It is a fight for survival for the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, which has been its citadel. In an interview party President Sharad Pawar speaks on the NCP's prospects and how the Bharatiya Janata Party is exploiting Narendra Modi's popularity in the state assembly elections.
The Congress-NCP will now hold talks with Shiv Sena in Mumbai to "finalise the architecture of alliance".
As reports of political parties swiftly switching loyalties -- to quench their thirst for power -- swirl over Maharashtra, Rediff.com speaks to different players involved in the game of thrones.
The ministry-making exercise took so long because many factors needed to be balanced. But now that it is in place, not everyone is happy with the resultant equation.
The Congress on Sunday announced that elections for its president will be held on October 17 with the winner being declared two days later, asserting that it is the only party in the country which undertakes such a democratic exercise.
State Congress legislators made a pitch for a change in party leadership by bringing in more new faces, especially youngsters in their Thursday meeting.
Bollywood actor Sonu Sood is a 'habitual offender' who keeps carrying out unauthorised construction work in a residential building in suburban Juhu despite demolition action initiated on two occasions in the past, the Mumbai civic body stated in its affidavit filed in the Bombay high court on Tuesday.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party stood united and together as a family and there are no dissensions pending after the announcement of elections to the party chief's post.
Putting up a brave face, former Member of Parliament and suspended Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi said on Saturday that he is not yet retired from politics and will become active at an appropriate time. He also said that it is too early to evaluate the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
The ambit of the G-23 grouping increased this time as some more leaders -- Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma -- joined them.
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.
'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.'
Phase-I of the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project entails an investment of Rs 17,319 crore(Rs 173.19 billion) and is poised to generate 330,000 jobs.
At least half a dozen toll plazas were vandalised on Monday by suspected Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists in Thane after party chief Raj Thackeray asked workers not to pay toll tariff and "crush" the toll gates.
Taking a cue from the Delhi government's decision of a 50 per cent cut in power tariff, All India Congress Committee secretary and Member of Parliament Sanjay Nirupam on Wednesday demanded that the Maharashtra government should reduce the tariff for power consumption of less than 500 units per month in the city.
The government and MMRDA are keen to develop the 22-km link, which will connect Sewri on the island city to Nhava Seva in Navi Mumbai, on an engineering, procurement and construction basis and not on the build-operate transfer model, considering past experience.
Even though it was stated that no action would be taken against the senior leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi, they say that the retaliation had already begun, reports Aditi Phadnis
Making a statement in Parliament on the Mumbai photojournalist gang rape case, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday said he had asked Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil to ensure the fast tracking of the case and also assured the House that early judgement will be delivered.
Goa unit of Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday alleged that the state government was providing financial support to the "extremist and dubious" organisation Sanatan Sanstha, by giving advertisements to its mouthpiece.
The government is learnt to have decided not to go ahead with the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre after facing strong opposition from non-Congress chief ministers.
Ahead of the elections, a lot had been spoken of the large number of leaders defecting from the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena. In fact, a month before the polls, more than two dozen Congress-NCP leaders quit and joined the BJP in hopes of riding high on the Narendra Modi wave. While for some the shift has brought in good fortune, for others it has brought loss. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com analyses how these defectors have fared.
Aaditya claimed that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari refused to grant more time to the Sena to muster numbers.
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
The ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra clarified on Sunday that it had received no proposal from the Congress for a merger nor did it have any such plan in the run-up to the election to the 288-member state assembly slated for September-October.
Fadnavis said the 'minute details' will be gone into before an inquiry is ordered.
Ever since Nitish embarked on the slippery path of trying to unite the Opposition against the BJP, he has repeatedly rebutted suggestions that the exercise was aimed at bringing himself centre stage. The problem is: It is not enough if he says so. Others have to say so as well, especially Congress, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Conflicting views are emerging over the proposal to ban Sanatan Sanstha, a right wing group allegedly linked to the killing of Govind Pansare.
.jpg)
Maharashtra Chief Minister condemned the actions of Shiv Sena's Rajan Vichare and the party saying that his act had tainted the image of the state. Devidas Deshpande reports.
'The Maharashtrian Congressmen's decision to break away from their reluctant leaders in Delhi to side with the Shiv Sena is seemingly the first sign that the 'high command' is not as powerful as is believed,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Hitting out at Prime Minister for calling note-ban a 'shuddhi yagna', senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said the move is nothing short of an "uncontrolled forest fire" that has claimed several lives and hit the economy.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
Congress legislators in Maharashtra disrupted Governor Vidyasagar Rao's address to the joint session of the state legislature, protesting the manner in which the 13-day-old BJP government won the trust vote on Wednesday.
BJP hints at implementing Modi's model of minimum government maximum governance in Maharashtra
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday committed a faux pas when he apparently referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "opposition leader".
Putting pressure on ally Congress over the deadlock regarding seat sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, NCP said a meeting of its core committee in Mumbai on Monday will take a final call on the matter even as it asserted that it is sticking to its "original demand".
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said that he has now decided not to contest the Maharashtra assembly polls. "Things were different earlier but now I have decided not to contest the polls myself," said Thackeray.
Once the two parties finalise the common minimum programme, it would then be shared with the Shiv Sena which is then expected to add issues that are close to its heart, reports Prasanna D Zore.
Apparently resorting to a pacifier after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena agitation on toll collection, the state government on Thursday assured party chief Raj Thackeray that it would draft a new policy on the issue before the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections comes into force.
The Congress' central election authority on Thursday issued a notification for the All India Congress Committee president polls, setting the ball rolling for electing the successor to the longest-serving party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Sharpening its attack on MNS chief Raj Thackeray over his agitation against toll collection, the Shiv Sena said it had "predicted" the outcome of today's stir.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances