The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Sena witnessed the first major jolt in 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal, the Other Backward Class face of the party who was also credited with expanding the organisation's base in rural parts of Maharashtra, decided to leave the party.
Defying predictions of his political eclipse, Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar has not only consolidated his position in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti, but also fortified his place in Maharashtra politics by becoming deputy chief minister for the sixth time.
As per statistics available with the Mumbai police, only 1 per cent of the temples in the metropolis have obtained permission to use loudspeakers in their premises, an official said.
A Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activist was murdered in Pune on Thursday, the police said.
'Devendra Fadnavis' brokering the deal between the MNS and the makers of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil raises questions about the chief minister's effectiveness,' says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Film folk, politicians and sports personalities joined hundreds of fans as they paid their last respects to Lata Mangeshkar.
The Congress which has set its eyes on wresting the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Asia's largest civic body, from the Shiv Sena-BJP in the 2012, is alarmed by the possible Muslim support to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The Maharashtra government told the Supreme Court on Monday, that it has taken effective steps for protection of lives and religious faith of north Indians and non-Marathis in the wake of an alleged hate campaign launched by the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
There is no provision for the state government to either install or remove loudspeakers, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said on Monday after an all-party meeting on the issue.
However, incumbent Chief Minster Ashok Chavan said the Congress-NCP alliance will be looking at the Republican Party of India for possible outside support if it fell short of the majority mark.
'There are legions of unemployed degree holders across rural and semi-urban belts in Maharashtra. Now, they aren't finding brides.' 'This issue has now snowballed into a social crisis. In 2014 and 2019, they had voted for the BJP.'
"People of Maharashtra are large-hearted and they have accepted everyone. But some people want to spoil that image," Deshmukh said in an apparent reference to Raj Thackeray-led MNS, which has launched an agitation against north Indian migrants to Mumbai and the state.
It was a meeting to show solidarity with the laid-off Jet Airways staffers, but MNS chief Raj Thackeray's men turned it into a coaching class for Marathi.
Why Aaditya Thackeray's decision to plunge into electoral politics is significant.
"We condemn in unequivocal terms the attack on the Biharis. Under the constitution of India, they have a right to settle down anywhere in the country and earn their livelihood," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Thackeray, considered a soft-spoken man vis-a-vis his aggressive father, took oath as the 18th chief minister under the tripartite alliance in November 2019, the first in his family to hold a public office.
A MNS leader had in a tweet said the tomb should be destroyed.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Phadnavis had faced flak for "brokering the deal" with MNS instead of enforcing law and order, amid the row around the release of Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena state unit general secretary Vasant Gite was detained in Nashik on Wednesday, as a preventive measure, ahead of the possible arrest of party chief Raj Thackeray. Three MNS leaders have also been taken into preventive custody, Police Commissioner S M Sayyad told PTI. With this, the total number of arrests has gone up to 126 since Tuesday, he said.
Altogether 169 MLAs vote in favour of the motion of confidence, pro tem Speaker Dilip Walse Patil informed the House.
The police began serving notices to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena office bearers in Mumbai on Monday, warning them against committing cognisable offences, after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray called for a statewide road blockade agitation against toll collection.
A day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray reiterated his warning to take down loudspeakers from mosques by May 3, the state home department on Monday stated that the use of loudspeakers at religious sites will only be allowed with due permission.
'It's dull because this time the election is spread over such a long period.'
The Thackeray faction on Tuesday claimed that voters were being paid to choose None Of The Above or NOTA option.
The strike has been called by the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtuk Sena, the transport wing of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which claims that several drivers of these cabs are not able to cover costs due to the falling business.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
The Dahi Handi ritual, part of the Janmashtami festival that marks the birth of Lord Krishna, saw enthusiastic participation by revellers in the metropolis, its adjoining areas and other parts of Maharashtra. The festival was celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety in Mumbai and other parts of the state.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Monday to caste their votes in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
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.
Aaditya Thackeray had a brief meeting with Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence in New Delhi.
Whether Thackeray's death would bring together Uddhav and his estranged cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, to avoid a division in Marathi votes, remains to be seen.
Explaining what makes nephews turn against their uncles, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray launched a veiled attack on estranged nephew Raj, saying nephews get 'tickled' when they see their uncles being hailed.
He asked if DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, "who speaks of Tamil culture, such a serious allegation has been made--will DMK snap ties with Congress, for Tamil pride and the Tamil people."
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Satish Bodas capture the most moving moments at Shivaji Park.
Two and a half hours into voting day and Maharashtra saw its top netas and Bollywood celebrities come out and vote. Among the early voters on Wednesday were...
After MNS threat, some people in Khultabad area, where the tomb is located, tried to lock the structure.
Back in January 2006, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray granted the Sena daily newspaper Saamna Editor Sanjay Raut an interview where he spoke his mind about his nephew Raj's departure from the party.
From politics to fashion, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance remains intact. Prasanna D Zore reports
It is the Hindu community that has faced the biggest setback as far as the issue of loudspeakers is concerned, the Sena MP added.
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