'You know how politics is. You never know what will happen the next moment.'
It was a mixed bag for 11 seats with more than 35 percent Muslim voters, where six candidates of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi emerged victorious in the Maharashtra assembly polls on Saturday, while four seats went to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance.
Tensions are rising within the ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra amid internal conflicts and open threats over unresolved issues like cabinet expansion and Rajya Sabha nominations.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, is set to form the new government in the state. Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to finalize a power-sharing agreement. The alliance partners, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, will decide on ministerial berths at the meeting with Shah. Political circles are abuzz about the social equations in Maharashtra influencing the choice of the next Chief Minister.
The buzz about the "health" of Shinde, who was at his native village in Satara, grew louder after his supporter and MLA Sanjay Shirsat recently claimed the CM has fallen sick as he works for 24 hours.
Sena MLA and party spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said each MLA has filed a reply of 6,000 to 6,500 pages.
'...that he was in talks with the SS-UBT and would return if his ministry was snatched away and given to one of the NCP ministers.'
We left the Congress-NCP govt because we didn't want to be with them, Shiv Sena spokesperson said.
Amid the deepening political turmoil in Maharashtra, state Congress president Nana Patole accused Deputy CM and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar of harassing Congress legislators and ministers by stalling their development funds.
Rathod said the Maharashtra government had initiated an inquiry against 84 out of 108 manufacturers of cough syrups in the state.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there was no question of taking back those leaders who had deserted the two parties.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said he would work for his party till he is alive and scotched speculation that he and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the ruling BJP.
The Centre on Sunday extended Y-plus security cover of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos to at least 15 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, officials said.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Chandrakant Khaire on Monday said the Congress cannot stake claim to the Aurangabad constituency in Maharashtra for the next Lok Sabha polls as Shiv Sena (undivided) had won this seat multiple times in the past.
Meanwhile, Opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi said the verdict will determine if democracy "exists" in the country and judiciary "functions" independently.
'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
A section of Shiv Sena lawmakers had raised certain concerns after the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined the one-year-old Shinde-BJP government.
The letter was posted by Shinde on his Twitter handle, claiming these were the sentiments of the Sena MLAs.
'Shinde saheb won't let anybody (Ajit Pawar) act like they did during Uddhav Thackeray's tenure.' 'Shinde saheb knows how to deal with such people (Ajit Pawar).'
Earlier this week, the Shiv Sena-UBT approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Assembly Speaker to hear the disqualification petitions expeditiously.
The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Thursday said the state cabinet's expansion and allocation of portfolios are most likely to happen on July 14, but the rival faction of the party said it doubts the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde-led camp would be accommodated in the new ministry.
Shinde was sworn-in as the chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM on June 30. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai at 11 am, an official said.
'The BJP should not treat Shinde saheb as a lightweight.'
From start to finish, Dharmaveer 2 feels less like a biopic and more like propaganda crafted for Eknath Shinde's political gain, observes Prasanna D Zore.
'We cannot accept Ajir Pawar if he comes to join us as a member of the NCP.' 'NCP is not welcome to us.'
Newly-inducted minister Sanjay Rathod, who also served as a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led state government, had resigned last year after he was linked to a woman's death in Pune.
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil has refused Shinde's allegations.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked state Director General of Police (DGP) Rajnish Seth to provide adequate police protection to the families and homes of rebel MLAs, a police official said on Sunday.
Battling the political crisis faced by the party-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for 'not attending' legislative party meeting held on Wednesday.
A day after the Uddhav Thackeray faction submitted a plea before Deputy Speaker Narhari Jhirwal to disqualify the rebel MLAs, the Ekanth Shinde faction on Friday gave a notice of no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker.
'Maharashtra's asmita was crushed under Delhi's feet.' 'Marathi Manoos is definitely angry.'
All the current political upheavals in Maharashtra are with the 2024 elections in mind and there is a degree of white-knuckle tension in all parties.
A Sena legislator felt that Aaditya hitting the road has come very late, but stressed that this is also an opportunity for him to prove himself and build his own team.
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