winning 180 assembly seats they would be living in a fool's paradise.'
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi are facing multiple problems in Lok Sabha seats like Sangli, Madha and Satara in western Maharashtra due to political dynasties, old rivalries and one-upmanship, prompting a flurry of meetings before five phase polls begin in the state on April 19.
The contrast between the two meetings couldn't have been more stark, yet, both were organically linked, the latter a show of support for the former.
Satish Uke has filed several petitions against BJP leaders, especially former Maharashtra chief minister Fadnavis.
Three names were suggested by family members and relatives and the couple decided to use a "ballot paper" containing these names.
Members of the BJP and the Shinde faction staged a demonstration in the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Thursday while holding banners which read: "AU kaun hain" (who is AU).
These "instructions" were purportedly given by Bawankule in Ahmednagar where he was addressing a gathering of BJP workers on the management of poll booths.
'If you fight you win, if you don't fight, how will you win?'
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the 3,570km-long foot-march, expressed grief over the death of Seva Dal general secretary Krishna Kumar Pandey.
He targeted the BJP, saying it gave the option to Opposition to either join them or go to jail.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday said the Supreme Court order on the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) quota was a setback to the state government and it should do everything it can to save the community's reservation.
Cross-voting was held during the Rajya Sabha elections and the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls last month.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday ordered a probe into a road accident on the Samruddhi Expressway which claimed 12 lives.
'If the situation arises, the committee will decide on Pawar's successor and the decision will be unanimous'
Miffed over the Congress central leadership nominating poet-politician Imran Pratapgarhi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, as its candidate from Maharashtra for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, party functionary Ashish Deshmukh on Tuesday resigned from the post of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The BJP MLA alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is "trying to create a kingdom of criminals in Maharashtra".
The former Maharashtra chief minister in his letter pointed out the high mortality rate in the state and alleged that the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government was neglecting Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra in the fight against the pandemic.
In a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi-backed candidates clinched two of the five legislative council seats which were up for grabs in biennial elections from teachers and graduates segments, and appeared poised to bag a third seat also.
"The state-wide bandh will commence from 12 midnight," NCP spokesman and state minister Nawab Malik said on Sunday.
He also said that it had been decided to give the houses to the MLAs at a certain price and not free of cost.
Deshmukh claimed that some people had forcibly admitted him to a hospital in Surat.
'It's better to part ways on a happy note than staying together nursing hard feelings.'
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Thursday said his recent meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray focused on how to expedite development programmes of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and maintained nothing else should be deciphered from it.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to extend the duration of the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature and fill the post of the legislative assembly speaker urgently, citing the demands raised by a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation.
Thorat, 66, has been a farmers' leader and has been involved in the cooperative movement in Maharashtra. He is also a former revenue minister
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