'My meeting with Raut had no political connotations. He asked me for an interview to Saamana, to which I agreed'
Apart from Urmila Matondkar, the names of Marathi actor and Shiv Sena leader Aadesh Bandekar, singer Anand Shinde, BJP-turned-NCP leader Eknath Khadse, farmer leader Raju Shetti are also doing rounds.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Maharashtra government's Ladki Bahin scheme, introduced to provide financial assistance to women, could affect the timely payment of subsidies in other sectors.
A day after the Congress accused Uddhav Thackeray of unilaterally announcing his party's candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra legislative council polls, the two parties finalised a deal on Wednesday under which the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest three out of four seats, while the grand old party will fight one.
The Election Commission is learnt to have given the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena 15 more days to submit documents in support of its claim on the party's election symbol.
"This whole incident of Waze's activities and controversies thereafter taught a lesson to the MVA government. It was good in a way that it happened and taught us some lessons," the Sena's chief spokesperson said.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said there was no political angle to the meeting. "Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it," he tweeted.
Gandhi spent around 20 minutes at the party office and met Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut and others.
The Bombay high court on Thursday asked Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to file a reply to actor Kangana Ranaut's petition against the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Mumbai, and said it will start final hearing from Friday.
Ranaut filed a plea in the high court on September 9, seeking that the court declare the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Pali Hill area here by the BMC as illegal. She subsequently amended her plea to demand Rs 2 crore as damages from the civic body and its officials for the demolition.
'They tell us that we have kept our women in the front. Only the lionesses have come out and you are already sweating. You can understand what would happen if all of us come together'
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress leaders met party chief Sonia Gandhi amid talks in state political circle about possibility of the Shiv Sena forming government in Maharashtra backed by opposition parties.
The Audi car, which hit several vehicles in the Ramdaspeth area in the early hours of Monday, had five occupants, including Sanket Bawankule, who was not at the wheel at the time of the crash, which left two persons injured, according to the police.
The cartoon, posted by Raut on his verified Twitter account, shows a tiger (Shiv Sena's party symbol) wearing a clock locket (Nationalist Congress Party's symbol) sniffing a lotus (BJP's party symbol).
Jaishankar briefed the leaders of all parties about the situation in the violence-hit nation and the steps taken by the Indian government.
The Shiv Sena has plans to field 50 to 100 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, including in Ayodhya and Mathura and made it clear that the party will not be part of any alliance.
"The majority is very thin and anything can happen. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party -- JD-U finished third and if anyone is celebrating the win, it's a joke. The BJP has done well, for which it had to do a lot of political strategising," he said.
Alleging a "pattern" of triggering communal riots and winning elections, Raut said this will break the country into pieces.
Hundreds of Muslim women on Friday protested against the Sena mouthpiece.
The 57-year-old Rajya Sabha member and Shiv Sena's spokesperson, who underwent an angioplasty procedure on Monday, has been tweeting from his hospital bed over the current political situation in Maharashtra.
The Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday decided to forge a pre-poll alliance for the next month's assembly elections in Goa, saying that the Congress didn't respond to their proposal for a joint contest.
Latching on to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that the threat of COVID-19 still persists, Raut said in view of the health concern, it is Thackeray's responsibility to take care of people's safety, and the governor should have rather appreciated the chief minister for doing so diligently.
The march will start near J J Hospital and end at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai.
"This is the minimum expectation at this time of national tragedy," she said.
Their lists show that a significant number of contenders are closely related to the current ministers, legislators or MPs, including their sons or daughters, wives and brothers or sisters.
Referring to last year's dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, which saw the Shiv Sena severing ties with the BJP and forming government with ideological rivals Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said his party had shown what happens 'when word is not kept' by an alliance partner.
'Bring Mossad and KGB too. There is nothing to hide. We are not opposing the CBI. When the Mumbai Police is already on the job, what will the CBI do?'
But if the reports are found to be wrong, those who made these allegations against him should quit politics, he challenged the leaders from the Opposition parties, as he alleged that efforts were on to defame him.
On his part, BJP Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane, himself no stranger to controversies, got into damage control mode and sought to calm frayed nerves, saying he has chided his son over the remarks.
The former CM said his party's Hindutva is "nationalism" and the Bharatiya Janata Party should explain what is its Hindutva.
'I was put in an anda cell. No window, light or air. Only grills.' 'During the monsoon, water would seep. There were rats running around all the time.' 'We were forced to sleep under bright lights all the time. Those bright lights are never switched off.'
"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.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead during a Facebook live by local social activist Mauris Noronha in Mumbai on Thursday, police said.
Banerjee, on a visit to Maharashtra, was scheduled to meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier, but as he is unwell, she met his son and minister Aaditya Thackeray, sources said.
'We are also Maharashtrians. We are all proud Maharashtrians. But we don't go and break someone's house'
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.
'I am happy Sanjay Raut and Sharad Pawar changed the game of Maharashtra politics.'
Raut told reporters in Mumbai that the BJP 'insulted' people's mandate by not abiding to the '50:50' formula which, he claimed, was decided before the Lok Sabha polls.
Seven candidates are in the fray for six Upper House seats from Maharashtra that will go to polls.
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