Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are taking place today, with the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance seeking to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) hoping for a comeback. The campaign saw prominent leaders like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra crisscrossing the state to garner votes. The Mahayuti is banking on popular schemes while the MVA focuses on issues like caste-based census and social justice. The elections have also seen a significant rise in the number of candidates and voters.
Shinde had urged Uddhav Thackeray to renew the party's alliance with the BJP.
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.
Seven members are retiring from Maharashtra followed by six each from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, five each from West Bengal and Bihar, four each from Orissa and Gujarat.
The NCP chief has not concealed his ambition to occupy the top post in the state in the past.
In an exclusive interview, former Gujarat chief minister Suresh Mehta said, "In the coming election, we will go to people under the umbrella of Sardar Patel Utkarsh Samiti and campaign against the Modi government."
The Congress-JD-S government slumped into a minority earlier this month following the resignation of several dissident MLAs. Sixteen MLAs from the ruling coalition, including thirteen from Congress and three of the JD-S, have resigned.
Undaunted by Bharatiya Janata Party president L K Advani's praise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, party rebels of the state on Wednesday met a number of senior leaders as part of their efforts to seek Modi's ouster.
This is the biggest action taken against rebel leaders close to Yadav by the JD-U in Bihar.
The rebel legislators on Friday accused the former CM of putting them and their families at risk by claiming that the internal rumblings in the party done at the behest of Delhi.
'Netaji Bose followed the concept of Bharatiya and he united all religions and communities of India as Bharatiya.' 'I follow that politics of Netaji and so does the BJP.'
Incidentally, 164 of the total 356 candidates in the fray from the 43 assembly seats of Jammu region got less votes than none of the above, which gives an option to voters to reject all candidates in a constituency.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, who turned down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, on Monday said Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray is a victim of betrayal.
After a revolt in the Shiv Sena, party president Uddhav Thackeray was ready to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra if the dissidents dumped rebel leader Eknath Shinde, a proposal that was unacceptable to rebel MLAs and the national saffron outfit, legislator Deepak Kesarkar claimed on Friday.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
So worried is Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde of desertions that he is asking rebel MLAs in Guwahati to sign affidavits affirming that they won't go back on supporting the 'cause of Hindutva' after reaching Mumbai.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
He portrayed Modi as a leader against the interests of farmers and asked them to vote for a pro-farmers party.
Their flight landed at the Mumbai airport around 8 pm nearly 50 minutes after it took off from Dabolim airport in Goa.
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.
The 16 rebels, who the Congress alleged are being held captive by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bengaluru, also offered to present themselves in the judges' chamber but the court rejected the proposal.
Zoramthanga said people fleeing from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur feel safe in Mizoram which is ruled by his party.
'Things were not being heard. What we brought to the high command's notice. Had they taken any action at that time, then it would have not happened.'
The deadline set by the Supreme Court for delivering the verdict was December 31, 2023, but some days before that, on December 15, the apex court gave a 10-day extension and set January 10 as the new date for a decision.
They have been expelled for their decision to contest elections against party candidates.
'The NCP fires the gun from Raut's shoulders and who does the bullet hit? Not enemies of our party but loyalists like us. This is not acceptable to us'
These Congress rebels, who had voted in favour of the BJP nominee in the Rajya Sabha polls, later abstained from voting on the Budget, defying a party whip.
Cracking the whip, Janta Dal-United on Thursday expelled outgoing Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and senior leader Shivanand Tiwari and four Lok Sabha MPs for anti-party activities.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
This is the third time in two days that Singhal, the Assam Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, has met the dissidents.
He expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, NCP (Sharad Pawar group) and Congress will come to power in Maharashtra after the 2024 elections.
If their resignations are accepted, they may even go back to Bengaluru, they added.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
'It's the same problem with all six of us. Behenji (Mayawati) is not to be blamed, but the coordinators have acted in a manner which has depressed us and we thought what is the use of remaining with such a party'
Speaking to reporters for the first time after arriving in Bengaluru and sending in their resignations, the 22 MLAs said they were ready to face any consequences.
Former Indian kabaddi team captain and Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Hooda is locked in a multi-cornered electoral contest from the Jat-dominated Meham assembly constituency in the Rohtak district for the Haryana assembly polls.
While guests who had arrived earlier are leaving one by one, sources revealed that the hotel, situated on Dumas Road of the diamond city, has stopped accepting new bookings for an indefinite period.
'We have not hijacked the party, the NCP and the Congress have hijacked it'
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had reportedly expressed his displeasure to state Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, who is from the NCP, about the escape of Sena MLAs
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