Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has criticized his cabinet colleague, Nitesh Rane, for making "misleading" statements about Muslims not being part of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's army. Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, called for restraint from political leaders and stressed the importance of maintaining communal harmony in the state. He emphasized that Shivaji Maharaj never discriminated based on caste or creed and highlighted the contributions of Muslims during his reign.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
When asked about Prahar Janshakti Party leader Bachhu Kadu's hunger strike, Fadnavis said district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule will speak to him.
Pawar recalled that he was a member of a delegation sent by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao to the UN under the leadership of BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
The Congress party in India has alleged "serious and grave inconsistencies" in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections. The party has sought an in-person hearing from the Election Commission to present evidence of alleged discrepancies, including the arbitrary deletion and addition of voters and inexplicable increases in voting percentages. The Congress leaders claim these irregularities benefited the ruling BJP-led alliance, which won a decisive victory in the polls.
The controversy deepened after a video surfaced showing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the wedding, personally handing over a Fortuner SUV and making a remark widely interpreted as normalising dowry.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has assured the public that the government's flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, will continue. This scheme, which is believed to have been a significant factor in the ruling Mahayuti's victory in the state polls last year, provides women with Rs 1,500 every month. Pawar, who is also the state's finance minister, clarified that there is no question of scrapping the scheme and that budgetary allocation has been made for its implementation. Earlier, state Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare also clarified that there has been no change in the amount of assistance provided under the scheme. The only adjustment made is that women already receiving Rs 1,000 under another scheme are being paid the difference of Rs 500, ensuring that they receive the full Rs 1,500. Tatkare addressed media reports claiming the aid under the scheme had been reduced, stating that this was not the case and that no eligible woman had been excluded from the scheme.
The incident occurred between Diva and Kopar railway stations when the overcrowded train was going towards Kasara, an official said.
The Election Commission on Wednesday allotted 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the group led by Sharad Pawar.
This came after Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday stated that Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had tasked him to lead a delegation to present Pakistan's case on the recent escalations of tensions between the two nations.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections saw a fierce contest between two coalitions and six major players. Despite securing over one lakh votes, 58 candidates lost the election. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar suffered the most, with 22 candidates losing despite receiving over one lakh votes. Other prominent losing candidates included former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and senior Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Dhiraj Deshmukh. The Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, retained power by winning 230 out of 288 assembly seats.
Led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule, Group 7 will engage with key countries in Africa -- Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia -- and Qatar to present India's position on Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
It is only the chief minister who can "treat" his nausea, the NCP hits back.
The Congress on Sunday said it was not stopping anyone from being part of diplomatic delegations to be sent to various countries following Operation Sindoor and that its leaders who have been named at the instance of the government must listen to their conscience and contribute to the exercise.
On the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India movement, Utkarsh Mishra recalls the conditions under which the Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi, launched the final struggle for independence.
Uproarious scenes on the concluding day of the special session on Thursday turned the West Bengal Assembly into a cauldron of chaos, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's speech was repeatedly drowned out by slogan-shouting, leading to the suspension of five Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs and the collapse of two legislators during forcible eviction by marshalls.
Rohini Khadse, the women's wing president of the Sharad Pawar-led party, in the letter written on the occasion of International Women's Day, pointed out the recent gangrape of a 12-year-old girl in Mumbai to highlight rising crimes against women and press for their demand.
The diplomatic exercise aimed at presenting India's stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor -- the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
Different angles behind the killing were being probed, but the police will talk about it later, Fadnavis, who holds charge of the state home department, told reporters in Gondia district.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asserted that the third battle of Panipat, fought in 1761, was a symbol of the bravery of Marathas and not their defeat. He said the state government is building a memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Agra and acquiring land for another memorial in Panipat, where the battle was fought between Marathas and Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali.
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Friday released its second list, comprising seven candidates including MLA Zeeshan Siddique and two former Bharatiya Janata Party MPs, for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Police detained MNS leader Avinash Jadhav ahead of a rally planned in Thane to counter a protest staged by traders against the slapping of a food stall owner for not speaking in Marathi.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Ziauddin Siddique, popularly known as Baba Siddique, on Thursday said he had resigned from the party and will be joining the Ajit Pawar led-Nationalist Congress Party.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
A day before the assembly poll results, the Congress on Friday appointed observers for Maharashtra and Jharkhand to oversee the post-election scenarios.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to cede housing ministry to the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra following the likely cabinet expansion in the state, sources said, adding that the BJP will retain the home ministry.
Apart from renominating 26 sitting MLAs, including ministers who sided with Ajit Pawar when he joined the ruling camp, the NCP has also fielded sitting legislators Sulbha Khodke (Amravati) and Hiraman Khoskar (Igatpuri) who switched over from the Congress recently.
The government will send seven all-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
Five months after a couple of Pawars jousted in an electoral battle in Baramati, two other Pawars will take on each other at the hustings on November 20, 2024.
In an apparent dig at Ajit, Pawar senior said if someone keeps saying he will take everything, people may not say anything but will disapprove of it.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was on Sunday night elected as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray alleges the state government's three-language formula is a precursor to separating Mumbai from Maharashtra, speaking at a rally with Uddhav Thackeray.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has dismissed reports of a rift within the ruling Mahayuti alliance, stating that "everything is hunky-dory." He attributed any issues to differences that will be resolved through discussions. Shinde's comments come after reports of him complaining to Union Home Minister Amit Shah about Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). However, Pawar and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar have denied the allegations, claiming Shinde would have directly approached them if there were any issues. The ruling alliance comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, which retained power after the state assembly polls last year. The alliance has also faced challenges with the appointment of guardian ministers in Raigad and Nashik, with the Shiv Sena opposing the appointments of Aditi Tatkare (NCP) and Girish Mahajan (BJP).
Amid opposition call for his resignation over the Beed sarpanch murder case, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde on Wednesday said he is ready to quit if asked by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis or deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
He further said that he believes Ajit Pawar will play a key role as a "kingmaker" after the elections.
Beleaguered Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday, days after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as the mastermind in the murder of a village sarpanch and three months after the new Mahayuti government assumed office.
''He is being operated upon by a team of doctors, led by neurosurgeon Dr Nitin Dange, cosmetic surgeon Dr Leena Jain and anaesthesiologist Dr Nisha Gandhi.'
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