Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Scenes from day two of the Opposition conclave in Bengaluru on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
BJP president JP Nadda said on Sunday that the party does not seek to control the Waqf Board but wants to ensure that those managing it operate within the bounds of law and adhere to established rules. He said the properties and funds of the Waqf Board should be dedicated to promoting education, providing healthcare and employment opportunities for the Muslim community. Nadda also highlighted the BJP's growth and achievements, emphasizing its commitment to national unity and cultural heritage.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha that the situation in Manipur is largely under control, with no deaths reported in the last four months. However, he acknowledged that the situation cannot be considered satisfactory as displaced people are still living in relief camps. Shah attributed the violence to a high court decision regarding a reservation-related dispute, emphasizing that it was not terrorism-related but ethnic violence between two communities. He highlighted government efforts to establish peace, including discussions with both the Meitei and Kuki communities and a rehabilitation package for the displaced. While the opposition supported the resolution confirming the imposition of President's rule, they urged for a swift return to peace and normalcy in the state.
Amid suspense over Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s prime ministerial face for the 2024 general elections, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the 1977 Lok Sabha polls were fought by the opposition without projecting Morarji Desai as the PM candidate.
Pawar said PM Modi's charisma is seen all over the country and hoped Maharashtra which follows secular thoughts will benefit from this charisma.
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.
'Cases of molestation and rape are reaching the doorstep of households irrespective of their socio-economic status. That's the extent to which criminals are feeling emboldened today.'
Pawar, who described himself as the national president of the NCP, said employment, economic empowerment of all sections of the society, education, health, implementation of all welfare measures are the priority of the government.
March 15, 2025, Saturday, marks the 50th anniversary of India's landmark victory over Pakistan in the final of the 1975 hockey World Cup.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Amol Mitkari said, "It could be a family meeting between the two leaders".
People of Maharashtra have always strived to maintain communal harmony, said Pawar.
The match has been relocated from its original venue in Srinagar due to 'potential weather concerns' raised by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.
In the final match between Mohol and Mahendra Gaikwad, the latter left the bout with 16 seconds remaining and later abused referees, for which he too was suspended by the controlling authority for three years.
'Ajit Pawar and some other people felt it was better to be supporting the BJP and have a coalition with the BJP than support the Congress.' 'But Sharad Pawar did not want to be a party to this kind of an opportunistic alliance.'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was on Wednesday named as the guardian minister of his home district Pune in place of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil.
Addressing a press conference, Pawar said the trends of the assembly polls (in five states set to be held in November) suggest the situation is favourable for the opposition, but added he had no authentic information to comment on whether there would be a change (in government) at the national level.
The court will now decide whether to accept the report or direct the agency to continue the investigation and file a chargesheet.
In his lifetime, it was his prerogative to decide who should use his photograph, he said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the results of the assembly elections were historic, and they decided to whom the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena belong.
'We were discussing government formation with Sharad Pawar. We had even finalised portfolio distribution and guardian ministers' responsibilities'
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar working president Supriya Sule has said her party, which won just 10 seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections, will introspect over the poll results and pledged to work towards a capable, inclusive and progressive state.
'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra has collected letters of support from more than 160 of its candidates and some independents, pledging their backing for the alliance in forming a government in the state if voted to power. The counting of votes for the elections to the 288-member legislative assembly held on November 20 began on Saturday. The letters of support collected from more than 160 candidates will be presented to the governor after declaration of results, sources said.
Bhujbal stridently opposed Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange's demand for Maratha quota from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) share.
Ratan Tata is Maharashtra's first Udyog Ratna.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as new chief minister of Maharashtra while allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy CMs at a grand ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday evening.
"Sharad Pawar's presence has extraordinary importance when a new battle for freedom is going on in the country to save the Constitution and democracy, and in such a situation, Pawar should not step aside," he said.
The Maharashtra government has transferred Rs 17,505.90 crore into the bank accounts of 2.38 crore women beneficiaries under its Ladki Bahin Yojana till December 2024, in the first five months after the scheme was launched. The scheme, launched in August 2024, provides financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women. The objective of the scheme is to promote employment and economic development by providing adequate facilities to women and girls in the age group 21 to 65 years. The scheme aims to promote the empowerment of women and girls and improve the health and nutritional status of women and children dependent on them.
Pawar did not entertain requests from members of the opposition INDIA alliance to not share stage with Modi.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and forest minister Ganesh Naik on Monday held a janta darbar in Thane, the home turf of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, rejecting speculation of one-upmanship in the Mahayuti alliance.
I think Sharad Pawar invited Ajit Pawar for the INDIA bloc meeting, Raut said.
Notably, when asked by reporters if he would take legal recourse after Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday, Sharad Pawar had said he would not get into all this but will go among people.
'That is why an emotional appeal to the President.' 'There needs to be a strict law. The accused should be punished immediately.' 'All cases should be heard in fast-track courts.' 'In rural areas, women's cases are not even registered. There, political pressure stops them.' 'And if cases are not registered under political pressure, then their voices are completely silenced.'
According to the woman, as she was waiting for a bus for Phaltan in Satara district at one of the platforms around 5.45 am on Tuesday, a man approached her and engaged her in conversation, calling her 'Didi' (sister), and said the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform.
A water quality survey held around Nanded village, the epicentre of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) in Pune city, has found there was lack of chlorine in the drinking water supplied to households of 26 patients of this nerve disorder, officials said.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday asked the NCP faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar how a way out can be found in the current political scenario as demanded by them when they had already cleared their stand in public.
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.
'There is no grain of truth in the speculation that the Congress is thinking of contesting the Lok Sabha elections without taking Sharad Pawar along'
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