The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
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.
Four tourists from Karnataka were found dead in a dharmshala room in Nalanda district, Bihar. Police are investigating the incident and have recovered sleeping pills and other belongings from the scene.
In a surprising turn, rival Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have joined forces with NCP factions to contest local elections in Maharashtra's Barshi taluka, setting aside political differences.
Four students suffered burn injuries after a schoolboy allegedly hurled a liquid chemical substance at them in Odisha's Rayagada district on Monday, the police said.
Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry and Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh also witnessed a tense atmosphere amid confrontation between the party workers.
He was sleeping in a garage when the fire broke out, and CCTV footage suggests foul play.
AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel supports colleague Sahar Shaikh's controversial statement about turning Mumbra green, claiming the party intends to do the same across Maharashtra. This follows Shaikh's victory in Thane civic polls and subsequent backlash over her remarks.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are expected to announce an alliance for the upcoming Mumbai civic elections. The announcement is expected to be made at a press conference on Wednesday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget, focusing on investments and growth. The speech was marked by its business-like approach and lack of cultural references, while opposition members raised concerns about regional representation.
NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule acknowledges the role of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in her four Lok Sabha election victories, refraining from blaming them despite being part of an opposition coalition.
'Holding onto the past will bring you nothing. Your pain and problems will only increase,' counsels rediffGURU Dr Upneet Kaur.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said there were four passengers, including two women and two pilots, in the aircraft. Captain Naveen and Captain Tarun were piloting the plane, he said.
A close associate of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claims that Pawar was actively pursuing a merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions before his death. The associate, Kiran Gujar, stated that Pawar had indicated the merger was imminent just days before a fatal plane crash.
The Congress recalled that on June 10, 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented by the BJP from speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde has vowed to take strict action against illegal immigrants who have obtained fake birth certificates, as well as the agents and officials who assisted them. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has already cancelled 237 fake birth certificates and is working to recover the original documents.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday trounced the opposition including the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar by winning decisive mandates in Pune and neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad in the civic polls, retaining power in both municipal corporations.
If we, as an audience, are mature enough to dissect facts from fiction, and propaganda from creative storytelling, the director and technical team deserve full credit for putting together an entertaining masala film that deserves a sequel, notes Divya Nair.
A retired IPS officer said that while the police manual does not explicitly prescribe hairstyles, personnel are expected to maintain the image of a security force.
Rohit Pawar highlighted the atmosphere of suspicion, grief, and political intrigue currently surrounding these events in Maharashtra. He mentioned an investigation into the accident, citing a book that suggests killing a person's driver is an easy way to target them.
The Shiv Sena has moved its newly elected corporators to a luxury hotel as the race to pick the next Mumbai mayor intensifies. The move comes amid political maneuvering and strategic positioning following recent civic poll results.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman deputy Chief Minister after being elected as the leader of the NCP legislature wing.
A 32-year-old woman from Haryana allegedly murdered three girls over the past two years, including her own son, because she developed "hatred for them due to their beauty." The chilling details were revealed after police cracked the case of a six-year-old girl's death.
rediffGURU Patrick D'souza, CAT expert and founder of Patrick100 explains how to pick a management course and college that will boost your career.
A man allegedly shot his wife dead at a police station in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, after she was detained following his complaint that she had eloped with her lover.
Multi-cornered contests, deep divisions within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, reflected in the Congress and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray fighting separately and lack of a robust plan among its rivals helped the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai polls as it looks poised to rule India's richest civic body for the first time.
The opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) conceded defeat in the elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats, accusing the election commission of 'facilitating' the victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
The Congress party has accused the government of stifling opposition voices in the Lok Sabha, alleging that opposition leaders are not being allowed to express their views while the government side faces no such restrictions.
The prime minister is now expected to speak on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha, where the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address has taken place without any disruption.
Nationalist Congress Party considers Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, for the position of NCP legislature leader, emphasizing the importance of family consent in the decision-making process.
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
Despite forging an alliance with the faction led by his uncle, Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday failed to protect the party's traditional bastions of Pune and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad, as the Bharatiya Janata Party decimated both the NCPs in the municipal corporation elections.
Counting of votes has begun in the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections, with a focus on the Mumbai battle between the BJP-led alliance and the Thackeray factions.
A five-year-old boy spent a night in a forest guarding his dead father and unconscious mother after they consumed pesticide. The incident occurred in Odisha's Deogarh district.
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
They said the bus, which was headed to neighbouring Telangana from Chittoor, was carrying 37 people, including the driver and the cleaner. Six of them are safe.
Amid disruptions in the Lok Sabha, opposition parties are protesting the denial of speaking rights to the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, during discussions on the President's address. The Congress party draws parallels to a similar incident in 2004 when then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented from speaking.
On reports of the BJP opposing the NCP merger, Fadnavis asserted that his party hasn't opposed anyone.
The tragedy struck the 39th Surajkund International Crafts Mela on Saturday evening, when about 19 people were riding the swing before it suddenly tilted and then crashed onto the ground.
According to the police, after the party all the guests left gradually, leaving the woman alone.
