Police detained MNS leader Avinash Jadhav ahead of a rally planned in Thane to counter a protest staged by traders against the slapping of a food stall owner for not speaking in Marathi.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, whose elected members assaulted Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi in the Maharashtra assembly for taking oath in Hindi, on Tuesday warned him on speaking against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) confronted residents of a housing society in suburban Ghatkopar over allegations that Gujarati residents insulted Marathi-speaking families for eating non-vegetarian food. The incident, captured on video and widely shared on social media, sparked intervention from police and condemnation from a state minister. The MNS leader in the video accused the Gujarati residents of calling the Marathi-speaking families "dirty" for their food choices, a claim denied by a resident of the building. The incident highlights simmering tensions between language communities in Mumbai, particularly in the lead-up to civic elections.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faces a crucial test in the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra after being defeated by the BJP-led Mahayuti in recent local polls. Political observers are calling the upcoming contest for 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, a mini assembly election.
The MNS joining the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra could help it with a 'Thackeray versus Thackeray' narrative, fielding Raj Thackeray, an articulate speaker, to take on his cousin Uddhav Thackeray.
Sonia, who was addressing a convention of Congress functionaries and peoples' representatives in Maharashtra, said, "Here (in Maharashtra) regionalism is being encouraged. We have to fight the forces of regionalism, which are dividing society for their vested interests." The Congress president also asked party workers to work together and strengthen the party.
The deteriorating health of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has prompted the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena cadres to seek divine intervention. Since most of the party workers and leaders owed their allegiance to their parent organisation Shiv Sena before they crossed over to the MNS, floated by senior Thackeray's nephew, the failing health of the patriarch has made them worried.
Citing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar on Saturday supported a probe into the controversial land deal allegedly linked to the company of his grandnephew Parth Pawar.
The Congress in Maharashtra is making all efforts to woo the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to back United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee for the presidential poll on Thursday.
After hijacking the Shiv Sena's Marathi agenda, MNS wants to sustain the campaign by offering free Marathi classes to the non-Marathis in the city. "Marathi is the official language of the state and non-Maharashtrians should at least know how to communicate in Marathi," MNS district president (South Mumbai) Arvind Gavade told PTI. The MNS is planning to start the classes from March. There will be three lectures per week and the number of lectures can be increased.
After Nitish Kumar's statement that nobody can stop him from visiting Mumbai to attend Bihar's centenary celebrations here rubbed Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena the wrong way, the organisers on Thursday clarified the event is purely socio-cultural and has no political overtones.
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Maharashtra government on a petition seeking protection for life and property of all citizens in the wake of recent attacks against the north Indians.
Did the Congress win based on performance or due to factors like Raj Thackeray?
Approximately 25 youths, suspected to be MNS members, attacked the office of the Mumbai Taximen's Union in Central Mumbai on Thursday morning. MNS workers have been targeting taxi drivers since the past few days, but the police are yet to confirm the perpetrators of today's attack. Union president A I Qadros had earlier said that the taxi drivers would go on strike if they were not compensated for the attacks.
About 10 MNS activists have been arrested from central suburban Dombivali and Kalyan so far for disrupting the exam and preventing candidates from appearing the examination, the police said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday asked Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to mend ways and desist from the smear campaign against the Nationalist Congress Parry or face a "befitting reply".
After a PIL in the Supreme Court demanding de-recognition of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for its anti-North Indians campaign, a similar PIL was filed in the Bombay High Court on Friday seeking a ban on MNS and also to conduct a CBI probe into the entire incident.
Speaking to reporters at Ranchi on Thursday, the RJD leader said that if possible, he would go to Mumbai to perform Chhat puja. Responding to Prasad's comments, MNS spokesperson and former MLC Shishir Shinde said, "The people of Maharashtra will respond when the time comes. You will also see action from MNS."
Known for its abhorrence of Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Azmi, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is likely to back the Congress candidate in the by-election to the Bhiwandi assembly seat in Maharashtra against the SP leader's son Farhan.
The issue of 'Marathi pride' raised by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has polarised the state politics and the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition can ill afford to ignore its emotive appeal in an election year.
Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, whose members assaulted Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi in the Maharashtra assembly, on Wednesday said they would apologise to the House for their action but not to the Member of Legislative assembly."We will apologise in the assembly as it was not our intention to malign the image of the House. However, there is no question of apologising to Azmi," MNS leader Atul Sarpotdar said.
Maharashtra heads to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, with Mumbai's BMC election taking center stage as the BJP-led Mahayuti faces off against the Thackeray front. Key issues include promises for women, pollution control, and the city's financial health.
Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena looks all set to get its candidate elected as Mayor of Nashik with likely support from Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which emerged as the second largest party in the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls with 28 seats in the 107-member House, on Monday decided not to form the new civic government and work as an Opposition party
Fuelling the language row further in Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Monday asked taxi drivers from the Hindi-speaking states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to be conversant in Marathi within 40 days or return to their native homes.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission to allot a common symbol of 'Railway engine' to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for contesting the coming assembly elections in Maharashtra.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to send back 25 lakh Biharis in the city to their home state.
Alarmed by damage made by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has chalked out a campaign strategy which would focus on making people realise that voting MNS is akin to voting for Congress-NCP.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Monday asked private carrier Jet Airways to make announcements in Marathi and also Marathi movies and newspapers mandatory in flights operating from Mumbai.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has demanded the removal of decorations and installation of CCTV surveillance at the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra. The party also wants a board to be installed at the site stating that Aurangzeb was buried there after trying to "finish" the Marathas. The demands come amid a push by right-wing outfits to remove the tomb. The MNS's memorandum comes amid demand by right-wing outfits to remove Aurangazeb's tomb. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said whether people like the Mughal emperor or not, his tomb is a protected monument, but his glorification will not be allowed.
"What's the difference between north Indians and Indians? All of us are Indians," a bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and G S Singhvi quipped, while posting for Monday a PIL seeking judicial inquiry into the killing of a Bihari youth, Rahul Raj, in a police encounter and the murder of another north Indian in Mumbai last month
The squads, to be called Atma Raksha Dal, would comprise 20 members each and protect interests of the poor people like hawkers and taxi drivers, who are normally target of MNS attacks, MPCC spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam told PTI.
Four people were arrested for allegedly damaging five taxis, owned by North Indians, in the early hours of Saturday in Mumbai, police said. Efforts were on to ascertain whether the arrested belonged to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which had run an anti-north Indian campaign last month, they said.
The Congress party is intensifying its efforts to strengthen its organizational base in Uttar Pradesh, with plans to contest all 403 seats in the 2027 Assembly elections. Senior leaders emphasize grassroots preparations, voter outreach, and public meetings to regain political ground in the state.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged victorious in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also vanquished the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in the Pune civic body.
As the news spread, workers of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray rushed to the spot and cleaned the premises.
Facing mounting opposition to the introduction of Hindi language in Maharashtra schools from classes 1 to 5, the state cabinet on Sunday decided to withdraw two GRs (government orders) on the implementation of the three-language policy.
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.
In a viral video, Yerunkar alleged a mismatch in the polling data and EVM numbers. He received only two votes at the polling centre where four members of his family voted, he said, questioning the count.
Ruling out merger with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Tuesday said he had no intention of aligning with anybody.
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