The Shiv Sena on Wednesday asked why Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar was "silent" on the issue of the controversial remarks made by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on drought and load shedding.
Shiv Sena on Tuesday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments in the state and the Centre saying it "will not hesitate to sit on the head of the Maharashtara government" over the issue of farmers' suicides and relief to crop growers hit by unseasonal rains neither bow down before it.
In the Saamana, the party went on to state that whatever has happened is a "conspiracy to downgrade the Shiv Sena."
In a sarcastic note, the Sena also asked if the emotional call the Chief Justice of India Justice T S Thakur made on Sunday for increasing the number of judges to tackle the mounting number of cases could be termed as an "achievement" of the Modi government.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday defended Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, who has been accused of receiving illegal favours in land allotment from Maharashtra's Congress-NJationalist Congress Party government.
Even as its demand for disenfranchisement of Muslims community has evoked sharp reactions from political parties, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sought to know why the issue of voting rights of Kashmiri Pandits has not been raised in the same manner.
The Shiv Sena on Friday targeted the Centre by questioning the "efficacy" of the 2016 surgical strike and said the perception that it would demoralise Pakistani terrorists remained an "illusion" as Indian soldiers continue to get killed in terror attacks in Kashmir. Accusing the Modi government of boasting about how Pakistan was straightened out after the surgical strike, the Sena sought to know whether it has really happened. It also observed that troubled borders were not good for the country's well-being.
Apart from land acquisition, another major cause for concern before the project is cost escalation owing to a fall in the rupee against the Japanese yen.
Stoking a controversy, the Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded that voting rights of Muslims should be revoked as the community has often been used to play vote bank politics.
Ruling out merger with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Tuesday said he had no intention of aligning with anybody.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday dismissed reports of his being on ventilator and blamed a leading Marathi newspaper for spreading the "falsehood". "I am not on a ventilator," Thackeray said.
"Even Lord Ram is not helping the party to win polls. They (those two Indians) shared their views on the day of vote counting (for Delhi polls)," the Sena leader said.
The Sena, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and in Maharashtra, has since long been demanding the highest civilian award for Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who spent the prime of his life at the Cellular Jail in Andaman after being sentenced to life.
Terming the prime minister's address to the nation on September 21 as "most laughable", Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said Manmohan Singh has "shamelessly" defended Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail and rise in diesel prices.
The party said Gandhi threw himself into the campaign arena without worrying about the final poll outcome in Gujarat.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has said that he will not take over the position of "Shiv Sena pramukh" (supremo) which will always belong to his late father Bal Thackeray.
'When those in power fail on the twin fronts of employment and poverty, they have to play the reservation card'
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday asked 'staunch Hindus and patriotic public' not to allow the ensuing Indo-Pak cricket matches in India, unless Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde withdraws his statement on 'forgetting the past' to play cricket with Pakistan.
"Hanumanji was a devta, a god and I consider him as god and I worship him.. I am a sportsman and all sportsmen worship power... Humunanji was a symbol of power and strength... He also used to do wrestling and was a sportsman... all wrestlers worship him," Chauhan said in Amroha on Sunday.
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.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign as the term of the existing assembly is ending (on November 9), the Sena spokesman said.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesday launched a veiled attack on the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by his estranged nephew Raj Thackeray, following publication of a photo showing an MNS leader with a functionary of Raza Academy.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who had criticised senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani for his controversial blog, on Saturday supported him on the 'illegitimate' United Progressive Alliance government comment.
Maintaining his strong opposition to the tour by the Pakistani cricket team to India, Shiv Sena on Thursday said it was a matter of "national shame".
In a statement that would not go well with National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday pitched for a prime minister with Hindu ideology in the next general elections.
Thanking voters for yet again reposing faith in his party in the municipal elections, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday said the poll results have shown that Mumbai cannot be separated from Maharashtra.
Coming down heavily on the Congress-led UPA government for increasing petrol prices, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Friday claimed that liquor is now cheaper than petrol.
Slamming Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani for predicting a non-BJP, non-Congress prime minister in 2014, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday said it is like a general saying before a war that there is no guarantee on the outcome and "demoralising" the entire army.
Commenting on the nomination of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Sunday said it was the "dirtiest play" of Congress.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would lead his party to a third consecutive victory in the December Assembly elections.
The Sena also took a dig at NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who last week rebelled against his party and supported the BJP to form government in the state.
Mehek Prabhu, a woman from Mumbai, displayed a ' Free Kashmir' placard at Gateway of India during protests against JNU attacks, after which the BJP cirtiicsed the Shiv Sena-led govt for 'tolerating anti-national activities'.
Equating the Congress party to Moghul kings who have invaded Maharashtra, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Friday heaped scorn on Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, calling him "inept". In a strong-worded editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray ridiculed Chavan, who has been claiming that the Sena will become "inconsequential" after the Mumbai civic polls on February 16.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
Criticising the governor for giving the Shiv Sena just 24 hours to stake claim and refusing it additional time to muster numbers, an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, "It looked like some invisible power was controlling this game and decisions were taken accordingly."
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday virtually defended the attack on Team Anna member and lawyer Prashant Bhushan for his remarks on Kashmir advocating a plebiscite, saying he had paid the price for advocating Pakistan's cause.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has dubbed as political rape Anna Hazare's "five-star, corporate hunger strike for trivial causes" and dismissed Team Anna members as a bunch of "worthless" persons.
His political differences with the Congress notwithstanding, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray admires Indira Gandhi as a "woman with guts" who had the capability to govern.
Even as back channel talks over power sharing were on between BJP and Shiv Sena, the latter, in an apparent attempt to mend ties with its former ally ahead of government formation in Maharashtra, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hosting a Diwali tea party for National Democratic Alliance allies.
"Be it Delhi or Maharashtra, the atmosphere should be fear-free. It is the responsibility of the rulers to create such an atmosphere that those in public life can work fearlessly. There is no objection to withdrawing the security cover when such atmosphere prevails," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
