Shiv Sena minister Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday claimed that over a month ago, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had asked party leader Eknath Shinde whether he wants to become the chief minister, although the latter had sidestepped the issue then.
Rathore, however, said he was a "true soldier" of the Congress party and it was in the public domain who had damaged the party.
Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Pawar said state Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat had met him and extended an invitation to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Hooda are the members of the pro-reform G23 group who wrote a letter to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Bhujbal said Sharad Pawar announced support to the BJP in 2014 after it formed government following the Assembly polls without the Shiv Sena's backing.
Maharashtra legislative assembly's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal on Thursday said he has approved the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as the Shiv Sena's group leader in the House, replacing rebel legislator Eknath Shinde.
The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.
Congress Legislature Party leader and Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah said no one would leave the Congress and there was no disgruntlement either.
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.
Actor and National Commission for Women (NCW) member Khushbu Sundar has said she was sexually abused by her father at the age of 8, which she described as the 'toughest' thing.
The Congress high command on Saturday assured rebel Uttarakhand leader Harish Rawat that he will get his due but ruled out any change in the post of chief minister. The name of Rawat's wife Renuka is being considered among a few others for Rajya Sabha nomination for the lone vacant seat from the hill state, All India Congress Committee general secretary Chaudhary Birender Singh said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will take the final call on Wednesday on who will be the chief minister.
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.
It seems the grand old party is trying to stage a comeback in the state which it ruled at one time, but also to its progeny the Trinamool Congress which has vowed to come to power in Tripura in the 2023 state assembly elections.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar will take the decision on the disqualification of MLAs and other issues at an appropriate time and if anyone tries to pressure him in any way, then it won't be compatible with the country's free and fair legal process.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy held discussions with Congress leaders after the meeting.
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
In a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi-backed candidates clinched two of the five legislative council seats which were up for grabs in biennial elections from teachers and graduates segments, and appeared poised to bag a third seat also.
Pawar also said that the Eknath Shinde faction, which was camping in Guwahati after rebelling against the Uddhav Thackeray government, had not expected that their leader would become anything more than a deputy CM.
Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party, its senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.
'They should not forget that had we decided not to rebel, they would still be chanting slogans from the footsteps of the Vidhan Sabha.'
Rawat has been called by the CBI to join the probe on Monday, sources said.
The dissent in Congress ranks ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls has worsened in several districts over the alliance with the Trinamool Congress and selection of party candidates with Congress rebels filing nominations as independents in some places.
Thackeray claimed when the Shiv Sena was with the BJP, he (Shinde) would say the BJP is harming the Sena.
Following the week-long standoff between the Nagas and the Manipur government over Thuingaleng Muivah's visit to his native village, the Congress core committee decided not to allow the separatist leader to enter the state. After prolonged deliberations, the party top-brass on Wednesday felt that the visit of the country's top rebel leader from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM might worsen the law and order situation in Manipur.
Fadnavis said 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support the government.
Besides the MLAs, there were two other people in the SUV, which carried a board mentioning "MLA Jamtara Jharkhand" along with the Congress' election symbol, police said.
Four days after Trinamool Congress heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the state cabinet, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and election strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday met him, following which the party claimed that 'all the issues have been resolved'.
While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress alleged that the killings were a fallout of the TMC's infighting, the ruling party pointed fingers at the grand old party of India.
The Governor has no discretion and at best he can confer with the chief minister for change of date to hold the session.
'They want to win 45 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 general elections and joining hands with Ajit Pawar is in that direction.'
The EC had allotted 'flaming torch' (mashaal) election symbol to the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.
Union minister files a case against Rajasthan officials, alleges that audio recordings of tapped phone conversations has tarnished his reputation and disturbed his mental peace.
The political drama in Rajasthan over leadership change continued on Monday with MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot remaining non-committal on holding a meeting with Congress observers, who are likely to return to Delhi to apprise the high command about the developments.
With the Congress government in crisis in Uttarakhand after nine party members of Legislative Assembly, including a minister, joined hands with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party overnight, Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Saturday asserted that the welfare of the state was his priority and added that he would tender his resignation if he was not able to prove majority.
A total 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the second phase of elections, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women.
n fast-changing developments, Khaliko Pul, rebel-turned chief minister, who was unseated by the Supreme Court, returned to the party fold with 30 dissident MLAs.
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