Meanwhile, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a statement the reports suggesting that MNS has asked it to provide Marathi as an option on its website were erroneous.
The booing and beating Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Legislators in Mumbai has brought rich dividends for Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra chief Abu Azmi , who has been turned into the party's hero.
Taking cognizance of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's attack on Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi for taking his oath in Hindi, a local court has issued notices against party chief Raj Thackeray and four suspended party Members of Legislative Assembly.Chief Judicial Magistrate R R Badodiya issued notices on Wednesday against Raj Thackeray and four other MLAs -- Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Wanjale, Vasant Gite and Ram Kadam -- and asked them to appear before the court.
A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking registration of an FIR against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for assaulting Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi in the Maharashtra Assembly for taking oath in Hindi instead of Marathi.
Accepting its defeat in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the Congress had benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. "The Congress has benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. In Maharashtra, it is clear that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a factor. Similarly, in Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Janhit Congress divided the opposition votes.
Observing that nobody can "hold the people to ransom", the Bombay High Court on Thursday restrained Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray and his party members from indulging in violence or making provocative speeches over Marathi signboards issue.
Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday ruled out seeking support from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray to form government in Maharashtra.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday lashed out at the Maharashtra government over the threat given by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena about displaying the Marathi signboard on the shops and establishments in the metropolis.The division bench, consisting of Justices J N Patel and K K Tated, while hearing the petition, asked the state government to provide details of the preventive action the state has taken in response to the MNS deadline for Marathi signboards, which ended today.
Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam and party candidate Bharat Parekh were arrested by the Mumbai police and later released on bail under charges of unlawful assembly and rioting at Charkop in suburban Kandivali.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has stressed the need for overall change in Maharashtra as since the state's formation development was halted.
Within a gap of seven hours, two high-profile but diametrically opposite campaigns in this city set the tone for the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi pitched for an inclusive growth with greater emphasis on poorer and backward section, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's high-decibel slogans catered only for the 'Marathi issue'.
The event witnessed the who's who of Maharashtra politics -- including three former chief ministers of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena General Secretary Satish Pradhan resigned from the post on Saturday giving a blow to the Raj Thakre-led party just before the assembly election.
Days after he asked local multiplex owners to screen Marathi movies at prime time or face the music, the Mumbai police has served a notice to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, warning him against giving any provocative or inflammatory speeches."A notice under Section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code was served to Raj Thackeray, warning him against giving any speeches that incite violence," said S R Unavane, senior inspector at Shivaji Park police station.
Terming socialite Shobhaa De's tweet -- suggesting separate statehood for Mumbai -- as "frivolous", Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said the state will remain united.
After politicians got into Mumbai clean up drive in the backdrop of rising Malaria cases, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also asked his party men to take up the responsibility of cleaning the metropolis.Raj directed his partymen to clean the city with the help of civic officials and local people. "Wherever you find garbage, clean it to control the diseases," he said.
Softening his stand against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Sunday that Raj's statement regarding migrants spreading Malaria was not from his heart.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and Republic Party of India leader have been engaged in a mudslinging exercise after the former publicly questioned the latter's acquisition of property in Bandra.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has conveyed his concern to Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh over the security of Biharis and other Hindi-speaking people living there. Kumar also sought effective steps for the safety and security of these people, a spokesman for the chief minister's office said. Deshmukh assured the Bihar chief minister of providing security to the lives and property of the Hindi-speaking population in Maharashtra.
Impressed by the Tamil Conference held recently, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday lamented that such efforts were not being made in Maharashtra for Marathi language.
The Delhi high court has quashed the summons issued to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray by a court in Bokaro in an alleged hate speech case, observing that faith and religion are more resilient and cannot be hurt or provoked by the views of an individual.
Taking cognizance of charges against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly inciting violence against aspirants from the state for railway jobs in Mumbai, a Bihar court has asked him to appear before it next month to explain his position.
'I don't think there will be many problems after the assembly election results.'
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray surrendered before an Osmanabad court in a case of rioting registered against him in 2008 and was later released on bail.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena refused to blink, the opposition, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are keen to take the benefit, reports Sanjay Jog.
"We are not against the common man or the migrant workers from UP and Bihar. If somebody changes according to the house of the host (Maharashtra), he is welcome, but if somebody wants to change the host's home by dadagiri (force), we will never tolerate it," Raj asserted.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday alleged the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of collusion with Raj Thackeray and sought to remind the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president that Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan had made immense contribution to Maharashtra.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Monday said he would approach the Election Commission seeking derecognition of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the wake of its party chief's remarks and subsequent violence in Mumbai targetting North Indians.
"Raj Thakeray is like a saitan, who has the habit of making remarks to continue being in the news by hurting people's sentiments and creating unnecessary controversy," a usually soft-spoken Nitish Kumar remarked.
The clash between SP and MNS activists in Mumbai took place before the start of the rally at Shivaji Park, where top leaders of UNPA were due to speak.
Angry mobs organised rallies against Thackeray, burnt his effigies and demanded action against the MNS supremo . Thackeray's statement, comparing the popular Chhath festival to a natak, evoked wide spread protests. Political leaders, cutting across party lines, slammed the comment made by Raj Thackeray. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan criticised Thackeray's statement.
The ruling Congress party in Maharashtra is seeking party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's help to take on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray in order to consolidate its position by luring youths in the party organisation.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday asked party workers to remove the 'tail' from mobile service provider Airtel for failing to launch announcements in Marathi.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray was on Saturday granted bail in a case filed by the police for violating orders during the Kalyan-Dombivali municipal corporation polls in October 2010. Raj appeared before the Kalyan judicial magistrate, who released him on bail on a bond of Rs 5,000 with surety of the same amount. He was accompanied by his lawyer Sayaji Nangre. The police had filed an FIR against Raj on October 30 for disobeying a notice.
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday gave another breather to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, staying his arrest till the next hearing. Earlier, on February 4, the court had stayed Raj's arrest till February 17. Raj's lawyer argued in front the bench comprising Justice A V Potdar that his client was arrested by the Mumbai police from Ratnagiri, when a state transport bus was pelted with stones in Badnapur tehsil of Jalna district.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray was one of the guests at the Prati-Kolhapur Festival, which was held at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Monday.Thackeray, who donned a Kolhapuri headgear for the occasion, was his usual fiery self.
The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday, stayed the arrest warrant of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray till February 17, in connection with stone pelting by the party activists on a bus near Aurangabad in 2008.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has criticised the Maharashtra government's recent decision to grant taxi permits to only those drivers who are well versed in Marathi and have resided in the state for at least 15 years. Most taxi drivers in Mumbai are migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.Lalu alleged that the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine was 'going the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's way".
A Jamshedpur court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray.This is the third such warrant issued against him on the charges of hurting religious sentiments and abusing Biharis.Two other non-bailable arrest warrants issued by the court of Judicial Magistrate A K Tiwari are already pending against Thackeray.
The Supreme Court on Friday shifted to a Delhi court seven cases registered against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in Jharkhand and Bihar for promoting animosity among citizens by his alleged hate speeches against north Indians.