The Shiv Sena-UBT is openly questioning the Congress party's leadership within the INDIA bloc.
Attempting to break the deadlock in seat-sharing talks for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party will send a fresh proposal to the Shiv Sena even as it said it would like to contest seats its saffron ally had not won in years.
Congress leaders from Maharashtra Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Balasaheb Thorat attended the meeting along with the top brass of the party, including Ahmed Patel.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
Sibal said the BJP always tries to gain a foothold in states where its presence is limited and afterwards "dumps" its allies.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party, another National Democratic Alliance constituent Janata Dal - United on Friday targeted alliance partner Shiv Sena in its current face-off with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, saying the Sena's stand is 'completely wrong'. "Shah Rukh Khan has said the right thing. What the Shiv Sena or Raj Thackeray are doing is completely wrong. The entire country is against it," senior JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party prefers to simply overlook the Shiv Sena's swipe and this has sent the latter into a sulk.
Amid signs of a rapprochement, all Shiv Sena MPs will attend the high tea being hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Sunday for the National Democratic Alliance even as Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was "very keen" on forming a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.
Chavan, however, made it clear that if the NCP merger happens and if that party goes with the National Democratic Alliance, it would become difficult for the Congress to continue the alliance with them in Maharashtra.
Following a defeat in the Bihar elections, opposition parties in India are calling for introspection and course correction, with some criticizing the concentration of power within their ranks.
The compulsions of the Hindutva vote bank over 25 years in Maharashtra have made the two parties the oldest ideological partners and it is unrealistic to believe the situation has changed, reports Sunil Gatade.
The BJP in the last few years lost a major ally like Telugu Desam Party but also gained a big regional partner like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and several smaller allies in northeastern states.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday took potshots at the rival Shiv Sena over its minister not finding a place in the reconstituted NITI Aayog.
Nitish said several other parties had echoed the same.
Prime Minister Modi was welcomed by BJP president J P Nadda, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, former Tamil Nadu chief minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader K Palaniswami and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
In this COVID-19 phase, the BJP leveraged its pre-eminence again to tip the power scales in its favour and relegate its allies in the National Democratic Alliance to a lesser position. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
The INDIA bloc in Bihar has announced Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, signaling a united front after weeks of internal disagreements. The move aims to challenge the incumbent NDA government, with both sides engaging in political maneuvering and accusations.
If a strong leadership doesn't emerge in the Shiv Sena, the BJP -- a junior partner of the Sena at the state level -- would see itself dwindling away in Maharashtra, writes Aditi Phadnis
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD-U launched a frontal attack on ally BJP, asking it to rein in 'loudmouth leaders' whose 'arrogance' had cost it an old partner like the Shiv Sena.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday pulled off a stunning performance in Maharashtra winning a record number of seats to propel the party-led ruling Mahayuti alliance to a landslide victory while the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) stormed back to power in Jharkhand on the back of a spectacular showing by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
The poster also reads, 'People who are pretending and conning others shouldn't forget the day they bowed their heads in front of Balasaheb.'
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
The delay in finalising a seat allocation agreement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections has ignited concerns among smaller constituents as the nomination process commenced on Tuesday.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
A statement issued by the parliamentary affairs ministry earlier on Saturday said the all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
Speaking at a joint rally of Mahayuti partners in Mumbai, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis supported Shinde's claims, stating that the NDA leaders did not pay enough attention to the lies spread by the Opposition during the campaign.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
The Sena had said last January that it would go it alone in all future elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party's National Democratic Alliance partners have got five cabinet ministerial berths in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as against none in the outgoing government, given the party's dependence on allies for a majority in the Lok Sabha.
The result was so disastrous for the Congress and NCP that they lost 41 seats out of 48 to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the party had always given paramount important to the pride of its party and Maharashtra and never sold its self respect for the sake of power.
Thackeray not only attended a meeting of National Democratic Alliance partners on Monday night, but also had separate talks with BJP president Amit Shah during which the two leaders discussed a host of issues, and agreed to meet more often for better coordination, a senior BJP leader, who was present during the confabulations, said.
Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray said that after quitting the Sena will come back to power on its own strength.
By breaking ranks with his Maha Vikas Aghadi allies, Thackeray has shown that he can leave the MVA altogether.
In a surprise development on July 2, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP split as his nephew Ajit Pawar and almost three dozen MLAs joined the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders were sworn in as ministers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the decision to withdraw from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government will be taken after discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he returns from his US trip.
The Congress continued its losing spree on Saturday posting its worst-ever show in Maharashtra and ending up a distant junior partner to the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand, further diminishing its role in the opposition bloc as other allies perform better.
Miffed at being ignored in the ministry expansion, Sena had on Tuesday said it was 'hurt' at the way the exercise was carried out and questioned the prime minister's "selection criterion".
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