The Opposition in Maharashtra legislative assembly on Tuesday took the government to task over its "apathetic" and "negligent" attitude towards the security concerns of the metropolis and said it had lost the moral right to continue in office.
Barely hours after the Bandra-Worli sea link was named 'Rajiv Gandhi Setu', the move drew criticism from Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, which favoured it being named after Swatantrayaveer Savarkar.
The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combined opposition on Tuesday took the Maharashtra government to task for the Mumbai terror attacks and demanded removal of state's Director General of Police A N Roy and Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor for alleged lapses.The BJP sought a probe into utilisation of funds given by the Centre to deal with possible terror attacks through sea routes following an intelligence report. The removal of Home Secretary was also made.
The Shiv Sena-BJP combine has accused Sushilkumar Shinde of furnishing wrong information and misleading the legislature.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was on Friday re-inducted as Maharashtra deputy chief minister after a government white paper on irrigation gave him a clean chit even as the Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party boycotted his swearing-in ceremony, terming his comeback as a "farce."
Alleging a failure by the Maharashtra government to act on inputs from central intelligence agencies of a possible terror strike in Pune, Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party MPs walked out of a meeting convened by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to raise the state's issues in Parliament.
The Maharashtra government will set up a special court in consultation with the chief justice of Bombay High Court, to try cases related to the Mumbai terror attack, state Home Minister Jayant Patil said on Wednesday.Patil also said that the chargesheet against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks will be filed within seven days. Advocate Ujwal Nikam, who shot to fame during the 1993 serial blasts trial, has been appointed as special public prosecutor in the case.
The Election Commission has called the rival factions of the NCP for a personal hearing on October 6 following a petition filed by the Ajit group claiming that he has been elected as the party's national president.
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has said he is yet to ascertain whether the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a part of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government or is still in the Opposition.
The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Thursday said the state cabinet's expansion and allocation of portfolios are most likely to happen on July 14, but the rival faction of the party said it doubts the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde-led camp would be accommodated in the new ministry.
Reservation bill passed in Maharashtra Assembly amid din over blasts
According to this system, a member of the opposition is assigned to follow the goings-on in a particular ministry. For each ministry or department, there would be a corresponding member in the opposition benches.
The Shiv Sena-BJP combine repeatedly asked the Congress and NCP members to make their stand clear on the issue.
In the wake of nine Nationalist Congress Party leaders, including Ajit Pawar, joining the Eknath Shinde government, party chief Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting on July 5 in Mumbai to discuss the developments and the future course of action, its state unit chief Jayant Patil said on Sunday.
However, induction in the NCP-SP will come with riders, asserted the former Union minister.
When asked to spell out the exact number of MLAs backing Ajit Pawar, Patel claimed the entire party (53 MLAs) is together.
The ceremony was organised in a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar area on Sunday morning, which was attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of Dharmadhikari who was conferred with Maharashtra's top civilian award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The event, for which people had started gathering since morning, began around 11.30 am and went on till around 1 pm. That day, the nearest weather station to the spot of the programme recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.
The NCP chief admitted that some MLAs had written to him on joining the Shinde-led government when the one led by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) collapsed following a split in the Shiv Sena. "But no decision was taken," he said.
"I am boring, steady and not impulsive...Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two," she said.
In a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, senior Congress leader and Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane on Sunday said the Gujarat chief minister is a "liar" and "devoid of human values".
NCP led by the former Union minister said the Election Commission had sought its response to a petition filed by Ajit Pawar, and the party submitted its "preliminary response" to the poll panel on September 7.
In his Marathi autobiography Lok Maze Saangati published in 2015, Pawar has lavished praise on Adani describing him as 'hard-working, simple, down to earth' and with ambition to make big in the infrastructure sector.
Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will be held on June 4.
'I don't think there will be many problems after the assembly election results.'
The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition alliance in Maharashtra will win 35 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde claimed here today.
Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party, its senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.
Rahul Gandhi exhorted local Congress workers to put up a united face to take on the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the next year's elections to the municipal corporation in Mumbai.
Reacting to the statements, the Shiv Sena said it was ready to take on whoever challenges it.
As the tussle for control of the Nationalist Congress Party hotted up after its vertical split, Sharad Pawar on Thursday declared he was the president of the party and hit back at nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's retirement jibe, saying he will work more effectively "whether 82 or 92."
Neeta Kolhatkar remembers the housewife who took on mighty Maharashtra politicians over her husband's murder.
Nitin Gadkari's move to get Raj Thackeray's support in the Lok Sabha elections has boomeranged. Uddhav Thackeray is angry and Gadkari and Raj Thackeray risk losing credibility. The move may help the Congress-NCP alliance, feels Neeta Kolhatkar.
Senior NCP leader R R Patil or 'Aaba', was a quintessential grass root politician
The column, written by Sanjay Raut, hinted that the Sena would stay firm on its demands before government formation with the BJP.
Fadnavis was sworn in on November 23 in an early morning hush hush ceremony, with the support of Ajit Pawar, who then headed the 54-member Nationalist Congress Party legislature party.
The Raj Thackeray-led MNS set up a stall to sell chicken meat as a symbolic protest, whereas Shiv Sena workers tore off the civic body notices.
'I want to warn Ajit dada and all those who have stabbed Pawar saheb by joining hands with the BJP.' 'Don't write saheb's obituaries so soon.'
'Please do not threaten us with street violence.' 'Do you have some humanity left in you?'
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd started hacking trees from Friday night to make way for a car shed, hours after the Bombay high court dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision to allow felling of trees in the prime green lung of the city.
Chhagan Bhujbal, son of a vegetable vendor, rose through the political ranks by hard work, determination and political opportunism. Now past ghosts have come to haunt him.
