'So must the Opposition where it is the dominant party in the state.' 'That is neither problematic nor impossible to achieve.'
'I wonder if they will keep it up after the elections.' 'I fear they'll start questioning eligibility -- income, age, bank accounts -- and eventually stop the scheme altogether.'
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday refuted talk of his stir not being a factor in the Maharashtra assembly polls, which were swept by the Mahayuti comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.
Jarange has repeatedly targeted the BJP warning that the community would defeat its candidates in the assembly polls, which will be held on November 20.
"I am putting efforts to get the Opposition together. I am not in the race to become the prime minister as I am not contesting the next (Lok Sabha) election," he told reporters.
The last time when more than 200 MLAs were part of the state government was in 1972, but at that time all the 222 legislators belonged to Congress. Also, the strength of the House was 270 at that time, a former state legislature official said on Monday citing data.
Trump is confident the US will eventually emerge the winner from whatever turmoil his policies cause, notes T T Ram Mohan.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has claimed that the poll trends are in favor of the Mahayuti, crediting his flagship initiative, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. He expressed gratitude to the people of the state for their support and asserted that the outcome increases their responsibility. Shinde clarified that the alliance doesn't have a definitive formula for the chief minister's post, with a decision to be made by senior leaders from the three parties.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said a decision on whether to oppose the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would be taken before the Parliament session.
Pankaja Munde of the BJP -- Dhananjay Munde's cousin -- has been made the guardian minister of Jalna district.
If Marathas get blanket Kunbi OBC certificates, there will be no separate identity of the Maratha community in Maharashtra, state minister and senior OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal said on Wednesday amid the quota row.
The accused, Sudarshan Chandrabhan Ghule (26) and Sudhir Sangle (23), were handed over to the special investigation team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, the official said.
Lok Sabha polls held over 5 phases so why hold assembly elections in single phase, asks Oppn.
'This has been the history of these people,' Congress leader Ahmed Patel tells Sheela Bhatt.
The Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune, India, has stopped taking deposits from patients at the emergency department after a pregnant woman died after being turned away for non-payment. The hospital faced intense criticism following the incident, which involved the wife of a BJP MLC's personal secretary. The woman was shifted to another hospital where she died after delivering twins.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the responses of Ajit Pawar and his 40 MLAs on a plea moved by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party challenging Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision declaring the group led by the deputy chief minister as the real NCP.
In a veiled warning to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange who has announced a march to Mumbai, Ajit Pawar said nobody will be allowed to take law into his hands.
The firing took place outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui's office.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said the decision to field his wife for Rajya Sabha bypoll was taken by his Nationalist Congress Party's apex body and denied reports that senior colleague Chhagan Bhujbal was upset over the move.
Bhujbal said the recent developments in the NCP happened after legal experts were consulted to escape disqualification.
Now, the state has an unprecedented situation where there are six major political players with three on each side.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar's remarks on Monday virtually declaring new entrant Harshavardhan Patil's candidature for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra has irked a section of party leaders that was eyeing ticket from the Indapur seat.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday termed the criticism of Uddhav Thackeray in Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar's autobiography "wrong information" and downplayed it by claiming books are read for two days and then put into libraries.
He did not divulge any further information on what is going to be an intricate issue and hard bargaining.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday turned down the Bharatiya Janata Party's offer to accommodate Praful Patel as a minister of state with independent charge in the new National Democratic Alliance government and said it was assured that 'remedial measures' would be taken.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has alleged misuse of power and money to control the election mechanism in Maharashtra, calling for a mass revolt. He cites claims of EVM manipulation by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and says that the situation was unprecedented, with money and power used to control the entire election process. Pawar also expressed concerns about the suppression of opposition voices in Parliament and the lack of response to concerns about EVM manipulation.
Rumblings in the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp came to the fore on Wednesday with Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole accusing ally Nationalist Congress Party of being a "backstabber", a day after the Sharad Pawar-led party joined hands with rival Bharatiya Janata Party in Gondia zilla parishad elections to keep the Congress from power.
In signs of friction in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over the chief minister's post, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said ally Congress should understand his party's contribution in increasing the grand old party's tally in the Lok Sabha polls.
Shiv Sena-Uhhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the seat-sharing talks between his party and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar have concluded as these two parties are driven by a desire and mindset to resolve issues.
Hours after Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies can not demand that a Leader of Opposition must be appointed as they do not have the required numbers, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Bhaskar Jadhav on Saturday claimed there is no provision in the law which talks about the appointment of the LoP in legislature merely on the strength of the party.
The three gunmen involved in the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai practiced firing near a waterfall in adjoining Raigad district before executing the murder, police officials said on Tuesday citing their investigation.
Fissures have emerged in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti over the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' with a Shiv Sena minister raising objection against ally Nationalist Congress Party and its president Ajit Pawar for 'omitting' Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's name from advertisements and promotional material of the scheme.
From disagreement over guardian minister's post to taking separate review meetings to separate medical cells and 'war rooms' for monitoring projects, the unease between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde seems to be growing.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said his party did not 'surrender' but took a step back in the seat-sharing negotiations with its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners as the talks could not go on indefinitely.
Patel insisted that the meeting with Shah and other BJP leaders was a "courtesy call" as he and Ajit Pawar had not met them formally since joining the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.
'Maharaj was never a plunderer. He never bothered a common man.'
The factional fight of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has reached the doorstep of the Election Commission, with the group led by Ajit Pawar filing over 40 affidavits of MLAs and MPs in his support.
The Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the NCP are holding their meetings in Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in south Mumbai and in Bhujbal Knowledge City in suburban Bandra, respectively, on Wednesday.
Shinde was reportedly not happy as he had to cede the top post to the ally BJP, and was reluctant to take the deputy CM post.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
