To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet colleagues Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, state minister Sadabhau Khot, former Union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi were prominent among those who installed Ganpati idols at their homes.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
'The timing of the current episode involving Ajit Pawar is important. The episode has elements of deceit, betrayal and falsehood intertwined'
In the first sign of discontent in the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior leader Shanta Kumar has dropped a letter bomb demanding a 'Lokpal' in the party to tackle the cases of corruption like Vyapam which has "made all of us bow our heads in shame".
The party has also expanded its list of spokesperson to 23, with MP Anil Baluni being elevated as the chief spokesperson and remaining its media head.
'I would like to express my anger at the way party affairs have been handled by some people.'
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
He was accompanied by his father, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, and mother Rashmi while filing nomination papers.
With 8 out of Maharashtra's 10 municipal corporations under the BJP's belt, and a stunning show in 25 zilla parishads and panchayat samitis, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, says Prasanna D Zore, is all set for an encore when his party next faces the polls.
Here's how the heavyweights are faring.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Following are the possible contenders for the post of Maharashtra chief minister. We request our readers to take the poll at the end of this list.
It is curtains down for Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls. Here's a look at political biggies, who made it and who didn't.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday allocated portfolios to the twenty-member council of ministers, including 10 of the Shiv Sena, who were inducted into his expanded cabinet.
Amid a plethora of senior party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party's Devendra Fadnavis took the oath of office at a mega function organised at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
'The cousins do not have a good rapport with each other in politics, though they may be having a good rapport with each other in family life.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance looked set to return to power in Maharashtra while Haryana could be a cliffhanger with no clear majority for the BJP or the Congress, Election Commission trends indicated.
Congress on Monday accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje of "forcible, illegal occupation" of the Dholpur Palace along with Lalit Modi through a private company.
Last year, he was the BJP's darling. Today, Arnab Goswami is a hated figure for the Modi bhakts. What changed?
The Congress on Wednesday dismissed as "totally baseless" and "mischievous" reports that it had offered a deal to government under which it was ready to support passage of GST bill in Parliament if it axed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the wake of the Lalitgate controversy.
Another minister -- Vinod Tawde -- has been accused of corruption in awarding contracts.
A day after the Maharashtra assembly polls gave a fractured verdict, the political picture continues to remain nebulous with speculation rife about whether it will be a Nationalist Congress Party-propped Bharatiya Janata Party ministry or a coalition regime with the Shiv Sena.
There are limitations to milking national security, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday said the Supreme Court order on the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) quota was a setback to the state government and it should do everything it can to save the community's reservation.
Vikhe Patil, who was leader of opposition in the state assembly, resigned from the Congress recently.
The prime minister, who loves to be in the media and tweets on issues, is keeping quiet on key issues, he said.
Maharashtra and Haryana voted in assembly elections on Monday. Several prominent personalities also exercised their franchise.
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
It seems that the Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party is leaving no stone unturned to make grand the October 31 oath-taking ceremony of its first chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, at the Wankhede stadium in South Mumbai.
With the BJP backing off from the race, the onus to form government now rests with the Sena, which has indicated that it might rope in the Congress and the NCP to prop up a government.
What do the leads from Maharashtra tell you about the emerging trends in the state? Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com explains.
The unfolding scenario has thrown up doubts in the minds of people whether the government will be able to complete its tenure.
With the Modi government battling propriety issues over the Lalit Modi row and the furore on Vyapam scam, leaders of "like-minded" parties will meet for Congress president Sonia Gandhi's Iftar dinner on Monday where they are likely to deliberate on the strategy for Parliament session beginning July 21.
'The people who were assigned the role to look after the affairs of the Congress in Maharashtra have failed.'
The first Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra headed by state party chief Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn in on Friday with Shiv Sena unlikely to join the new dispensation for now as talks continued between the two saffron parties for a tie-up.
Late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray made BJP leaders remove posters that proclaimed Modi, then CM of Gujarat, as the 'Hindu Hriday Samrat'.
Ramesh released some fresh documents including one of 1949 which showed that the Dholpur Palace was owned by the Rajasthan government.
While the BJP is in a comfortable position to choose between the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, both have its share of drawbacks. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff. com reports
The Congress sent in Rahul Gandhi to play Aamir Khan at the FTII, but it turned out that he played Imran Khan instead, says Malavika Sangghvi.
