Raj Thackeray's comments threatening to brand Biharis as "infiltrators" have fuelled a controversy with leaders from various political parties slamming the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief over the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday asked people not to attach much importance to what the Thackerays say and accused the family members of fighting among themselves to strengthen their political base in Maharashtra. "Don't attach much importance to what they say. It is their family problem, to strengthen their (respective) political base," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.
Deepak Kesarkar, a Sena MLA and spokesperson for the rebel faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, sought to know what Pawar gained by causing pain to Bal Thackeray.
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
The Maharashtra government has reversed its decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in schools after facing widespread opposition. The move comes after the state's language consultation committee urged the Chief Minister to revoke the decision. The government will now issue a revised order making Hindi learning voluntary. The decision had been met with criticism from various quarters, including opposition parties and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which had called for a protest against the move.
The election campaign was one of the most vitriolic in the state, but you would not have guessed it from the smiles and selfies from the politicians.
'If someone fiddles us on our religion then we will pay back five times more to that person. We have proved that time and again.'
Baring his heart on the feud which split the Shiv Sena, its founder Bal Thackeray has said that he can "fight with outsiders, but not with those within the family".
The warrant against Thackeray for allegedly making derogatory remarks against members of the Bihari community, was brought to Mumbai by the Jamshedpur police and will be served on the MNS leader later in the week as Thackeray is presently out of the city, he said.
Modi and his corporate sector supporters have identified Maharashtra as a key state where the BJP-Shiv Sena can pick up more seats. In fact, it is estimated that if the Thackeray cousins join hands, the NDA partners can improve their tally from the present 23 seats by adding another eight to 10 Lok Sabha seats, reports Anita Katyal.
A local court on Monday has rejected a petition of MNS president Raj Thackeray seeking exemption from personal appearance in connection with the non-bailable arrest warrant it had issued on September 30 this year.
'If Rutuja Latke wins, it will come as a morale booster for Uddhav Thackeray. Her victory will mean that voters' sympathy is with Thackeray after the split in the party'
A Delhi court on Thursday asked police to lodge an FIR against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly branding Bihar natives as infiltrators in Mumbai and threatening them to throw out of the state.
A day after nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray backed cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who was arrested on charges of sedition, Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on Wednesday came out in his support and opposed the sedition law.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and Republic Party of India leader have been engaged in a mudslinging exercise after the former publicly questioned the latter's acquisition of property in Bandra.
Amitabh Bachchan, who is away in Shimla for a film shoot, stays away from the controversy.
A case was filed against Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray, party executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navanirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for making inflammatory speeches against migrants from Bihar and its people.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports that many want Uddhav and Raj Thackeray to bury the hatchet and form a united front for the betterment of the Marathi manoos
A video clip showing MNS chief Raj Thackeray cutting a cake with inscription 'Bhaiyya' (Mumbai slang for north Indians, especially those from UP and Bihar), has landed Raj in fresh trouble.
The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court there was no evidence against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Maharasthra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray and Congress leader Narayan Rane in a case relating to four separate incidents of political vandalism in 2009.
The estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray -- are going to walk together in a march for the cause of out-of-job textile mill workers in Mumbai. Several associations of textile industry workers, thousands of whom became jobless after prolonged strikes in early 1990s and afterwards, have organised a protest march on July 28 to press for their demands of rehabilitation.
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.
Days after we introduced you to the other side of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's, now its time to feast your eyes on photographs clicked by his cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Scotching speculation of any alliance between the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Sena chief Bal Thackeray said there was no need for a "third entity" in the combine.
Transcending ideological barriers, political parties in Bihar on Friday slammed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for his reported statement that influx of North Indians was one of the reasons for growing terror attacks in Mumbai.
In an attack on the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has alleged that the party was more interested in 'Marathi votes' rather than the 'Marathi manoos'. Addressing an election rally in Pune on Tuesday night, Thackeray said the Shiv Sena had stopped fighting for the rights of Marathi man and it was the MNS which had taken up the cudgels to fight injustice, to which the 'Bhoomiputras' were subjected to.
"Since Raj is fighting for the Marathi Manoos, we are ready to face any consequence..... but there is tension in the house," Raj's mother-in-law Padma Wagh told PTI. She voiced concern about Raj's son Amit, who is going to appear for his tenth standard examination next month. "I am worried about Amit because of Raj's likely arrest, as he has to appear for SSC exams next month," she said.
Uddhav said it was quite natural for him to be disappointed because Raj was his brother.
Lauding the developmental work undertaken by Nitish Kumar in Bihar after he took over as chief minister, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Saturday took a dig at his estranged nephew Maharashta Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray for opposing Kumar's visit to Mumbai and then back-tracking.
Maharashtra minister Sanjay Shirsat denies allegations that a bag seen in a viral video contained money, claiming it only held clothes. The video surfaced amid scrutiny over a significant increase in his declared assets.
Taking cognizance of charges against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly inciting violence against aspirants from the state for railway jobs in Mumbai, a Bihar court has asked him to appear before it next month to explain his position.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will not contest the November 3 bypoll to Andheri East assembly seat in Mumbai, Maharashtra party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Monday.
Amid parties accusing rivals of promoting dynastic politics, the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls will see brothers, cousins and father-children in the fray, with members of the same family taking on each other in some seats.
Softening his stand against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Sunday that Raj's statement regarding migrants spreading Malaria was not from his heart.
"No programme like UP Day, which shows north Indians' poltical goondaism will be allowed to take place here (Mumbai). We will first request them with folded hands. If that does not work, we will face them with open hands," Thackeray said in an interview to Marathi weekly Lokprabha.
Taking potshots at estranged cousin and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's penchant for photography, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday said the former should concentrate on shooting the many potholes that dot the city. "Instead of shooting animals in other states, it would be better if one (read Uddhav) photographs potholes here. Then they would realise the shoddy state of affairs, all their doing," said Thackeray.
The state government in October last had moved the court seeking cancellation of bail of Raj granted in February by the Vikhroli metropolitan magistrate following his arrest in October after his supporters went on the rampage at several railway recruitment board job centres.
The rivalry between the two leaders began last year, when Raj launched an anti-north Indian campaign, demanding rights for sons-of-the-soil.
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court on Wednesday stayed the arrest warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray till January 4, 2010.The Badnapur JMFC court had issued the arrest warrant against Raj in connection to a stone pelting incident at a bus near Hirvi Phata in Badnapur of Jalna district on October 21 in 2008. Justice S S Shinde of the Aurangabad bench passed the order and advocate Sagar Ladda appeared for Raj.
